3.5
Inspector Imanishi Investigates
ByPublisher Description
In the wee hours of a 1960s Tokyo morning, a dead body is found under the rails of a train, and the victim's face is so badly damaged that police have a hard time figuring out the victim’s identity. Only two clues surface: an old man, overheard talking in a distinctive accent to a young man, and the word “kameda.” Inspector Imanishi leaves his beloved bonsai and his haiku and goes off to investigate—and runs up against a blank wall. Months pass in fruitless questioning, in following up leads, until the case is closed, unsolved.
But Imanishi is dissatisfied, and a series of coincidences lead him back to the case. Why did a young woman scatter pieces of white paper out of the window of a train? Why did a bar girl leave for home right after Imanishi spoke to her? Why did an actor, on the verge of telling Imanishi something important, drop dead of a heart attack? What can a group of nouveau young artists possibly have to do with the murder of a quiet and “saintly” provincial old ex-policemen? Inspector Imanishi investigates.
But Imanishi is dissatisfied, and a series of coincidences lead him back to the case. Why did a young woman scatter pieces of white paper out of the window of a train? Why did a bar girl leave for home right after Imanishi spoke to her? Why did an actor, on the verge of telling Imanishi something important, drop dead of a heart attack? What can a group of nouveau young artists possibly have to do with the murder of a quiet and “saintly” provincial old ex-policemen? Inspector Imanishi investigates.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesInspector Imanishi Investigates Reviews
3.5
wenminutes
Created 2 days agoShare
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“This book got me heavily invested from the start, opening with the discovery of a dead body on the tracks of Kamata Station, Tokyo.
Inspector Imanishi Investigates by Seicho Matsumoto is set in 1960s Tokyo, and follows Senior Inspector Imanishi Eitaro as he investigates the railroad murder that happened at Kamata Station. Since the victim’s face was badly disfigured, it was difficult to identify the victim’s identity. As a first step, the police investigated the area around Kamata Station and only two clues surfaced - (1) the previous night, there were two people who might have been the victim and his companion had been seen at a bar located near the station and (2) the bar staffs mentioned that the victim’s accent was of the northeastern Japan and one of the bar hostess who passed by them overheard the word “Kameda”. From this clue, Inspector Imanishi and a young detective Yoshimura went to a town, Kameda where they encountered a Nouveau Group, consisted of a group of young Tokyo artists, bringing new ideas from the West.
As Inspector Imanishi investigates further, several individuals whom he had previously encountered and wanted to question further suddenly die of natural causes - each death seemingly connected to this Nouveau Group.
As the title suggests, the story revolves around Inspector Imanishi’s investigation and his investigation method was one of a meticulous and logical approach, which turned out to be surprisingly quite a satisfying read. Just the right amount of detail to keep readers engaged!
But beyond the murder storyline, the novel highlights how women were treated during those times. For example, I found the way Imanishi spoke to his wife was rather curt and he even used her savings to fund his investigation just so he doesn’t go over the police budget!!
Also, you may question the ending like “huh? That’s it?” but in a way, it feels just right for this book. Worth the read!”
Rebecca Carroll
Created 3 days agoShare
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zmc
Created 9 days agoShare
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SlothKun
Created 14 days agoShare
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About Seicho Matsumoto
Native of Fukuoka Prefecture and prolific writer of socially oriented detective and mystery fiction, Matsumoto debuted as a writer after reaching the age of forty with the historically based Saigo Takamori Chits, 1950, and The Legend of the Kokura Diary, 1952. He then went on to establish his unique style of detective fiction with the works The Walls Have Eyes, 1957, and Points and Lines, 1958. Matsumoto made a name for himself as the writer of suspense novels that were accesible to all kinds of readership, but it was his historical novel The Ogura Diary Chronicles that earned him The 28th Akutagawa Prize, the Japanese equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize. The popular Japanese TV show "Black Leather Notebook" was based on his novel of the same name, and several of his detective fiction works have been published in the US (SoHo Crime and Kodansha International).
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