Tokyo Zodiac Murders: Detective Mitarai's Casebook (Hardcover)

by Soji Shimada (Author), Ross and Shika MacKenzie (Translator) "What the hell is all this?" Kiyoshi exclaimed..." (more)
Key Phrases: mannequin factory, opaque tape, female mannequin, Heikichi Umezawa, Zodiac Murders, Taeko Sudo (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

"Intricately constructed and entertainingly exotic."-The Japan Times

Astrologer, fortuneteller, and self-styled detective Kiyoshi Mitarai must in one week solve a mystery that has baffled Japan for 40 years. Who murdered the artist Umezawa, raped and killed his daughter, and then chopped up the bodies of six others to create Azoth, the supreme woman? With maps, charts, and other illustrations, this story of magic and illusion, pieced together like a great stage tragedy, challenges the reader to unravel the mystery before the final curtain. The Tokyo Zodiac Murders joins a new wave of Japanese murder mysteries being translated into English.

Soji Shimada, author of over 100 mystery novels, is a designer, musician, and astrology writer.

From the publisher: for more mystery from Japan, check out The Inugami Clan by Seishi Yokomizo.

About the Author
Soji Shimada is a designer, musician, and astrology writer for a major newspaper. He has written over 100 mystery novels.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 252 pages
• Publisher: IBC Books (September 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 4925080814
• ISBN-13: 978-4925080811
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #426,348 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Elementary, Detective Mitarai!, May 17, 2007

By	Zack Davisson "All Good Things" (Seattle, WA, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This is one of those amazing books that, as soon as you have finished it, you are pushing into the hands of your friends and forcing them to read it immediately. A short, complex and innovative novel, it has an almost perfect balance between character-driven plot and straight analytical mental games that challenge you to unravel the puzzle before the author gives it away. Fans of the murder mystery genre will have a hard time not enjoying "The Tokyo Zodiac Murders".

The story starts off with a powerful hook. In 1936, an old eccentric artist named Heikichi Umezawa has been found dead, leaving behind a last will and confession detailing his obsession with alchemy and astrology, and his plan to construct a perfect woman, named Azoth. His plans are incredibly detailed, but basically involve taking body parts from several astrologically perfect women, then assembling those pieces together in sequence. He is dead before he can put his plans into place, but someone else finishes the deed. The murders are never solved, and remain one of Japan's most studied cases, with amature detectives pouring over the details in the same way as they do with Jack the Ripper nowadays. Fast forward to 1979, where Kazumi Ishioka, a freelance illustrator and fan of mysteries, gleans some new insight into the case and decides to pursue it. He enlists his friend, astrologer Kiyoshi Mitarai, and the two begin their dark journey into the mind of the Zodiac murderer, going down roads that seem obvious once the links are made, but appear impossible beforehand.

Author Soji Shimada knows how to construct a good murder mystery. He takes the classic Holmes/Watson team, a fact which he quickly acknowledges in the text of the book, and uses them to hunt an intricate puzzle, based on his own in-depth knowledge as an astrologer. Many mystery staples are here. A locked-door murder. A prime suspect dead before the murders occurred. He takes the basic elements and cliches, gives the reader a nod to let them know that he knows what he is doing, then shuffles them all around until you are completely baffled and utterly enthralled. Especially impressive is his use of multiple writing styles, such as flipping between Heikichi Umezawa insane confession and Ishioka and Mitarai's lighthearted banter. He also makes judicious use of charts and illustrations, even occasionally breaking the fourth wall and personally challenging the reader to solve the mystery before he reveals all in the next chapter.

The only shame with "The Tokyo Zodiac Murders" is that it is the only one of Shimada's many "Detective Mitarai Mystery" novels to be translated into English. As soon as you flip the last page, you are going to be hungry for more of the same. Let's hope they they are forthcoming!

5.0 out of 5 stars ..and now, for something entirely different ..., April 29, 2009

By	Nancy O (hobe sound fl) - See all my reviews

This is the kind of book that I hope to find every time I pick up a new mystery. I do have to admit to a fondness for Japanese authors, especially mystery writers, and this particular book is an example of why. I have to find other works by this author in translation if they exist. I could NOT put this book down at all once I started.

The story begins some time back in the 1930s, and its focal point is a bizarre case known as the Tokyo Zodiac Murders. In the last will & testament of an artist under the influences of astrology and alchemy, he sets forth his plan to create the perfect woman...by killing off female relatives, including his daughters, to combine the best parts of all of them in his creation. The murders occurred, but this happened after the artist was found dead, in his studio, locked from the outside. The clues left little to go on, and solving the horrifying case became an obsession for many over the last decades. One detective, who is also a fortune teller, decides to take it on and solve it where others have failed. With the help of his friend, a fan of detective fiction, he tries to do what so many have attempted and failed over the a 40-year period of time.

An amazing book, one that will totally occupy you as you read. There are a number of possibilities that present themselves as the two friends delve into the past. The characterization is very well done, the writing is excellent, and the mystery itself (not to mention the solution) is nothing like I've ever read before. Hooray for a mystery I could really sink my teeth into.

I think this one will really appeal to people like myself who enjoy the different take on mysteries provided by Japanese mystery authors, and those who enjoy the classic locked-room/impossible crimes scenario. It isn't a mystery for cozy readers or readers who want an easy solution -- this requires the reader's participation the entire way. Also, if alchemy and astrology aren't your thing, then you may want to skip it.

An excellent mystery -- I enjoy finding these little gems now and then. Most highly recommended.