Review: The Honjin Murders

The Honjin Murders

“Usually when people tell me these kinds of tales, they never turn out to be as interesting to me as they are to the teller, much less potential material for a book. But this case was different . . . This was no ordinary murder. The perpetrator had scrupulously planned the whole ghastly deed. What’s more, it was worthy of the label ‘Locked Room Murder Mystery.'”

The Honjin Murders by Seishi Yokomizo was first published in 1946, and is the first of many Kosuke Kindaichi novels. Now, it’s being translated into English for the first time (by Louise Heal Kawai), and fans of Golden Age mystery and detective novels should get their hands on a copy.
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Review: South of the Border, West of the Sun

South of the Border, West of the Sun

My friend Brittany recently found out that I had never read anything by Haruki Murakami. She was shocked. Her immediate response was something along the lines of “And you call yourself a book nerd? YEAH OKAY!” I held my head in shame, because I knew I had one of his books at home. It had been sitting on my shelf for almost two years without being read; I just hadn’t gotten around to cracking it open yet.

#BookNerdProblems!

When I started debating what book to kick off my 2018 Reading Challenge with, I immediately tore my bookshelves apart, and found my copy of South of the Border, West of the Sun.

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