Death on Gokumon Island

I was somewhat disappointed by Death On Gokumon Island. As a classic crime novel, it has all the necessary ingredients, but there was something about the way they were blended together which left me cold which was a shame as I had previously enjoyed The Inugami Curse and had hoped for more of the same. The well-crafted atmosphere from that previous book seemed missing from Death On Gokumon Island and I didn't feel as though as much care had been taken over the characterisations either. In fact, at one point, if we want to find out about an Inspector who appears on the scene, we are directed to go and read a previous novel! While the crime narrative itself is suitably complex and convoluted so the book did keep my interest, I found myself more casually reading rather than being absolutely gripped by the tale.

Pushkin Vertigo, the English language edition publisher, has Death on Gokumon Island originally published in 1971 so I wondered if it being one of the later stories in the long 77-book Kosuke Kondaichi series was the reason, but other sources put the book's first publication in 1947 which would make it almost the earliest. There are frequent references within the novel to how characters were coping with the war's end and their return to civilian life.

I will probably try another book in this series at some point in the future as, overall, Death On Gokumon Island was a good read, just not as compelling a mystery as I had hoped for.

I thought this one was OK, but not terribly exciting. It’s an easy read with some interesting insights into post-war Japanese culture, but the characters aren’t particularly well drawn or realistic and I never felt invested in them. In particular, the Kito sisters are shallow stereotypes who are only there to drive the plot forwards. There are lots of info-dumps as characters tell the detective what has gone on which get a bit boring. The summing up takes about 20 pages. I’m not itching to read the other books in the series.