As complex as a Japanese tea ceremony, The Honjin Murders is a classic "locked room" murder mystery. First published in 1973, it is a little reminiscent of a Sherlock Holmes or Poirot mystery in that it is almost impossible for the reader to work out the solution ahead of time, and at the end has to kind of sit back and appreciate the clever twists and turns that the story has taken. And of course, it's all highly contrived and improbable. I like my crime novels a little more realistic and this wasn't really my thing, but I've satisfied my curiosity about locked room mysteries, and it was a fun read.