Random Things Tour - The Aosawa Murders

Today I'm bringing to you another captivating thriller hosted by Random Things Tour.  Read on for my thoughts and many thanks to the publisher, the author and Anne Cater of Random Things Tours.

TITLE: The Aosawa Murders

AUTHOR: Riku Onda
TRANSLATED BY: Alison Watts

PUBLISHER: Bitter Lemon Press

PUBLISHING DATE: January 16, 2020

FROM GOODREADS: 

The novel starts in the 1960s when 17 people die of cyanide poisoning at a party given by the owners of a prominent clinic in a town on the coast of the Sea of Japan. The only surviving links to what might have happened are a cryptic verse that could be the killer's, and the physician's bewitching blind daughter, Hisako, the only person spared injury. The youth who emerges as the prime suspect commits suicide that October, effectively sealing his guilt while consigning his motives to mystery. 

The police are convinced Hisako had a role in the crime, as are many in the town, including the author of a bestselling book about the murders written a decade after the incident, who was herself a childhood friend of Hisako’ and witness to the discovery of the killings. The truth is revealed through a skillful juggling of testimony by different voices: family members, witnesses and neighbors, police investigators and of course the mesmerizing Hisako herself. 

MY THOUGHTS:  I don't read a lot of novels with a Japanese setting so I think that is what originally spoke to me regarding this tale.  I am glad I took a chance on The Aosawa Murders because it really paid off.

This novel is set around a historical incident in the 1960s where a large group of people died at a party.  Although a young man soon after kills himeslf and in the eyes of many, admitting his guilt.  However, many, including the local police, aren't sure that the family's daughter also didn't have a role in the murders, especially given that she is the only one who survived.

This book is told in a rather unique style.  We know pretty soon up front and then spend the rest of the book unraveling the why of the crime.  In the novel, a book is being written about the tragedy, so the reader gets various narratives from individuals who had ties to the case as well as the victims.  This style, which I've not encountered frequently, was really well done and kudos to Onda for making it work because see, the questions posed to each person are never revealed.  I've seen this book described as a "puzzle mystery" and I think that is a very apt description.

Needless to say, The Aosawa Murders captivated me early on and made for an intriguing read.  I highly recommend it to anyone who loves mysteries and is looking for something a bit unique.

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

MY RATING: 4 PAWS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR/TRANSLATOR: Riku Onda, born in 1964, is the professional name of Nanae Kumagai. She has been writing fiction since 1991 and has won the Yoshikawa Eiji Prize for New Writers, the Japan Booksellers' Award, the Mystery Writers of Japan Award for Best Novel for The Aosawa Murders, the Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize, and the Naoki Prize. Her work has been adapted for film and television. This is her first crime novel and the first time she is translated into English.

Alison Watts is an Australian-born Japanese to English translator and long time resident of Japan. She has translated Aya Goda’s TAO: On the Road and On the Run in Outlaw China (Portobello, 2007) and Durian Sukegawa’s Sweet Bean Paste (Oneworld Publications, 2017), and her translations of The Aosawa Murders and Spark (Pushkin Press, 2020) by Naoki Matayaoshi are forthcoming.