The Tokyo zodiac murders

The Tokyo zodiac murders

Sōji Shimada, 1948-

Book - 2015

Astrologer, fortuneteller, and self-styled detective Kiyoshi Mitarai must in one week solve a macabre murder 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.

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Subjects
Astrologers > Japan > Fiction.
Zodiac > Fiction.
Serial murders > Japan > Fiction.
Detective and mystery fiction.
Mystery fiction.
Genres
Detective and mystery fiction
Mystery fiction
Published
London : Pushkin Vertigo 2015.
Language
English
Japanese
Main Author
Sōji Shimada, 1948- (author)
Other Authors
Ross Mackenzie, 1950- (translator), Shika Mackenzie
Item Description
"A guardian top ten 'impossible murder' novel"--Cover.
"First published in Japanese as Senseijutsu Satsujinjiken in 1981 by Kodansha Ltd."--Title page verso.
"First published in English in 2004 by IBC Publishing"--Title page verso.
Physical Description
316 pages : illustrations ; 20 cm
ISBN
9781782271383
  • Cover; Title Page; CONTENTS; DRAMATIS PERSONAE; FOREWORD; PROLOGUE: Azoth; ACT ONE: The Unsolved Mystery, Forty Years On; SCENE 1: Footprints in the Snow; SCENE 2: The Twelfth Painting; SCENE 3: A Vase and a Mirror; SCENE 4: Poisoned Fruit Juice; SCENE 5: Latitude and Longitude; ENTR'ACTE: A Police Confession; ACT TWO: More Speculation; SCENE 1: A Little Magic; SCENE 2: A Rude Visit; ENTR'ACTE: Bacteria in the Bullet Train; ACT THREE: In Pursuit of Azoth; SCENE 1: Moves on the Chessboard; SCENE 2: A Profanity; SCENE 3: Crossing the Moon; SCENE 4: The Riverbank; SCENE 5: The Doll-maker; SCENE 6: The Mannequin; SCENE 7: The Philosopher's Walk; ENTR'ACTE: Message from the Author; ACT FOUR: The Storm; SCENE 1: The Teahouse; SCENE 2: The Roll of the Dice; ENTR'ACTE: Another Message from the Author; ACT 5: Magic in the Mists of Time; SCENE 1: The Invisible Killer; SCENE 2: The Vanishing Point; SCENE 3: The Basic Structure; SCENE 4: A Knock on the Door; EPILOGUE: The Voice of Azoth.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

First published in Japan in 1981, Shimada's intriguing first novel blends metafiction with a locked-room mystery. The title refers to a (fictional) series of sensational unsolved murders committed in 1936. In 1979, freelance illustrator Kazumi Ishioka, "a huge fan of mysteries," and his moody artist friend, Kiyoshi Mitarai, a self-styled amateur detective, are intent on unraveling the decades-old ritualistic killings. Painter Heikichi Umezawa left an eerily specific note about how he wanted to create the perfect woman, his Azoth, made up of the severed parts of his six daughters and nieces. These women, all with different astrological signs, ended up dead and buried all over Japan, but it was impossible for Umezawa to be the killer, because he had been dead for days himself, murdered in his locked studio. Kazumi and Kiyoshi spend a lot of time getting up to speed on the case by simply relating facts to each other. But once Shimada enters his own narrative as an investigator, the pace picks up considerably, and readers will understand why Shimada is considered one of Japan's most fiendishly clever crime writers. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Review by Library Journal Review

This Japanese puzzler opens with the rantings of a madman with a fetish for astrology and the macabre. The last will and testament of artist Heikichi Umezawa, written in 1936, states that he will create a perfect woman, formed by using different body parts of six girls-Umezawa's four daughters and two nieces. Each will have a part that represents their zodiac sign cut off; their remains will be buried in a mine where that astrological element is found. Flash-forward 40 years and friends Kiyoshi Mitarai and Kazumi Ishioka believe they can solve these crimes, now known as the Tokyo Zodiac Murders. VERDICT This new translation of a 1981 crime novel will introduce American readers to Shimada, renowned in Japan as the "God of Mystery." The clues are carefully laid out in the archetypal locked-room mystery manner, so if the reader has followed the signs, the reveal will come as no surprise. A nice discovery for fans of classics in the vein of Sherlock Holmes or for anyone who wants to learn about Japanese culture. [-Pushkin Vertigo is Pushkin's new crime fiction imprint; it will publish crime classics from around the world.-Ed.] © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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