🏯🏯🏯🏯 / 5

Thank you to @netgalley and Pushkin Vertigo for early access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review (this was published earlier this year).

This is the second book in the Detective Kosuke Kindaichi series. I was super excited to read this one, as I loved THE HONJIN MURDERS. I enjoyed this one, but it took me forever to finish it because the chapters are so long. Though it was difficult to keep up with at times because there are so many characters, the mystery and the beautiful writing and culture are what kept me invested. I always enjoy the endings to these mysteries as well because they clear everything up.

I would have been shocked if this book didn't live up to expectations because Japanese crime fiction is elite. This is a 10/10 reading experience, absolutely thrilling

This reminded me of an episode of 'Colunbo' the disheveled man coming into the crime scene and asking the right questions. But I found myself a little underwhelmed.- this could have been because it was hyped up as the best loved mystery in Japan- or I could have been expecting some profound problem solving? Regardless, I would still recommend because I know someone would enjoy this kind of gentle detective mystery novel

Enjoyment: 3.5
Total rating: 3.57

I am a big fan of Seishi Yokomizo and (shin) honkaku novels, and had very high expectations for Death on Gokumon Island, especially since it was loosely inspired by And Then There Were None, one of my favourite novels... Did it deliver? Sadly, no.

I have read other books in the Kosuke Kindaichi series, but I struggled to finish this one for some reason. I think I know why - the translation was off to me. I do not speak Japanese, just so I am clear, but I have read many translated works (including from Japanese) and tend to walk away satisfied, but for some reason, in Gokumon Island, the translation felt too grammatical, at the cost of the atmosphere and overall enjoyment. Or maybe it is just me?

Either way, I recommend this and all the other Yokomizo novels; they truly bring the essence of the Golden Age Mysteries back to life. I am looking forward to more translations (this series has 77 books!)

Disclaimer: In exchange for an honest review, I am thankful to the publishers and NetGalley for providing a copy of Death on Gokumon Island.

I have been a fan of Yokomizo’s recent English translations. Honjin Murders and Inugami Curse were my favourites, so I was looking forward to the rest of the releases. However, I do find Death on Gokumon Island less compelling than the others.

The mystery just doesn’t seem that memorable. While the atmosphere and creepiness of the setting was well established, the investigation was lacking, and I didn’t know what it was that could’ve been better. I also got really confused at the time progression. I know the point of mystery novels are so you can read them out of order, but there were some inconsistencies in Kindaichi’s life. In this novel the war has ended and it’s emphasised how much it has changed Kindaichi, but he seemed that different to me personality wise from Inugami Curse and Village of the Eight Graves, but when I looked into it I found out that Gokumon Island was the second book in the Kindaichi series, while the other two were published afterwards, so I guess that explains that.

As much as this wasn’t as good, I still enjoy them. Yokomizo had a talent for creating an atmosphere that really sucks you in, even if the mysteries are the best. I still look forward to more coming out from this series, and I can’t wait to see what’s next in store for us.

I think fans of And Then There Were None.by Agatha Christie would appreciate this book set in Japan after World War 2.

The main character Kosuke promises a dying man that he will go to his home island to prevent the murders of the man's sisters. The island is very insular, and the inhabitants are descendants of pirates that used the island as a base and prisoners who were exiled to the island. Soon, one of the three sisters is found murdered, and Kosuke tries to figure out the puzzle. Really, this book is all about figuring out the puzzle, and I found it quite engaging.

In this thrilling nod to Agatha Christie, Seishi Yokomizo once again secures a place among the most beloved mystery writers. A bookseller introduced me to Detective Kindaichi after I confessed to them that I was at a loss after having read every single Poirot. If only Yokomizo was more widely read! The translations are so needed and such a gift to the genre. This mystery manages to instill that very particular kind of ominous feeling in the reader, especially as the detective navigates the island as an outsider, and it remains throughout the entirety of the book. Brilliant, five stars. (And for what it’s worth, the cover is perfection!)

'Kindaichi-san, in our world there are some things so dreadful, so terrifying that you would scarcely believe they existed. They are things that common sense and accepted practice would dictate are impossible, but they do exist.'

The second in the series, though the 4th to be published in English, Yokomizo presents us with another tantalisingly fiendish murder mystery. Set in the post-war years - in which returning soldiers went missing and news about them were hard to come by - this sees our intrepid detective Kindiache Kosuke come to the eponymous island to deliver news about the death of a man whom he had got to know during the war. The island is divided between the main family and the branch family, and as Kosuke settles into life on the island death comes a-calling, as one of the daughters of the main family is found murdered. Then others start to die...

Fans of the series will love this, but the wider social aspects of the books are equally appealing: the post-war years and war guilt; an isolated community with strict codes of living; haiku and poetry.; familial hierarchies and feuds. The murders and the puzzle, as always, are at the heart of the book, a loosely-inspired version of Agatha Christie's 'And Then There Were None'. Atmospheric and initially quite slow-paced, this is an other example of why Yokomizo was such a renowned author in his native Japan. With an excellent translation by Louise Heal Kawai, I look forward to many more of the series being published.

(With thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this title.)

Really interesting! I’ve been trying to read more Japanese novels and this was another fantastic read.

I love a locked room mystery, and I found this read to be really fun to get drawn into.

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

“Death on Gokumon Island” is the second book in the Detective Kosuke Kindaichi series from Seishi Yokomizo, the fourth one that has been translated into English, another great homage to the British golden age mysteries with a Japanese twist.

This time the story is (very) loosely inspired by Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None”; our detective Kosuke Kindaichi arrives on a remote island in order to fulfill a last wish of one of his WWII comrades – to stop the murder of his three stepsisters. But Gokumon Island is a strange insular place, not very open and tolerant of outsiders. Although Kindaichi is initially welcome as a representative of his dead comrade, who was the heir of the powerful fishing boss of the island, there is still much suspicion of the outsider. And when the stepsisters start to be murdered in outlandish ways, Kindaichi soon finds himself as a suspect, even being thrown in jail for a night. Can Kindaichi find the killer before it is too late?

Another great mystery by Seishi Yokomizo, capturing the feel and tension of those early classic mysteries. His characters are wonderful, fully-fleshed and true to form. We also get a glimpse of life after the war for the defeated soldiers, making their way home amid the ruins of empire. A fantastic portrait of a different culture in a different time.

I requested and received a free advanced electronic copy from Pushkin Press, Pushkin Vertigo via NetGalley. Thank you!

I’m so happy to be reading another Seishi Yokomizo story! Loved the characters, the storyline and everything in between. The classic old school murder mysteries are always the best stories to me. The story kept me wanting more as I got deeper and deeper into Detective Kosuke Kindaichi’s world. I can’t wait to read more of Seishi Yokomizo’s work! Thank you for this amazing ARC.

Death on Gokumon Island is the fourth in the Detective Kosuke Kindaichi series, originally published in 1971. It’s recently been translated from Japanese into English and republished.

There’s 76 books in the series featuring this detective; he’s kind of the Japanese version of Poirot.

Speaking of Agatha, this book is supposedly loosely inspired by And Then There Were None (actually my fave Christie novel), as it’s set on a remote island where the inhabitants begin to be killed off.
The main character; Kosuke Kindaichi has arrived to Gokumon with bad news; the son of the the island’s most important and wealthy family has died in WW2 where they were comrades together.
Kosuke isn’t just delivering news however, he’s following up on his friend’s last words, a warning that upon his death his three sister’s lives would now be at risk.

As prophesied, a series of gruesome murders take place which Kosuke is determined to get to the bottom of, in spite of the confusing clues, the danger to his own life, and the resentful locals.

I enjoyed this, it took me a while to get into but I liked the gentle pace and the setting of the book. I love Japan and Japanese culture, and the creepy little island felt so atmospheric. I also had absolutely not guessed the ending, which is always a joy for mystery/thriller readers!

I’ll definitely read more from Detective Kosuke; this book as well as others in the series are available on Borrowbox.

With thanks to @netgalley and @pushkin_press for the opportunity to read #DeathOnGokumonIsland.

#SeishiYokomizo #Bookstagram #BookReview #Books2022 #Book #TranslatedFiction #JapaneseFiction

I liked the face that I got to read a translated work. Thank you for publishing this in English and I am sure that fans of Agatha Christie will enjoy this.

Death on Gokumon Island is an engaging mystery written by Seishi Yokomizo and translated by Louise Heal Kawai. The detective, Kosuke Kindaichi, arrives on the island, fulfilling a request from his comrade who was killed before returning home from the war. When the murders his friend predicted would happen actually start to occur, Kindaichi tries to find the killer, but his investigation is obstructed at every turn by the island locals. Haiku poems are woven into the fabric of the story and readers will enjoy the vivid descriptions of Japan.

Another Japanese whodunnit/murder mystery novel! This is book two of the Honjin Murders but it can be read as stand alone books.

It’s a bit of a slow start, lots of characters are introduced and there’s a wealth of information to take it. But it slowly builds up, leaving crumbs of clues for us to pick and chew over.

Incredible translation, especially with all the Japanese word plays. If you can power through the start, definitely worth the read.

“At the very end, gasping for breath, he had repeated the same words over and over. “I don’t want to die. I… I… don’t want to die. I have to get home. My three sisters will be murdered. But… but… I’m done for. Kindaichi-san, please… please go to Gokumon Island in my place.”

My thanks to Pushkin Vertigo for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Death on Gokumon Island’ by Seishi Yokomizo.

This is the fourth novel published by Pushkin Vertigo in this series featuring Detective Kosuke Kindaichi. It was originally published in Japan in 1947/48 and this first English edition was translated from the Japanese by Louise Heal Kawai.

While released in English as the fourth in the series, ‘Death on Gokumon Island’ was actually the second book, taking place nine years after the events of Book One, ‘The Honjin Murders’.

A few plot details: Detective Kosuke Kindaichi arrives on Gokumon Island bringing the tragic news that the son of one of the island's most important families has died on a troop transport ship bringing him back home after the Second World War. Yet he is there than more than a messenger. The dying man’s last words warned that with his death that the lives of his three half-sisters were now in danger. Kindaichi is determined to get to the bottom of this mysterious statement and to protect the three women if he can.

It’s not long until a series of gruesome murders begins. As the scruffy detective is an outsider, the insular islanders are suspicious of him, thus making his investigation even more difficult.

As Seishi Yokomizo is acknowledged as the King of Golden Age crime fiction in Japan, it’s no surprise that this proved an intricately plotted murder mystery. Kosuke Kindaichi’s scruffiness and hesitancy is deceptive as it conceals a razor sharp mind. He reminds me a little of Columbo.

Overall, ‘Death on Gokumon Island’ was a delight and certain to please lovers of classic detective fiction. Given that Seishi Yokomizo wrote seventy-three more cases for Detective Kosuke Kindaichi, I do hope that the publishers will consider continuing with their English translations.

A note on the cover art which continues the theme of the other books and features a sinister image against a pale circular motif. The design team have created a stylised set of covers that are bold and eye catching.

The second book of the series, according to Goodreads, is the 'Death on Gokuman Island'. The ambience is well established by the author as he talks of a remote island, the isolation of which has led to its own twisted hierarchies and issues.
The narrative begins with the loss of Japan in the World War, and it was beyond fascinating to see it and the losses families faced narrated from the native perspective. The people in the story fall into two categories. Those who actively fought and carry the scars on them (either mental or physical) and those who had to watch from afar and assist locally in any way they saw fit.
I tried to read this book with the mindset that it was not written in a different language, and any descriptions I thought were repetitive were probably something that comes along with the territory of both the age and nationality of the writer. I state this because I think it is only because I was mindful of possible new presentation styles that I was able to appreciate the mystery.
Our lead character is a detective who had his career hampered by being drafted into the war. He is now on the way to a remote island in order to keep a deathbed promise to a comrade in arms. He has to figure out the different subtle and overt relationship issues that plague the head family of the island. In order to muddy the water, there is also an escaped pirate on the loose. There is a lot to take in with regards to the different nuances. Even with that, the gloom was pervasive, and it was not hard to feel the problems doubling with every subsequent death. The ending twist was unexpected, and the way it was handled was actually a point in its favour that bumped it up for me. I am talking only of the reveal and not what people do with that information!
The culture is unique, as is the time of the story. If nothing else, these two points are reasons for any interested party to pick this book up! The translator did a pretty great job in bringing this to a language I could appreciate the work in.
I received an ARC thanks to Netgalley and the publishers, but my review is entirely based on my own reading experience of this and other works in the series.

First of all, I have to commend Louise Heal Kawai for doing an exemplary and thoughtful job in translating this brilliant book. I assume it must have been difficult to translate certain parts that depended on Japanese wordplay but still have their meaning intact in English.

Death on Gokumon Island is fraught with family drama and surprisingly, comedy as well. One thing I really loved is how Yokomizo leads the readers with just enough crumbs to craft theories along the way and then debunk them with ease on the next page. My reading experience was really fun! It creeped me out, made me laugh, made me curious, made me furious, and made me cry. Death on Gokumon Island is an incredible tale, and while it may have been better plotted (some parts needed more exposition and would have been more plausible if certain things were just mentioned in passing) it was still kind of fair play.

Kindaichi is an interesting detective as well. Here we see him as a quirky (but not too eccentric like Poirot can be), empathetic, and modest man who is driven not just by his curiosity but also by his sense of duty to the truth.

I'll have to write a more lengthy review for this book, especially on how it handled violence against women, and how the Japanese perception of patriarchy as well as ethnocentrism kind of played in the whole murder mystery.

A total snooze-fest! It was a quick read but so dull. I couldn't picture the setting at all despite the description overload nor did I care for the history of the island. There were so many characters to keep track of, which was confusing at times. Most of them weren't developed well or even relevant.

The mystery was all right. There was some suspense and I didn't guess whodunit (nor did I bother to because I was just bored and wanted to be done with). The motive felt weak but I liked the 'it was all or naught' revelation at the end.

My biggest issue with this book is the one-dimensional characters. The women were all very negatively portrayed and had no personality. Either they were ditzy airheads who go gaga over a handsome guy or they are beautiful but odd/crazy/hysterical. There's also a scene where male characters have the following conversation:

"It doesn't matter if she refuses you. That's a woman's tactic. You can't just give up and go home with your tail between your legs. You need to put some work into that too."

"The ones that say 'no, no, please, no!" They're the best. That's the height of pleasure."

Lol seriously? Granted this novel is set in the 1940s but still.

What an utter disappointment!

3.5⭐️

If you’re a fan of Agatha Christie, you’ll probably enjoy this one!

It’s a classic old school murder mystery with all the herrings, the dramatic reveal and clues spread throughout the story!

I found it a bit slow to start with many characters introduced at once… I wish it was a bit less confusing in the beginning.

I would also advise to read the Honjin Murders before picking up this one as it is mentioned quite a few times in this book although they can be read easily as standalones!

Overall, I have not much to say about it except that it is a solid murder mystery!