A cosy book, which made me feel so hungry everytime I flipped a few pages. A lovely book exploring the power of food over memories and happiness. I loved how it dealt with relationships and emotions all centred around recipes and culinary ingredients. A very sensory read! It reminded me a lot of Before the coffee gets cold. This is a book I will likely find myself reaching for again

A belated Thanks to Putnam and NetGalley for an eARC of this charming title.
It is like reading a food magna, without the illustrations. Especially the dialog and exclamations.
6 short stories of former detective Nagare (widowed) and his 30ish daughter Koishi running a restaurant run down on the outside and without a sign, and hunting down precise recipes from the past for their clients. Lots of nostalgia here. And the clients really have to work to find the place (they place a one line ad in a food magazine - no address or contact information).
So, LOTS of food description. Specific locations within Kyoto, where they are based, and the rest of Japan. But you can read this with enjoyment without knowing exactly what is being referenced, or you can Google locations and sites.
Each story follows a formula, including the photos in the hallway that leads to the "detective agency" office behind the restaurant. And the cat Drowsy at the door, always trying to get in.
Each story is short, and we don’t get the blow by blow of Nagare's actual detection, but rather him sharing with the client how and what he found out. Not all the clients are likeable.
I wish Putnam provided us with more information on the author and the series. Kashiwai has written a number of these, but it is a bit unclear how many. This was published in Japan in 2013, and is just now being translated into English. Were the stories published individually, and then brought together under one cover - or published as a book for the first time? Another title in the series will be published in October 2024, "The Restaurant of Lost Recipes" (next on my reading list, and my thanks once again for an eARC to Putnam's and NetGalley).
Short, and the stories roll along quickly as well. Charming, and fun - and Foody! Makes me want to go out and get some Japanese food - even though it would not be near as good as what is described here........
A strong 4 out of 5.

While this book has an intriguing premise and may even be enjoyable to a certain type of reader, I found it not as exciting and interesting as I hoped it would be.

This was an unexpected surprise! It's a cozy mystery, but it's the coziest mystery I've ever read because there's no death, just talk of food. They're food detectives so they seek out recipes for food that people remember without knowing the details of the actual mystery.

Even though this one was a cozy mystery and a dang good one, it was also a character study into father daughter relationship. And it also had me wanting a sequel.

A gentle love letter to the power of food. A book to savor.

While the conceit makes the book a bit on the formulaic side, it's one of those that you can put down and pick up again. In fact, read in installments makes the book more enjoyable: gentle vignettes to punctuate your life with peace and reflection.

I absolutely adored this book! It was a sweet, cozy read that I couldn’t put down. The individual stories were incredibly lovely and wove together wonderfully. I absolutely can’t wait to read the next book and will likely give this as a gift!

i didn't really enjoy this book. there was no plot, it was mostly just short stories about different people that don't connect. the premise of the story is that it's about a father-daughter duo that specialize in finding dishes for people. it's descriptive about the different meals, so i was craving japanese food everytime i read this. it was honestly kind of a boring book and i just didn't particularly enjoy reading it. however, i do appreciate the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book!

This book was an ode to food and the memories it evokes. While I had never heard of many of the dishes mentioned in this book, it had me remembering some of my own childhood foods and the associated memories.

People come to the Kamogawa restaurant/detective business only if they can decipher a cryptic magazine advertisement. And they come wanting recipes for food they ate long ago and are missing. Each chapter of the book has a new person, their desired food, and the resolution. I loved the descriptions of the amazing meals, and of the people and their pasts.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group for the e-book copy!

The Kamogawa Food Detectives follows a restaurant with a unique model as they cook food for their clients based solely on their memories. Each client has their own story and the owner and his daughter have to decipher them to recreate an accurate dish. This story worked for me because it felt like it could be a TV show. The stories are episodic in nature and provide the reader with enough to be entertained. I can see this not being for everyone as it is monotonous but I think if you go in expecting low stakes, it will work for you. I recommend this and will be reading book two when it gets released.

This was a great book! I very much enjoyed it and I look forward to reading the author’s next work! Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy.

A nice cozy book! The Kamogawa Food Detectives are a father-daughter team who help people recreate food from their past. Loved the focus on nostalgia and how important our senses and food can be to memory and relationships. This was just so similar to Before the Coffee Gets cold, the structure of strangers finding their way into a Japanese cafe for the owners help over and over, and it felt too repetitive to me in this book. Still enjoyed and would recommend if you need a nice palate cleanser/something easy! Thanks to NetGalley for the arc!

In "The Kamogawa Food Detectives," Hisashi Kashiwai serves up a truly mouthwatering and poignant blend of culinary delight and human drama. This charming novel centers around Koishi Kamogawa and her father Nagare, whose unassuming Kyoto diner offers far more than just delicious meals - they meticulously recreate dishes from customers' treasured memories, unlocking the potential for healing and self-discovery.
Kashiwai's sensuous descriptions of the Kamogawas' gastronomic sleuthing make this book an absolute feast for the senses. From parsing the subtlest flavors to unraveling the histories and emotions baked into each long-forgotten recipe, the novel pays loving homage to the profound connections between food, memory, and identity.

Full review below!

I want to begin this review by stating that this book was simply not for me, and that is the sole reason for this rating. There was no problem with the writing style, and I only had one or two small complaints with the actual content of the book. Simply put, I am not a short story girlie and had no idea what I was going into would feel more like a series of short stories than one cohesive plot. That doesn't mean that this book is bad - it just means that I am not the audience for it.

The Kamogawa Food Detectives follows a father-daughter cooking pair who are able to bring people's most cherished culinary memories to life. This book showcases five unique cases that the pair must solve. Each chapter has extremely detailed descriptions of the methods and ingredients that were used for each dish. I think that those more familiar with Japan will enjoy hearing about the regional differences in ingredients and probably be able to relate more to the important differences between water from one area vs. another.

The main issue for me was that there was no plot. It was just a series of entertaining stories about a father and daughter that cook together and the people they help along the way. The descriptions of food were neat, but the formula for each chapter felt repetitive after the first two, and the third continued the trend. I am told that this plot is almost identical to Before the Coffee Gets Cold, and I am sure that people who liked that story will like this one, too. It simply wasn't a story written for me.

This was a cute and cozy read. At times it was a little slow for me, and unfortunately had to force myself to finish this one. Started out strong but felt weak towards the end. Loved the world and prose, so will be looking for more from this author, but this just wasn't the right book for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This book is essentially a series of 6 vignettes. Six different people find the Kamogawa Food Detectives, a father and daughter who own a small obscure restaurant. If you go in, they'll serve you a set meal of the chef's choice, an amazing assortment of comforting dishes. Then each of the books six seekers go into a back room where the daughter interviews them about the real reason that they've come: they are seeking to have a certain remembered dish replicated. The daughter gathers what information she can and then the father (a former detective) goes and researches ingredients to figure out how to accomplish their task, usually completed in two weeks.

The first person who asks for a recipe is also a former detective, a former colleague of the father's. He wants an udon dish just the way his wife (who has passed on) used to make it before he decides whether to get more serious about the relationship he's currently in. Then there's a beef stew that an older lady would like as she finds herself nostalgic about a past relationship of her own. Other requests include a Napolitan spaghetti like the one a father made for his young daughter and a hearty fried tonkatsu from a refined lady who rarely eats meat but who has been thinking about this dish from her past. In each case, the detective finds ingredients sourced from exactly where they were from before and finds an emotional connection from each person to the dish.

That's the book! Stakes are low, it's very cozy. I had to look up some Japanese foods and ingredients because I wasn't familiar with them and it was worth it every time. The author seems to have enough regional food knowledge that I was interested in learning from him. If you need a book where nothing bad happens, this is a great way to spend a couple of hours.

I have mixed feelings about this one. I absolutely LOVED the nostalgia, the food descriptions and the overall happy feelings I got from these stories.

On the other hand, they all followed a formula that made the book boring.... but not. That's what I'm saying. The overall feeling was so nice, but I think I was left wanting something more or maybe for all the stories to tie together at the end??

Don't read this book on an empty stomach. Even if you don't like food other than American, these food descriptions will, at a minimum, send you out in bad weather for a hot bowl of Ramen.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for an e-copy of THE KAMOGAWA FOOD DETECTIVES to review.

I rate THE KAMOGAWA FOOD DETECTIVES three out of five stars.

Adored this book! Loved the unique take on the cozy mystery genre by focusing on culinary mysteries rather than a murder to solve. Also had thoughtful things to say about grief.

This was such a cute cozy read but it made me so hungry! This book follows a father daughter team who recreate missing or forgotten recipes for people . This was a cute easy comfort read that is all about food helping multiple people recreate their favorite recipe’s. This book was different from other cozy mysteries no murders no crimes just good people and good food. This is my first book from this author and really enjoyed it made me want to take a food vacation. I would like to thank net galley and the publishers for a chance to read this book for an honest review.

A cozy detective book centered on people's desires to find a dish from their past. Koishi takes notes on each case and tries to find out what she can about the person's request and then her father Nagare investigates and finds the dish, then recreates it for the person. Each person has a different reason for their search but all revolve around some current issue in their life that the dish reminds them of. Overall, low stakes mysteries that give off a very cozy vibe and feature delicious food descriptions.