4 stars!

I'm very guilty of judging a book by it's cover and not reading the description/summary at all before starting, so when I picked this up I was expecting a cozy mystery, where food somehow helps solve crimes.

While there wasn't any violent crime, I might argue that it is a crime to lose recipes over time, or only get to eat an incredible meal once. Koishi Kamogawa and her father Nagare are crime fighters in that regard — they help recover "lost" foods, so that an aging man can enjoy a childhood meal, or so that a woman can enjoy the meal she was eating when she was first proposed to again, for example. This was a very cozy story about the connection food can have with emotions, memories, time and place. It made me nostalgic for my own past meals, and very hungry too!

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for a DRC in exchange for my honest review :)

The Kamogawa Food Detectives is not exactly what I expected, though the title makes it very clear. Instead of being a cozy (or any other) mystery, it is quite literally about a daughter and her father who find and make important recipes for their clients and unearth the stories behind them. Koishi and Nagare run a little, unassuming restaurant in Kyoto with the primary purpose of helping people find what they lost, relive memories, and heal through food. The format feels almost like interconnected short stories, with each chapter focusing on a different character/client that needs the Kamogawa's help. The Japanese setting and atmosphere is lovely, and the food descriptions are wonderful. The overall vibe is one of nostalgia and comfort.

I am not a big short story fan, so this format was not my favorite but the author succeeded in creating a book that feels undeniably pleasant, like a warm hug or rather a warm bowl of soup. Fans of "What You Are Looking For is in the Library" will also likely enjoy this translated work.

The Kamogawa Food Detectives published on 2/13/24.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced review copy.

Gratitude to NetGalley, PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons, and Hisashi Kashiwai for the ARC of "The Kamogawa Food Detectives." The cover's charm, featuring Asian cuisine and a cat, piqued my interest and set the tone for a delightful read.

Within Kyoto's Kamogawa Diner, Koishi Kamogawa and her father Nagare embark on a unique culinary journey as 'food detectives.' The narrative, rich with heartwarming stories, revolves around recreating dishes tied to customers' memories. From a widower's quest for a special noodle dish to the nostalgia of a first love's beef stew, the book seamlessly weaves food, emotion, and connection.

"The Kamogawa Food Detectives" is more than a book; it's a celebration of shared meals and the connections they forge. Warning: Do not read hungry! The vivid descriptions led me to pause mid-read, succumbing to the irresistible allure by preparing a bowl of Ramen. This Japanese bestseller is a heartwarming tribute to good company and the magic of shared culinary experiences.

The concept of this was very precious. I love the idea that there is a detective team tracking down what made a culinary dish taste perfect at one moment in time. Nothing can evoke a memory quite like tasting or smelling a dish so delicious we’d been dreaming of it ever since our first taste.

I thought the characters were very sweet and the premise was very unique. This is a short read, but is definitely a book I will think about for a long time after. What would my nostalgia dish be? Honestly, I try to do this detective work myself already. I just recently solved my 18 year mystery of the best pizza pie I’d ever had in Chicago. All I remembered was the front door, the taste of course, and that the pizzeria was within walking distance of the Peggy Notebart Nature Museum. I like to think I’m one of the Food Detectives now, too.

Translated from Japanese a quirky little story about a father and daughter detective team. They don't solve crimes. They food mysteries. Cute.

Thank you, NetGalley!

When I requested this book I thought it was a cozy mystery but more of a heartfelt story. Overall, It was a good book, but I should have read the description better. It was nice to learn more about the different cuisines of Japan.

A quirky, cozy mystery set around a father-daughter team that operate a food detective agency out of the back of their very low key restaurant. I had fun with this title, but really wished that there had been more stories in this volume - it felt a bit cut off by the end, and I wanted more from each story and also from the characters, too. What are daughter-father team Koishi and Nagare's backstories? What happened to Koishi's mom/Nagare's wife? What made them go into figuring out food mysteries for strangers? I know this is a series, and there might be these answers further on, but a bit more info up front would have made this story easier to relate to, and made me feel closer to the two main characters and their clients.

Have you ever had a dish or a meal stuck in your memories, and you try to recreate it… but it’s just not right? The father-daughter team in The Kamogawa Food Detectives specialize in these cases and the book is a collection of short stories or cases in which they help people of all ages who, for varying reasons, are trying to relive that memory of an important meal. And in each case the meal is just the center point of life changing memories. This is for anyone who read and enjoyed Before the Coffee gets Cold.

I thought this book had a wonderful premise and interesting ideas, but unfortunately the translation to English was not the best. The language was a bit lackluster.

The Kamogawa Food Detectives
by: Hisashi Kashiwai
PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons

I would describe The Kamogawa Food Detectives as a culinary mystery. The Kamogawa Diner is a restaurant in Kyoto that is ran by Koishi Kamogawa and her father Nagare. People come to the restaurant so that Koishi and Nagare can recreate memorable food dishes from their past.

The book is divided into six chapters. These tell the individual stories of six guests who sought out the restaurant, as well as history of the dish from their pasts. Kashiwai's writing is warm, engaging, and written with a deep respect for cuisine, treasured recipes, and the ingredients and techniques used in preparation. This book is first in a series.
Thank you to Net Galley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons for an advance reader's copy. My review is my own.

I had no idea what to expect going into this book, but the cute cover totally roped me in and I was pleasantly surprised. I'm not normally a fan of mystery/suspense books, but the cozy theme of this one intrigued me. I've been to Japan several times and absolutely love it, making it easy for me to really envision the scenes. I really enjoyed the central theme of nostalgia throughout.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title. It was a bestseller in Japan and has been translated into English. Nagare Kamogawa and his daughter, Koishi operate the Kamogawa Diner from a nondescript diner. There are no signs or menu, and people primarily come for one thing, The Kamogawa Detective Agency. They track down the recipes for those longed for dishes from our pasts.

An utterly delightful read. Each chapter presents a different dish and the experiences of the person seeking it. The book is a love letter to food and how it connects us. Food, especially those dishes from our past, is so evocative. It transports us through time and space, reminding us of connections to our family, to our culture, to our place in the world. Nagare and Koishiare our grounds and our guides on this journey, and I appreciate how they unfold over the course of the book. I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did.

🐾 Can we talk about how adorable this cover is?!? Absolute purrfection! 🐾

I absolutely loved this! Cozy, heartfelt and packed with delicious food - it reminded me of the perfect mix of cozy mystery + the Before the Coffee Gets Cold.

10/10 recommend and am keeping my fingers crossed that we get more Hisashi Kashiwai novels translated into English!

Thank you G.P. Putnam's Sons for the gifted copy!

📚 #BOOKREVIEW 📚
The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / Pages: 207 / Genre: Cozy Mystery

Koishi Kamogawa and her father Nagare run a tiny restaurant in Kyoto. They are also food detectives. Customers come to them with a vague memory of a dish they had eaten long ago but has stuck with them for years. Based on seemingly little information, former police detective and now a skilled chef, Nagare traces the origins of each dish and memory until he is able to recreate the dish exactly as remembered.

I really enjoyed this very quaint and cozy mystery, especially the vivid descriptions of all the Japanese dishes. Each final dish also provided crucial missing pieces to each customer’s version of their memory. The only thing I wished the writer had done differently is to take us with Nagare as he visited each place and figured it all out. Instead, we just get his verbal account of it as he tells it to the customer.

All in all though, I liked this story. Thank you @netgalley and @putnambooks for the advanced copy of this book.

I loved this! Almost felt like a collection of short stories versus one linear story. Very cozy and heartwarming, and I loved that it never felt too serious. Absolutely adorable

Father daughter team Nagare and Koishi run the Kamogawa Diner, but also serve as the Kamogawa Detective Agency, helping people track down nostalgic meals or dishes.

These 6 short food stories composing a novella are a cozy slice of life in this small Kyoto restaurant and"detective agency". Each story tells the connection to someone's treasured meal they are trying to recapture. A quick and cozy read.

Thank you to Putnam Books for an egalley on NetGalley.

Thanks for the free ebook @prhinternational @netgalley @putnambooks

After the audiobook, I knew I would love reading this book too. This book is for food lovers who live on nostalgic memories and would probably do anything to relive the experience.

A Japanese fiction that allows us to explore the relationship between food and people along with a zest to solve a good mystery. I enjoy reading about people who are simply striving through life following their passion. Each story (or mystery) in this book brings you closer to the Japanese cuisine. It's cozy and welcomes all readers with open arms. Surely one of those books that you can read again and again for different reasons (mystery, conversations or even food recipes).

Genre: #japanesefiction #food #mystery
Rating: 4/5 ⭐️

Note: I know this won't count as another book in my annual Goodreads challenge, but I am still happy I got to reread the story. N I do feel the experience has been a little different. There is just something about actually reading the words like "phew" and exhaling along with it 😅

Thank you Penguin Random House for my e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. This was a great arc that I’ve got.

Koishi Kamogawa and her father Nagare owns a restaurant, Kamogawa diner. And they’re food detectives, that’s why a lot of customers are always stoping by. Through investigations, they can recreate dishes from a person’s treasured memories.

The father a daughter have been listening to their customer’s story so that they know what ingredients they need for the food that the customer forgetting and also want to taste the same food they ate before. Nobuko story was so sad. All her memories are now coming back after fifty five years. Every customers has a sad story but Koishi and Nagare will help them to be happy again by eating the food that they missed eating it.

I know reading this book will make me hungry and crave for those food. And yes I’m right. Now I want katsudon 😭🤤 the more you read, the more you go through all those chapters, it gets sadder. The stories of different customers was making me cry especially Suyako’s story 😭

What a cozy and adorable book! "The Kamogawa Food Detectives" is about a father and daughter duo who run a detective agency devoted to recreating the food items of people's pasts. I found it utterly charming; the interactions between the characters were fun to read, I adored learning more about Japanese cuisines, and I always find it heartwarming reading about the way food touches people's pasts and present.

This was just the cozy read I was needing! It was more of a 3.5/5 for me, but I'm rounding up because I feel it's more deserved than rounding down, and because I think that those with more culinary experience will have an even greater appreciation for the detail put into this sweet book. Much of the culinary detail itself went over my head, but I could appreciate it for what it was to the characters. I would definitely recommend this for a warm, cozy read on a rainy weekend day.