Koishi and Nagare Kamogawa operate two businesses from the nondescript building on Shomen-dori in Kyoto: The Kamogawa Diner and the Kamogawa Detective Agency. Clients arrive, are invited to eat from the day’s set menu, then head to the back where Koishi interviews them to get an idea of the dish they want prepared - its historical value, where food items were probably sourced, and any other qualities that will help Nagare, a former police detective, to track down and recreate the dish.

Each of the six chapters follows the same formula: the client has a tricky time finding the place, looks around at the interior and is impressed with the high quality of the food they are invited to eat, then they go through the interview, wait a couple of weeks, get the dish served to them and an account of Nagare’s detective work that led him to successfully recreating not only the specific dish, but helping to open up the client to the emotional impact it had on them then and now.

While some might find the repetition tedious, I loved it. Each chapter reveals a little more of Nagare and Koishi, so that by the final chapter, you appreciate the roundness of their characters. I think most people will be struck the most by the delicious food and the great descriptions of the dishes. Lots of reviewers say, “I devoured this book” for good reason! I get the feeling that the formula helps to establish a sense of solidity; the world is always changing, restaurants disappear and beloved family members pass on, but the Kamogawas exist to ensure that lost things can be found. This sets this apart from other detective stories because of that focus on re-establishing a connection to the past through taste. I can think of several dishes that I’d love to have someone recreate for me from my past!

I look forward to more tasty dishes in the future from Hisashi Kashiwai.

For those of you unfamiliar with Japanese cuisine and culture, you’ll want to look up dishes and ingredients, and you may even want to have a map of Japan open so you can follow along for full immersion into the book. I loved learning more of the etiquette around eating as well as Buddhist traditions honoring departed loved ones. Thank you, Hisashi Kashiwai, and thank you to Jesse Kirkwood for the great translation to English!

Reader advisory: great book for readers of all ages, and definitely recommended to Japanese language students. Readers may also want to visit Japanese restaurants to sample some of the dishes mentioned!

Thank you, G.P. Putnam’s Sons and NetGalley, for granting me a copy of this book for review. Any opinions are my own; I’m not receiving any kind of douceur for my write-up.

Do you have a dish you wish you could taste for one last time? Something so far-fetched and random, you can't even remember a lot of the details but you remember the taste and other memories surrounding it? That is where the Kamogawa Food Detectives come in! A daughter and father run a diner together and they help recreate specific meals that are connected to specific memories and people.

I really liked this book! I feel like a lot of the Japanese literature I have read has been very cozy and this one is no different. Each chapter is about a different person and we learn their backstory and what meal they want. A lot of the meals are connected to specific memories or people. I loved the different stories and the nostalgia connected to the food. It made for a cozy environment. I also loved the different food descriptions. I am not super familiar with Japanese food but all of the food described in the book sounded delicious! The characters were all very likeable and it made for a very cute and cozy story. We also have a cat that makes an appearance and that was fun too. The book was only about 200 pages so it was also a quick read. I also think the cover is super cute! Time to go get some Japanese food!

I do wish we got a bit more of the actual detective work that was done. It basically skipped over all of that but I think it would have been a fun addition to see. We only got a bit of how the dad tracked down the recipe but I think the book could have been a bit longer and could've followed the dad through his discoveries. That is my only complaint!

If you enjoy cozy books and Japanese cozy books, I would definitely recommend this one! Thanks so much to netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons for the arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I posted this review on netgalley and Goodreads. I will also post an Instagram story about it. I also plan to post a review on my Instagram closer to the release date.

This was such a fun and cozy read!
I love a lot of Japanese fiction and I couldn’t resist the cover art of this one. Some people might be confused with detective in the title and expect something a little darker, but this is truly a light hearted comforting read.
Featuring a father daughter duo that recreate nostalgic dishes for patrons who wish to remember a moment of their past, this collection of 'mysteries' will leave your heart warm.

Thank you to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for the eARC.

translated, Japan, foodie, contemporary, ex-cop, detective, father-and-daughter, investigations, friendship, friends, family, nostalgia, culinary, cultural-exploration, cultural-heritage*****

The Kamogawa Diner is a restaurant of “lost recipes” where patrons request the Food Detectives (ex-cop father and modern daughter) to unlock a prized memory from their past. The mystery and the investigations are very uncommon to many of us but the foodie aspect is somewhat similar to the foodies of some European nations. I was delighted to find that it has a fluid translation and that I could use it to go on a cultural expedition as well as a foodie delight. Now all I need is an audio so I don't have to mangle the Japanese in my head!
Thanks to Jesse Kirkwood for the smooth translation.
I requested and received an EARC from PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons via NetGalley. Thank you!

A sweet read from a prolific author who also writes really good nonfiction.
This was a popular series in Japan and I've seen it dramatized for television as well. In the process of translation, some nuances are lost, but it was a fun read and yet another charming book for those readers of Japanese literature who enjoy a warm and cozy read.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. It's a sweet addition to the genre of translated Japanese literature.

"The Kamogawa Food Detectives is the first book in the bestselling, mouth-watering Japanese series, for fans of Before the Coffee Gets Cold.

What's the one dish you'd do anything to taste just one more time?

Down a quiet backstreet in Kyoto exists a very special restaurant. Run by Koishi Kamogawa and her father Nagare, the Kamogawa Diner serves up deliciously extravagant meals. But that's not the main reason customers stop by...

The father-daughter duo are 'food detectives'. Through ingenious investigations, they are able to recreate dishes from a person's treasured memories - dishes that may well hold the keys to their forgotten past and future happiness. The restaurant of lost recipes provides a link to vanished moments, creating a present full of possibility.

A bestseller in Japan, The Kamogawa Food Detectives is a celebration of good company and the power of a delicious meal."

Could this be my favorite cover so far this year? Yes. Yes it is.

3.5 stars. A cozy read about a food detective. Definitely a quick book to curl up with. Cute cute cute.

This was a gorgeous meditation on the relationship between grief and food. It was also a super cozy read for a cold winter day! Would definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants to have an overall feel good read to absorb in one sitting.

In a non-descript restaurant, you can enjoy the daily special and then get help finding the recipe for a dish that you have longed for. This was a very enjoyable read.

Koishi and Nagare Kamogawa are a father-daughter duo who run a very special restaurant in Kyoto that is off the beaten path. You wouldn't know it was there unless someone told you or if you saw the one-line advertisement in a food magazine. In addition to cooking wonderfully tasty Japanese meals, the two run a food detective agency. If someone wants to eat a meal from their childhood, for example, Nagare can do it; it's the perfect way to put his ex-police officer skills with his chef expertise.

I loved each story in this book. I feel like food can bring back specific memories and evoke certain emotions, so I found this book quite fun. Each chapter is a different detective case and, thus, a different meal and the author shared so many details about each side dish and ingredient, it made me hungry. The author was so descriptive about the food.

My main drawback about this book was just how repetitive it all felt. It was like each chapter followed a specific algorithm, so even though the detective cases were different, each chapter also felt the same.

This book was so unique though. I've never read a book where someone does food detective work, and I really enjoyed learning how Nagare was going to go about learning the recipe. He was so thorough, and I was excited for that final reveal every chapter.

Cute, heartwarming book featuring a restaurant in Kyoto with a "detective service" to help people find and re-create long-lost dishes they loved in the past. Comparisons to Before the Coffee Gets Cold are apt, though I found Before to be better written. Overall, a fast read that would be great for a little armchair travel to Japan - but don't read this hungry! ;)

I loved the permise of this novel. I read it in one day. It was charming and gave me a lot to think about. That said, for my personal preferences, I would've liked to have seen the actions of Koishi and Nagare doing the sleuthing to discover the mysteries behind the recipes their clients came to them to find. Instead it was told in a simple summary. This made the book feel very on-the-surface for me, lacking depth. The storytelling style was easy to read, characters crisscrossing, and I liked the short story snippets we received from the characters- who were well rounded and interesting. But going quickly from the client coming and explaining their desires to the next moment their return, felt too sudden. I wished to see more of the action.

A father-daughter duo run a restaurant slash detective agency where they work to track down dishes the clients recall from their memories, oftentimes after years have passed! Your mouth will be watering as you hear the clients’ descriptions, the detectives re-creations, and about other dishes on the menu and you’ll
be running to the nearest Japanese restaurant as soon as you put the book down. I wish recipes, even if fictionalized, had been included as I’m sure a lot of readers attracted to the book title and description are foodies and/or cooks themselves.

Don’t read while hungry! 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘒𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘨𝘢𝘸𝘢 𝘍𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘋𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 is a charming story about former police officer-turned-chef Nagare and his adult daughter Koishi. Together, they run a small, discreet restaurant in Kyoto that also happens to be a sort of detective agency—they help their clients track down long-lost recipes from their past and prepare it for them. The book covers six cases, each with a different character, situation, and dish. The tales are simple and readable and the food descriptions are wonderful and enticing. The language is a bit stiff and forced at times, but that could be due to the Japanese to English translation. Overall, this is a delightful, heartwarming book that is perfect for a cozy read.

This is a touching and heartfelt mystery book that features a father-daughter duo who are food detectives. Together, they investigate and recreate dishes from a person's treasured memories. This book celebrates Japanese food culture and the significance a good meal can have on a person. This is such a cozy story and I enjoyed it!

I received an advance copy via NetGalley.

This work of translation is a unique kind of mystery book made up of a sequence of short story "cases." If someone is seeking a memorable restaurant food from decades ago, or a re-creation of their long-dead mother's soup recipe, they go to the food detectives in their tucked-away shop that is almost impossible to find. The father and daughter duo therein use the scant clues provided by the client to re-create the long-lost food.

Now, many of the clues involves minute details from Japanese culture and geography. These aren't mysteries that an ignorant American like myself could solve, but that didn't detract from my enjoyment at all because the logic is explained beautifully. Plus, the food is described in luscious detail. This is a dangerous book to eat while hungry!

Mr. Kamogawa is a retired detective who runs a restaurant/detective agency with his daughter. The restauant isn't easily found, and the advertisement doesn't provide an address. Do you have a yearning to taste your favorite dish from your past? If yes, please find Mr. Kamogawa and his daughter to help you.

Like a cup of warm tea slowly heats and soothes your insides while you drink it, is this story to the reader's heart. It's so so so good. It's cozy and sweet and heartbreaking and endearing. The characters are all so loveable and complex, and the FOOD DESCRIPTIONS will make your mouth water. I want this to be turned into a show asap, and I want more stories. This is in my top 5 read books of the year!

I thought this was a very sweet read! Honestly, I look forward to seeing how the western audience responds to the story, but I have high hopes and am going to keep an eye out for it when it hits shelves in February! Thank you NetGalley and PRH for the advanced read!

dnf @ 33%


This book was incredibly cozy and warm, but I probably wasn't the best fit for it, despite being so excited to read it. It feels more like a collection of short stories rather than a proper novel, and I think if I'd come into it expecting that (rather than one cohesive novel), I would have had more success reading it. (I'm also not a big short story person, so that's another count against me.)

That being said, I absolutely loved the emotional warmth that came through on every page. The restaurant lent all that I read a wonderful coziness that I think would really appeal to many readers. I think this will be a perfect read for winter or early spring!