In the past couple of years I've enjoyed several of the recently translated/republished Japanese mysteries, which is why I was drawn to this book. The mystery itself was very layered and quite complex. But unlike most of the other books I've read, there were some things that just felt "off" in this one. Mainly, the pacing and lay out of story. But also the fact that there was repetition and and feeling of the book being somewhat bloated. On top of that, Inspector Onitsura doesn't even show up until midway through when what appeared to be the main detectives reached a stagnant point in the investigation, and overall wasn't in the book that much. If the story had been edited down I think it would have been much better. I liked it, I just wasn't blown away by it.

quite impressive!!!
if we ignore all the unnecessary details and them wiping their sweat again and again and again, this was a really good book!
plot shifting from whodunit to howdunit and the way they broke the alibi was what impressed me! 👏🏼 the howdunit part was my favourite! the murder was so cleverly planned that if it were not for a sharp-minded detective, it would have been impossible to solve and that is what i love in mysteries – a cleverly planned murder! 🙂‍↕️

thanks to the publisher and the netgalley for the copy!