Japanese Murder Mystery Book Recommendation: The Tokyo Zodiac Murders

Hi Readers! April has been a fantastic reading month. I read 14 books and I might just read one more before the end of the month. Here’s a short review of a gory yet fun murder mystery novel.

Have you ever read a mystery that has so many angles to it that it becomes impossible to understand what’s going on but also makes it kind of fun? In The Tokyo Zodiac Murders, we obviously have astrology. There’s also a lot of geography, mathematics, alchemy and at times history and astronomy too. Even from a mystery standpoint, we have three cases with eight murders including one locked room mystery with a lot of grotesque details.

The book is divided into five main parts and a few interludes. The first part is reviewing all the murders that happened in 1936. That was 100 pages of information overload. I did lose interest a lot and had to take occasional notes. But after that, the remaining four parts were all in 1979 (40 years after the murders) with active detective work. So, that was more lively and interesting. There are two interceptions wherein the author has written a note to the reader to let us know that we have all the clues to solve the murder. That was unique and I absolutely loved it!

As in most Japanese murder mysteries, there were abundance of characters. But I did enjoy the two main detectives, with all their quirks. The ending was fascinating as well. Even if I had attempted to figure it out, I’m sure it would’ve been really challenging. So, the unpredictability of it was what I love in a mystery novel.

All in all, this is a recommendation for those who love reading the crime and mystery genre. If you’re willing to look past some gory details, you’ll come to enjoy the story. I have rated The Tokyo Zodiac Murders by Soji Shimada at 4/5 stars!

Until next time,