Malice by Keigo Higashino
Translated by Alexander O Smith — This year has been a good one for lovers of Japanese literature in translation. Across all genres, Japanese literature in English has flown off the shelves. In crime fiction in particular, the second half of 2014 has seen three…
The Corners of the Globe by Robert Goddard
James ‘Max’ Maxsted is a former RAF pilot who had successfully battled the Germans in the skies above the Western Front. In the first book in this trilogy, The Ways of the World, Maxsted traded the RAF for the intrigue of 1919 Paris, where he…
The Investigation
Korean crime fiction is something of a rarity, so this translation by Chi-Young Kim is a find. It is 1944, and a mixture of criminals, anti-war activists and Korean partisans are being held in Fukuoka Prison, a Japanese POW camp. The guards have a particularly…
A Slight Trick of the Mind by Mitch Cullin
Just when you thought it impossible to find another workable seam in the Sherlock Holmes gold mine, along comes someone who has other ideas. It needs saying from the outset that this is as far removed from the standard Sherlock Holmes homage as it is…
The Investigation
Written by Jung-Myung Lee, translated by Chi-Young Kim — There’s been a move on of late to introduce Western readers to Korea’s literary traditions. However, up until now we’ve not come across many Korean crime pieces. The Investigation fits the bill, and more… The book is…
Fallen Angel
Written by Jonelle Patrick — In recent years, the seedier underbelly of Japanese nightlife and hostess clubs has been exposed by Mo Hayder in her novel Tokyo (aka The Devil of Nanking) and Susanna Quinn’s Glass Geishas. The popularity and also potential dangers of this system,…
The Red Star of Cádiz
Written by Ōsaka Gō — This is an unusual book by any standards. Written in 1986 by one of Japan’s most versatile authors it has been translated here into English for the first time. Osaka Go’s work sells consistently well in his home country, and this novel…