Honeymoon to Nowhere

Rating:
Summary: All he was worth.
Review: After devouring Takagi's Tattoo Murder Mystery earlier this year I couldn't wait to start this book. While it may not be as good as Takagi's masterful debut, I did enjoy the Honeymoon enough to give it a full endorsement.

In a terse, focused and concentrated fashion Takagi serves the reader with another example of a crime novel that combines a flawless historical and cultural context with an imaginative and dialectic approach to crime solving.

While providing an excellent crime story, this book gives another fine example of the importance of social hierarchy in Japanese society and of it's coping with errors of the past.

Currently there will only one more of Takagi's many books available in translation, but I do hope that SOHO will issue some more in the near future.

Rating:
Summary: Japanese mystery
Review: Etsuko Ogata's father is a respected attorney and is concerned about Etsuko's future. When one of his junior partners asks for Etsuko's hand in marriage, he encourages the match. Etsuko, however, has other plans. She has become enamored of a shy university lecturer whom her family disapproves because of the young man's father's criminal record. She lies to her parents, telling them she is pregnant, and they relent, considering the circumstances. On their honeymoon night the groom receives a phone call, leaves the hotel room, and never returns. His body is found the next day. In this mystery written in the early 60's and translated from the Japanese, the protagonist is State Prosecutor Kirishima who uses classic detective procedures to discover the killer. However, the dialog and minutiae are such to drag the story to a snail's pace. Akimitsu Takagi was born in 1920. After careers in medicine and metallurgy, he was told by a fortune teller that he would write a novel. After 15 published mysteries and winning Japan's highest mystery award, he died in 1995.

Rating:
Summary: Japanese mystery
Review: Etsuko Ogata's father is a respected attorney and is concerned about Etsuko's future. When one of his junior partners asks for Etsuko's hand in marriage, he encourages the match. Etsuko, however, has other plans. She has become enamored of a shy university lecturer whom her family disapproves because of the young man's father's criminal record. She lies to her parents, telling them she is pregnant, and they relent, considering the circumstances. On their honeymoon night the groom receives a phone call, leaves the hotel room, and never returns. His body is found the next day. In this mystery written in the early 60's and translated from the Japanese, the protagonist is State Prosecutor Kirishima who uses classic detective procedures to discover the killer. However, the dialog and minutiae are such to drag the story to a snail's pace. Akimitsu Takagi was born in 1920. After careers in medicine and metallurgy, he was told by a fortune teller that he would write a novel. After 15 published mysteries and winning Japan's highest mystery award, he died in 1995.

Rating:
Summary: a literary Japanses detective story
Review: I enjoyed the cultural differences that made the mystery story more faceted, made more so by the Australian translation. I read it in one evening. I was caught up by the charactization of Etsuko and the problem of her and her parents choice of a husband for her. Then her husband's secrets. Then his disappearance and the process of the crime being solved the the prosecutor. The pacing of the ending was too quick - a bit out of sync with the rest of the book. But otherwise an enjoyable read. Upon finishing it, I immediately ordered the other two books by the author.

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable
Review: It's not fantastic. It won't grab you from page one. But it's quite enjoyable.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing as a Mystery
Review: Lately I have been reading the works of Japanese authors such as Mishima and Abe, and after reading the wonderful mystery-novel by Miyuki Miyabe ("All she was worth"), I bought "Honeymoon to Nowhere." I can't say that I didn't like this book, although, as a mystery it is rather disappointing. The first half is certainly entertaining -- the author manages to create an atmosphere of possibilities, and, well, suggestive of mysteries. But the second half seems rather artificial and the mystery unwinds in a very unsurprising sort of a way. In fact, the mystery is solved in a very crude and abrupt manner that leaves the reader very unsatisfied. Another disappointment is that none of the characters are well drawn. Read the Miyabe book instead.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing as a Mystery
Review: Lately I have been reading the works of Japanese authors such as Mishima and Abe, and after reading the wonderful mystery-novel by Miyuki Miyabe ("All she was worth"), I bought "Honeymoon to Nowhere." I can't say that I didn't like this book, although, as a mystery it is rather disappointing. The first half is certainly entertaining -- the author manages to create an atmosphere of possibilities, and, well, suggestive of mysteries. But the second half seems rather artificial and the mystery unwinds in a very unsurprising sort of a way. In fact, the mystery is solved in a very crude and abrupt manner that leaves the reader very unsatisfied. Another disappointment is that none of the characters are well drawn. Read the Miyabe book instead.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing as a Mystery
Review: Lately I have been reading the works of Japanese authors such as Mishima and Abe, and after reading the wonderful mystery-novel by Miyuki Miyabe ("All she was worth"), I bought "Honeymoon to Nowhere." I can't say that I didn't like this book, although, as a mystery it is rather disappointing. The first half is certainly entertaining -- the author manages to create an atmosphere of possibilities, and, well, suggestive of mysteries. But the second half seems rather artificial and the mystery unwinds in a very unsurprising sort of a way. In fact, the mystery is solved in a very crude and abrupt manner that leaves the reader very unsatisfied. Another disappointment is that none of the characters are well drawn. Read the Miyabe book instead.

Rating:
Summary: Imagine a Japanese Anne Perry
Review: Like the Inspector Monk series by Anne Perry, which is set in Victorian England, this book is much more character- and culture-driven than plot-driven, which may be why one reviewer complained about the slow pace. There are many similaries between 1960s Japan and Victorian England, too. It's socially unacceptable to ask pointed questions; often what people don't say is more important than what they do. Women are stereotyped as fragile flowers in need of protection, despite their behavior to the contrary. And policemen are somewhat looked down upon, as though soiled by the act of crime solving. I'd much rather read a book like this, well written and from a new, culturally unfamiliar perspective, than the 47th fast-action, formulaic potboiler by an author who's long since run out of fresh ideas.

Rating:
Summary: intriguing and intelligent!
Review: The story was a fascinating look at a conservative Japanese culture which is steeped in tradition. The rules are much stricter than in more liberal countries. It is not only a person's ability and character that determine his/her fate, but also his/her family background. Having a "black sheep" in the family may block a person from making a respectable marriage match or joining the staff of an elite university or firm, no matter how capable or brilliant the person. Also, the author revealed fascinating details of Japanese law, such as the rules regarding inheritance and patents as well as the criminal investigation procedure itself. The mystery was very suspenseful and kept me guessing until the very end. The investigation was conducted in a steady, logical manner and built up to a dramatic conclusion. In many ways, the investigation resembled a more in depth version of an episode of the excellent TV series "Law and Order" except for the Japanese setting. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and also recommend the other two English translations of Takagi's works, namely "The Tattoo Murder case", and "The Informer". Also, fans of Takagi may also enjoy, the mystery "All she was worth", by Miyuki Miyabe.