The Meiji period brought about the extensive modernization and Westernization of the Japan and also the period which started with the overthrowing of the Tokugawa Shogunate. The latter part of the era in the early 20th century is also known as the golden age of the Japanese enamels.
During this time of change there was understandably widespread in the country shaped the understanding and process of the writings inspired by the age.

The story is a perfect example of stories out of Japan with locked room mysteries, murder mysteries and eerie-violent stories. This story has some complicated, strange murders which despite the passage of time from when the book was originally written. I have a fascination for these kind of stories which have come out of Japan and this story does not disappoint at any point.

This is an excellent story and one that I have no problem recommending to other readers.

This book was a bit difficult for me to get through. While it was interesting to read a mystery set in the Meiji Restoration Era in Japan, there was so much involvement of the politics and historical elements of that time period that it made this tale seem bogged down and unnecessarily confusing. I usually enjoy historical books but, although I finished the book, I was not exactly thrilled with this story.
Thank you NetGalley, Pushkin Press, and Futaro Yamada for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

3.75*

I needed some time to think about this review to make sure I had some distance from the reading experience and now I think settling where I have on this reading experience is what feels right.

The easiest summary I can give is that this is a political historical fiction murder mystery set during the turmoil of the post Shogunate era when Japan had been forced to open its borders to foreign influence and Japanese society as a whole was trying to find its footing and identity in a new era. It's styled around the honkaku subgenre - that being a 'fair play' mystery, and it's told in what feels like interlinked short stories all coming together in the final chapters to give a satisfying 'denouement' but you may come away from this wondering what on earth you just read.

As a fan of the translated works of Seishi Yokomizo's Kosuke Kindaichi series I felt comfortable with the style of writing in this work and I am personally interested in Japan, Japanese history and culture so the use of untranslated Japanese words and the heavy historical and political focus didn't overwhelm or intimidate me. However it may not work for other readers especially as you really do need to pay attention to keep track of characters, themes and background information.

Reflecting back on the book I've realised that the clues to solve the mystery are all there but, as above, there are so many characters and names to keep track of that it can be confusing, not helped by a distinct lack of characterisation of most of the characters.

That said, I appreciated the look at a Japanese society in turmoil, and the struggle to reconcile tradition with modern expectations is universally understandable. I did find the conclusion worked really well and enjoyed the twists and turns as everything was laid out for us but at times it was just a little bit of hard work to get there.

Thank you to Netgalley and Pushkin Press for a digital review copy of "The Meiji Guillotine Murders" in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.

This is 19th century Tokyo locked room mystery set in the Meiji Era. You can expect gruesome murders, detailed investigation and history of the Japan. The investigation is traditional and as the detective solve the murders. One leads to another and many more unthinkable things happens. The narration was good, a bit confusing as well. Though the writing is clever. The mysteries kept me intrigued.

Thanks to the Publisher, Author and Netgalley

Unfortunately, I DNF this novel. I was pulled in by the locked-room murder mystery element as well as it being a translated novel, but I found myself getting fatigued while reading it and wasn’t that hooked to the story. I’m sad to say this was a miss for me though I’m sure others would really enjoy it. Thank you NetGalley and Pushkin Press for the arc

Thank you to Pushkin Press and Net Galley for providing a review copy of this book.

I read detective fiction for the vibes, and pretty much only the vibes. I love a locked door mystery even though I know that the chances that I solve the case before the big reveal are slim. And the Meiji Guillotine Murders was no exception.
Honestly, it wasn’t quite what I expected, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Going into the book, I thought it was going to be Detectives Kazuki and Kawaji being frenemies and solving crimes with the help of a shrine maiden. But the chapters were all loosely connected stories — so much so that I thought that maybe this was originally published as sort of serials in a monthly publication. But the payoff? It was fantastic.
As the book progresses the cases get a bit weirder (which is saying something because off the bat we’re testing out a guillotine) and there’s some sassy little commentary in there, which I always enjoy.
If you pick it up, I recommend being patient with it since it might be a hard start if you aren’t a history buff.

#TheMeijiGuillotineMurders #NetGalley

This novel takes place during a fascinating time of Japan’s history during the restoration period, where Japan is opening to the West. It follows two rival investigators, who in some ways are competing to solve murders involving corrupt government officials.

I was really intrigued by this novel and have to say the middle of the book really slowed down where for many chapters there was a repetition of having a chapter centred on a murder a similar ending to close it off.

It really picked up for me with it the last 50 pages where the plot and the previous chapters started to come together. It was at this point too that we got to learn more about the main characters and their intentions. I would give this book a 4/5. The ending really helped get this story back on track.

1.5

I have been loving the English releases of classic Japanese murder mysteries released by Pushkin Press, but this one really did not work for me.

Set in Tokyo, 1869, it is the start of the Meiji Restoration which is a period of great turmoil in Japan. The book is broken out into parts which all contain different murders which felt really disconnected to me. The last part does pull it all together but at that point I was so checked out that I really didn't care. I also think I struggled with the prose, though I can't be sure if it is the author or the translation that I struggled with. There were so many names of people and of places listed that I found it hard to keep track. I might have gotten along with this better if I had more familiarity with the era.

I do think the central theme of just vs corrupt governments is an interesting question, and I appreciate that this book was written in a time of great change/uncertainty in Japan (1979) set in a time of great change/uncertainty in Japan (the start of the Meiji Restoration) and is being brought to English readers in a time of great change/uncertainty (2023). But I really slogged my way through this.

I've been really into Japanese locked-room mysteries lately (and Japanese translated literature in general). This was a really fascinating dive into 19th century Japan, and into the political and social machinations of that time period. I will say that this ultimately read as more of a historical fiction than a mystery/thriller--it was like a historical fiction with little moments of intrigue and mystery but I liked getting to better understand the historical context that the story took place in. I did enjoy it, but I think people might be a little caught off-guard with the percentage of mystery to historical fiction, haha. I also really love the language of the story, and the way that the writing style was pretty straightforward.

Interesting read, both in terms of the historical context, the characters and the plot itself. A series of murders is investigated by a couple of officers, with the help of a French Lady who can supposedly speak to the dead - thus exposing the murderers and the way the crimes were commited. While I was expecting something else, probably having misread and misinterpreted the blurb, I was actually surprised in a good sense, for though it was different - albeit, the supernatural aspect I was expecting seemed to be present - the story was good. I wasn't too keen on the writing style, but it didn't put me off. Some parts - especially at the start - read a little too slow, but once everything started coming together, those first chapters started to make sense and when the final part came along, oh boy, I swear I did not expect that ending! Never saw that one coming, but it was so, so satisfactory (except for one tiny detail that felt very off character for Kazuki) and so mind blowing I even cried out loud, thus startling members of my family who happened to be in the same room as I was. It was definitely am interesting and entertaining read.

A classic Japanese mystery —a pair of sleuths investigate a series of bloody murders in 19th century Tokyo

A captivating locked room murder mystery perfect for fans of Stuart Turton and Janice Hallett

Taking us deep into the heart of 19th century Tokyo, The Meiji Guillotine Murders is a fiendish murder mystery from one of Japan's greatest crime writers.

“Once again, the triangular blade fell, singing a song of bone and flesh and blood.”

Despite it not being what I was expecting, this book still managed to be an enjoyable read and I had fun learning about some of Japan’s history. The “straightforward” writing style and the way the story was told (through short stories that you need to piece together, rather than convoluted explanations about each murder) made it an interesting and atypical mystery thriller.

On the other hand, the fact that it is set in the XIXth century in Japan and it uses so many historical and political references to better set the scene often left me feeling confused. It made me wish I had a Japanese history book next to me, and not in a good way. I felt like I missed so many allusions and hints just because I could not properly comprehend how life in that era used to be. Moreover, I couldn’t connect with the characters, no matter how hard I tried and I felt like they were pretty one-directional.

Overall, the ending did manage to tie everything together and I must admit I did enjoy the plot twist. For anyone wanting to read this book, I have only one piece of advice for you: take your time to dissect every murder on its own and trust the process!!! The story will all make sense in the end.

✦Thank you to Pushkin Press and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. ✦

The Meiji Guillotine Murders is an episodic novel structured like a short story collection that lends it self to deliver stunning endings whilst remaining engrossing and detailed.
I would thoroughly recommend this to readers who enjoy historical mysteries and although the cover drew me in as similar to Japanese writers like Seishi Yokomizo, it was pleasantly different.

Recently, there’s been an increase in historical Japanese mystery books being translated into English and I’ve found much joy in discovering different authors (like Seishi Yokomizo and Yukito Ayatsuji) who’ve written works under this genre. The Meiji Guillotine Murders is my first Futaro Yamada book but unfortunately, this one’s a miss for me.

The thing about historical Japanese mystery books is that they can get quite dry at times — especially since writing to tell is more often utilised than writing to show. Nevertheless, I’ve never really felt the dryness of reading such writing style until this specific book. There was just too much information relayed in the most straightforward manner and in chunks after chunks. It got better the further I was in the book, but that initial part was really a chore to go over.

It also didn’t help that The Meiji Guillotine Murders reads more like historical fiction than a murder mystery. The historical and political aspects of the setting are far greater than expected and this ended up being a 50/50 kind of thing for me. On one hand, I found the context intriguing and meaningful. On the other, this contributed to the strong historical fiction vibes which I’m not a fan of. If you’re a reader like me who doesn’t enjoy historical fiction on its own, then this might make it difficult for you to keep your attention from wandering away from the story too.

Even so, I did like the philosophical elements and symbolism. The titular guillotine and accompanying executioner come from the French. Both serve as part of the more prominent symbols of Westernization in this book, which I find intriguing. I liked that the chapters were more akin to a series of short stories that are ultimately linked together by the final chapter as well. It was an interesting, different approach compared to the other historical Japanese mysteries I’ve previously read. Though, this came with the downside of many of the characters being no more than just plot devices.

On the whole, just to emphasise again, The Meiji Guillotine Murders is a historical mystery set in mid-19th century Japan during a period of turmoil where enormous changes in the country’s political and social structure were taking place. It’s not your usual whodunit and does more oft feel like the casebook of two rivals. If that’s something you think sounds refreshing, then I believe you’ll enjoy this book more than I did.

This book is a little different from the recent slew of 'locked room puzzles' that have been translated from Japanese. It is essentially a collection of short stories linked by the same investigators, one a fictional and one a historical character, who have to deal with corrupt policemen under their command and investigate a series of improbable crimes. It also provides a fascinating window into the early days of the Meiji Restoration in 1860s Japan, shortly after a period of fighting amounting nearly to a civil war, and a lot of new political and administrative structures had to be set up from scratch. There is also the 'fear of foreigners' that most Japanese felt at that time - which leads to some amusing situations.

I have to admit, that I did not finish this book.
I was really interested in the premise, but I just couldn't get into it. The historical Japanese setting was really cool and for me defnitely one of he strong points of this book.
The descriptive writing style just did not work for me. I wasn't interested in the characters and sadly couldn't get into it.

Really love Yamada's writing. So much tension and the writing really sucks the reader in. Love this series so much.

📚The Meiji Guillotine Murders by Futaro Yamada

I’m a huge fan of Pushkin’s Japanese crime series and indeed most of their international crime fiction. I think they offer such an interesting range and as my love will always be for golden era crime mysteries in particular their offerings are usually a great way of reading around the world.

That said, I struggled with the Meiji Guillotine Murders. I think perhaps having read so much of the series I went into it with different expectations. These are short crime stories centred around the friendly rivalry between two chief inspectors - Kazuki and Kawaji - in the Imperial Prosecuting Office (the nascent Japanese police force) in the early 1870s as they go around Tokyo routing out corruption within their own force and government.

Even from the Japanese crime fiction that I’ve read the Meiji Guillotine Murders has a very distinct voice. Each story, particularly in the first two-thirds of the book, is told in a style that seems to speak towards a tradition more of oral storytelling. Reading them as a collection makes it feel more like a selection of fables rather than crime stories until the twist and narrative thread linking all the separate recounting of the crimes together is revealed. I thought it was a really interesting book that gave you an insight into the history of Japan and the culture in a depth that perhaps others don’t offer but as a crime novel it fell rather flat for me.

I'm giving this a 3.5 I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, which is rare for me with murder mysteries. The structure of this novel is similar to short stories of murder that all tie in together at the end. One thing I do wish we got within the book was more characterization with the main characters. I feel we didn't learn a lot about them, but I think that's because they weren't really the focus. The unfortunate thing for me was that I actually predicted who the murderer was for all these cases before the ending, so it made the ending a bit less satisfying. Overall, I really enjoyed the premise of this novel and only rounded down to 3 because I felt the novel was a bit dense and confusing at times. Definitely take your time reading this, it's worth it.

I got hopelessly lost throughout this whole book and it's only the last chapter that makes the whole make sense. Therefore my advice to anyone reading this book is to take each murder on its own merits and wait till the end for your reward. I'm the world's worst detective so I usually give up hope of working out what is going on very early on. With the Guillotine Murders I gave up halfway through the first murder. This is one of those "trust the process" books.

I'm a huge fan of Japanese literary and crime fiction and I've read a little of the history as well so this book, which is stuffed full of history and culture, was am interesting read even if it hadn't had the murders in but you've got to take it slowly. I tried reading at my normal speed but found I was having to repeat read pages because I'd missed something.

So don't give up top soon, read and digest slowly and I promise you, you will be rewarded at the end.

This is my first Futaro Yamada but I'd definitely read more.

Thanks to Netgalley and Pushkin Press for the advance review copy.