The Black Swan Mystery the first translated edition of the Inspector Onitsura stories. It's a locked room mystery set in the 1960s Japan and has a varied cast of characters including, of course, the intrepid Detective charged with unravelling the mystery. Despite all of these elements (that I typically love), this one didn't really click for me. I think the intricacy of the plotting and the need to introduce multiple key characters meant that the pace was generally slow and I found it a clunky read.

Despite those issues this is very Agatha Christie alike and ultimately I didn't guess the culprit or they why which is why I set it as a solid 3 star mystery and I'm sure it will hit the spot for other mystery fans, especially those who enjoy Japanese mysteries.

Thank you to Netgalley and Pushkin Press | Pushkin Vertigo for this digital review copy of "The Black Swan Mystery" in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.

I enjoyed this book a lot must say though, I think it could be a good it 100 pages shorter. I liked the writing style and it was easy to read and had the flow of a simple literary fiction. But in the end it got really repetitive. I am super happy that this was one of my favorite tropes and I did not expect that. I cannot tell you though, as it would be a spoiler.

Over all a 4/5 for me.

The Black Swan Mystery offers an intriguing premise, but overall, I found it less compelling than other Japanese detective novels I’ve read. The pacing felt slow, and the narrative lacked the straightforward clarity I typically enjoy in this genre. The story is intricately woven, but the unusual high number of characters investigating made it hard to keep track of who was who. I often found myself confused about the sequence of events as chapters shifted between different characters' perspectives. While individual chapters were enjoyable on their own, the transitions between them felt disjointed, making it difficult to fully immerse myself in the unfolding mystery. That said, the book does have its strengths. If you appreciate a more complex and layered approach to storytelling, this may be a good fit. For me, the slower pace and intricate structure left me feeling a bit lost at times, but it was still an enjoyable read.

This is the second classic Japanese mystery I’ve read where train tables are important to the story. It’s intricately plotted and the detail can be a bit overwhelming but I did enjoy the pace and characters.

This award winning Japanese crime classic, originally published in 1959 has been translated and released in English. It’s a complex puzzle of a murder mystery relying a lot on train timetables and some dogged sleuthing by the detectives. Set in post war Japan, it’s also interesting from a historical point of view and I enjoyed the insights into the culture and everyday lives and attitudes as well as a glance at fledgling workers unions and women’s rights.

It all starts with the body of a murdered man found near the railway lines. He was the Director of a textile company with a range of suspects who would benefit from his death and are all harbouring secrets and lies. It takes a lot of lengthy legwork (all by train) for the investigating detectives to follow up on clues and check out alibis. I didn't find the inclusion of the lengthy train timetables helpful, but perhaps they just didn't work in kindle format. Otherwise it was generally well written and translated with a touch of wry humour.

Secrets, lies and red herrings galore in Tetsuya Ayukawa’s award-winning, 1950s murder mystery. Ayukawa’s plot’s labyrinthine but deeply engaging, laced with unexpected twists and turns. Its plot hinges on trains and railway timetables building on Ayukawa’s background as the child of a railway surveyor and his love for the work of Golden Age crime writer Freeman Wills Crofts. Unsurprisingly aspects of the style and the setting for the central crime – the first of a succession of suspicious deaths – have drawn comparisons with Ayukawa’s contemporary Seichō Matsumoto’s Tokyo Express. But where Matsumoto’s story suggested brooding black-and-white, I imagined this playing out in vintage technicolour, mostly because of Ayukawa’s compelling imagery and meticulous scene-setting - fashion, buildings, immediate surroundings are all richly represented.

Like Matsumoto, Ayukawa combines a dense puzzle-style plot with a socially-conscious sensibility; gradually constructing a remarkably vivid portrait of Japan with an emphasis on the lingering aftereffects of post-war deprivation – his approach sometimes reminded me of Sjöwall and Wahlöö writing about Sweden. Ayukawa’s Japan is rife with social inequalities and contradictions: burgeoning consumerism exists alongside worker exploitation and a struggling trade union movement; shamanistic cults take advantage of a pervasive, existential unease; wealthy corporate executives pay lip service to social proprieties but frequent red-light districts in their spare time.

Although it’s billed as the first of a series featuring Inspector Onitsura, he doesn’t turn up until the halfway mark. The actual investigation’s unusually collaborative in nature involving an array of police officers and even amateur, civilian detectives. The first half has a slightly restless, fragmented feel, possibly rooted in its original serialization, but settles down as it progresses. Ayukawa inserts numerous dense, technical elements but these are carefully interwoven with flashes of wry humour, complex characterisations, and moving psychological insights. All of which made this an incredibly satisfying read, Onitsura is a sympathetic, intriguing creation, I’m looking forward to meeting him again. Translated by Bryan Karetnyk.

I’m a fan of Japanese writing - something just hits right with me with the style, but this one is a absolute corker of a book. The translator, Bryan Karetynk has done an incredible job - it can’t be easy translating and keeping the level of tension.

This is a twisty tale of two police trying to catch the killer of the mill owner…who did it and why?!

I loved every second of this book, and I just couldn’t put it down.

Absolutely brilliant!

My thanks to Netgalley and Pushkin Press for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

A mystery set in Japan that follows a Chief Inspector and his assistant as they try to solve a murder that happened at a train station. As they investigate, it seems like a new religious group might be to blame.

I love mysteries, but just couldn't get into this one. I think part of it was that it jumped around from character to character early on, so it was a bit hard to follow and didn't really get me engaged with the story and then ultimately the mystery.

As you might have guessed from the front cover, this book, set in 1960's Japan, is a murder mystery revolving around trains. The first few pages navigate in between characters, so whilst I thought it provided an excellent backdrop to its time and location, I didn't connect with the story. It was only later on for me when Chief Inspector Onitsura began a solo investigation that I became engrossed in the plot. The timetable information also distracted me from the plot. However, the story has revelant, universal themes that transcend its location. I think you will enjoy this if you like inspector led American mysteries or others in the film noir vein. 3.5 stars.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It started at a slow pace and eventually picked up, just as a train 🚂. I loved the way killer planned the whole. Excellent writing by the author.

The Black Swan Mystery is described as a classic, locked-room mystery, and having just finished reading it, I must agree.
Our story in set in 1960s Japan, and commences in a perfectly ordinary day, as all the best mysteries do.
There are a variety if interconnected characters and at first, I did struggle to keep the list of individuals accurate, but once I settled into the storyline, this was not longer an issue.
This is a complex and twisty tale that is well worth reading.

A well constructed and thought out murder mystery. I really enjoyed the twists and turns of the plot, which makes it a fantastic detective story.

I loved this book. The pace was of its time, the detectives travelling everywhere by public transport, only a couple of times resorting to taking a taxi.

The body of a man is discovered at the side of the railway line, seen by a train driver and reported at the next station, it is soon identified as the director of a large textile firm. Soon it is also discovered to be a murder as he had been shot. The police follow several leads from the Union leaders, as there was a strike underway at the firm, to the religious sect he was a member of. However, it seems everyone has an alibi.

Soon there are more deaths and another team of detectives are brought in to have a second look and gradually, bit by bit they undercover inconsistencies.

A really good book and well worth reading.

A slow burn murder mystery in which trains, timetables and accidents play a large part. The murderer is very clever and leads the police (and thus the reader) down many dead-ends and several seemingly watertight alibis. Recommended. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

A good crime story set in post-war Japan.
The characters are well-defined, and the plot is easy to follow.
Of course, the reader has to keep in mind when the book was originally written. For example, the way females and their behavior are described is outdated, but this does not diminish the fun while reading the story.
I'm looking forward to reading more from Tetsuya Ayukawa.
I always enjoy detective stories on and around trains, so a big "Thank you" to Pushkin Press for giving me a free copy of this book.

The Black Swan Mystery by Tetsuya Ayukawa is a complex mystery novel heavily featuring trains. It was very easy to read and genuinely a great story.

The Black Swan Mystery is a Japanese murder mystery reminiscent of Inspector Imanishi investigates and Tokyo Express. Written and set in 1950s Tokyo, The Black Swan Mystery offers a murder mystery puzzle rooted in trains and a bit of social commentary about the state of post-war Japan.

As a big Agatha Christie fan, I expect my Golden Age murder mysteries to offer a set of suspects with various motives, combined with a puzzle of how the murder was accomplished. The how is then matched to the who to work out that the butler did do it in the end. That kind of structure is based on the expectation that a story should be character-driven, quite a Western concept. The Black Swan Mystery offers a set of unconvincing suspects, but it is much more interested in the how, not the who. Once the local police advances the investigation and encounters a stumbling block, Inspector Onitsura and his assistant Tanna are here to help (no private detective business here, just less and more experienced cops). Then we follow a methodical description of Onitsura's investigation, where the 'who' is determined pretty early, but the narrative focuses on the nuts and bolts of the investigation. It is not just the 'how' of how the murder was committed, but the 'how' of how Onitsura worked it out, that is at the heart of this novel. And the 'how' of Onitsura's work is not leisurely logical puzzlement over a cup of an eccentric beverage, it is the blood, sweat and tears of often unsuccessful legwork of establishing the most mundane details. The solution to the mystery itself is heavily rooted in train timetables (seriously, there are pages and pages of them in the book), so the novel would appeal to those who would put 'attention to detail' on their CVs.

I enjoyed this more down to earth take on a murder mystery, and although I did not even try to work out the train details, I had a great time going on a journey with Inspector Onitsura, learning about the details of 1950s Japanese life and changing social attitudes. The opening scene sets it up quite well, when we meet two women, one dressed in traditional Japanese clothing and the other - in Western ones. Ayukawa is critical of the profit-driven culture of the upper echelons of industrial society the novel is set in, and the narrative touches upon trade unionism, sex work and Japanese class inequalities and regionalism. The culprit offers some sort of a 'sympathy for the Devil' dilemma, and, of course, the aftershocks of the war permeate the fabric of the narrative. Ayukawa describes a society in which centuries-old confidence in the social order and the ruling class has been shattered, and explores the alternatives offered by the postwar years, from trade unions to women's rights.

Overall, would definitely recommend this book to fans of very technical murder mystery puzzles and anyone interested in Japanese society of the 1950s. Looking forward to hearing more about Inspector Onitsura's cases from Pushkin Press.

Thank you, NetGalley, and the publisher, for the review copy.

Once again train times feature largely in a Japanese crime read. If you love mysteries which pile up the puzzles for the reader which in turn creates a complex mystery novel then you will love The Black Swan Mystery. The plotting is central to this however the intricate plotting means that it can be a bit of a clunky read slowing down the pace of the novel. A must for fans of Japanese crime fiction.

An okayish read which isn't bad by any means, but isn't spectacular either. Perhaps the reason behind the murder which felt so typical didn't appeal or perhaps I didn't enjoy the book as much as I had hoped to because I read it on the heels of another brilliant Japanese mystery.

This is book 1 of a classic series of murder mystery novels about Chief Inspector Onitsura which are very popular in Japan. The novels are about deconstructing alibis and in this train set one, timetables feature heavily as Onitsura and his assistant Tanna investigate the murder of a local mill owner who was in dispute with the workers union and whose body is found on the railway track. The mystery sees them travel across Japan as the killer strikes several times and they are led up blind alleys. The novel takes it time but is very clever and quite riveting. I'll look out for book 2 if it gets published.