Review: Murder at the Black Cat Cafe - Seishi Yokomiso

 ISBN 987-1-80533-551-1

There are two stories in this short book.  Both are cases of the famous detective Kosuke Kindaichi . 

Murder at the Black Cat Café. 

The beginning of the story is a discussion on the different types of murder and the difficulties and opportunities they present.  It provides a little insight into the detective, but is otherwise less interesting than it should be.  This is an 'unidentifiable corpse mystery.  The story itself has enough twists and turns to keep any crime fiction reader engaged.  I had some difficult with the style of the writing, or of the translation, it's difficult to tell.  So there were a couple of occasions when I had to back track and re-read parts.  The story is presented as a mystery that is apparently solved, then solved again and again - I didn't count.  I was just looking forward to the next few pages.  I very much enjoyed this story, and would give it 4 stars.

★★★★☆ 

Why did the Well Wheel Creak ?

The second story is a mystery of the identification of a person returning from war.  Here there is a lot of scene setting.  Just before that gets really tedious, the first murder occurs, and the story livens up.  The unknowns are well set up by now, and we are just waiting for the resolution.  At the end of the story, there is a whole set of newspaper reports.  This didn't really work, it slowed the pace and left me not knowing whether to trust them or not.  The final pages explain the mystery well, but by then I was sagging slightly.

★★★☆☆  

My overall rating is ★★★☆☆ 

 

Review: The Tree of Hands / A Demon in my View - Ruth Rendell

ISBN 0-09-191580-5 

There will be spoilers, so don't go on, if that will ruin your enjoyment. 

The Tree of Hands 

I picked up a paperback from the book exchange shelf in the hotel, as I often do when these things exist.  This review is only for the first of these two stories - The Tree of Hands.  It is my first Ruth Rendell.  To be honest, I'm not sure what to make of it.  

Fairly early on, we start off with the criminal act of a woman who is clearly certifiable.  At this point we are following her daughter, Benet, who is set up as a self-sufficient woman.  So much so that she has had a child quite deliberately by a man she wants nothing to do with, and perhaps never really did.

Then we meet Carol, and her lover, Barry.  Carol is a career petty thief, and has the looks and character that make her unlikely to ever really love anyone.  It is Carol's child that goes missing.  The police involvement is really a side plot.  

Other characters are bought in, some are developed well, others are just there to round out the narrative.  

It is a very easy read, and there are plenty of twists and turns. One of those is Carol's murder, which is inadequately explained and seems to be a device to bring the book to a conclusion.  Having carefully wrapped up all the other plot lines, this one is terminated messily and seems like an easy way out for the author.

I am not sure if I should be sympathetic with the main character - Benet, or appalled by her actions and her selfish lack of judgement - she got away with it, as some criminals do, but I couldn't be more than disappointed at the ending.

★★☆☆☆ 

A Demon in My View
================
Of the two, this was better, the ending, a proper ending, a reasonable, believable ending. However, there is still an unexplained death, which favours the protagonist and so detracts from the believability of the plot. The characters are once again well-developed and rounded. There is less jumping around, which made the story easier to follow. Quite an enjoyable read. Delving into the mind of a psychopath was interesting, we've all met people like him and never realised. The action, the physical murders are almost glossed over, but the feelings are examined to a limited degree.  

★★★★☆