![]() ![]() However, the criminal proves hard to catch, and our hero eventually makes a startling, and worrying, discovery. This tension explodes when the mysterious stranger manages to pull off a heist at a major trade fair, stealing a valuable Japanese pearl from under the noses of the police and then somehow escaping from an impossible situation when cornered.Īlthough it takes a little time, there’s never any doubt that Akechi will take an interest in the affair, and the famous detective is soon hot on the burglar’s trail. Tokyo is in a feverish state after multiple sightings of a mysterious stranger, a figure dressed in a golden cape and hiding his (or her) face behind a gruesome mask, all around the city. However, the novel Gold Mask (translated by William Varteresian, review copy courtesy of Kurodahan Press) sees our hero up against a very different foe. All detectives need an archenemy, and Akechi is no exception, with many of his later cases involving the cunning Fiend with Twenty Faces, a master of disguise who crosses swords with the famous detective on several occasions. So, was today’s book worth the gamble? Let’s find out…Įdogawa Rampo was a twentieth-century writer known both for tales with rather adult themes and for a series of detective stories, many of which feature the private detective Akechi Kogorō, a Tokyo-based sleuth who has much in common with Sherlock Holmes. However, today’s book is definitely something a little different for me, and that always entails a fair amount of risk, with the chances of being disappointed far higher than usual. The majority of my choices are literary fiction, and I tend to avoid some areas that others are happy to promote, such as diaspora writing and genre fiction. It may look as if I review anything remotely related to Japanese literature here at my site, especially during January in Japan, but that’s not strictly true as I can be rather selective in what I cover.
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