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A review by izzatiidrus
Ellery Queen's Japanese Mystery Stories: From Japan's Greatest Detective & Crime Writers by Tōru Miyoshi, Satoru Saitō, Seiichi Morimura, Masako Togawa, Yo Sano, Tadao Sōno, Saho Sasazawa, Takao Tsuchiya, Eitaro Ishizawa, Ellery Queen, Seichō Matsumoto, Kyōtarō Nishimura, Shizuko Natsuki, Yasutaka Tsutsui
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
First published in 1978 as Japanese Golden Dozen, this is so far the best collection of short stories I have ever read, and I have read quite a few. Most of the short stories were 5 star reads for me, except a few which were a little too romantic or sexual, the typical elements that are not my cup of tea.
While I think Dannay, the one half of the pseudonym Ellery Queen did a swell job on his selection, there were some inaccuracies in his introduction. The biggest error was in referring to Seishi Yokomizo as Masahi and then Masashi Yokomizo. And through out my copy of the book, there were a lot of spelling errors and full stops being written as commas instead, which really took away from the stories for me. The most confusing was the sentence "I don't regret telling you Move you" which was supposed to be "I don't regret telling you I love you".
My 5 star reads are:
⭐The Cooperative Defendant by Seicho Matsumoto
⭐A Letter From the Dead by Tohru Miyoshi
❤️Devil of a Boy by Seiichi Morimura
❤️The Kindly Blackmailer by Kyotaro Nishimura
⭐Invitation From the Sea by Saho Sasazawa
⭐Write In, Rub Out by Takao Tsuchiya
❤️Perfectly Lovely Ladies by Yasutaka Tsutsui
With ❤️ being my top 3 favourites.
While I think Dannay, the one half of the pseudonym Ellery Queen did a swell job on his selection, there were some inaccuracies in his introduction. The biggest error was in referring to Seishi Yokomizo as Masahi and then Masashi Yokomizo. And through out my copy of the book, there were a lot of spelling errors and full stops being written as commas instead, which really took away from the stories for me. The most confusing was the sentence "I don't regret telling you Move you" which was supposed to be "I don't regret telling you I love you".
My 5 star reads are:
⭐The Cooperative Defendant by Seicho Matsumoto
⭐A Letter From the Dead by Tohru Miyoshi
❤️Devil of a Boy by Seiichi Morimura
❤️The Kindly Blackmailer by Kyotaro Nishimura
⭐Invitation From the Sea by Saho Sasazawa
⭐Write In, Rub Out by Takao Tsuchiya
❤️Perfectly Lovely Ladies by Yasutaka Tsutsui
With ❤️ being my top 3 favourites.