The Fiend with Twenty Faces

少年探偵 #1

by Edogawa Rampo, Dan Luffey (Translator), Ho-Ling Wong (Preface)

When 1930s Tokyo is threatened by a master thief who can disguise himself to look like anyone, and laughs at the law, the people of the city have nowhere else to turn but Japan's greatest detective, Akechi Kogorō. Unfortunately for Tokyo, however, Akechi Kogorō is off on overseas business, so it becomes the job of his 12-year old assistant, Kobayashi Yoshio, to track down the thief and desperately keep him at bay until his mentor returns. In the spirit of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Baker Street Irregulars, a classic thriller by Edogawa Rampo, grand master of Japan's Golden Age of crime and mystery fiction. Filled with disguises, tricks, "A-ha!" moments, and spiced with a unique Japanese flair, it is sure to delight readers of all ages. Will Kobayashi's intrepid band of young detectives be able to outwit the nefarious fiend, or will Tokyo be forever at the mercy of the face-swapping phantom?

Genres: Mystery, Japanese Literature, Classics, Fiction, Japan, Detective, Young Adult

196 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1936

About the author

Hirai Tarō (平井 太郎), better known by the pseudonym Rampo Edogawa ( 江戸川 乱歩), sometimes romanized as "Ranpo Edogawa", was a Japanese author and critic who played a major role in the development of Japanese mystery fiction.

Reviews

[Mizuki · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Man of Twenty Faces marked the first appearance of Edogawa Rampo's Detective Akechi and the Youth Detectives Group's arch foe: The master thief Man of Twenty Faces. Although the master thief himself is an intriguing characters and he has many many impressive performances in many of the Detective Akechi's tales and their TV/movies/manga adaptations. Still, to be honest, I must say although this is an interesting 'game of wits' book, but Rampo had far better books than this.

I also think The Man of Twenty Faces is partly inspired/based on Arsène Lupin, the original gentlemen thief.

PS: there had once been a very infamous true crime case in Japan back in the year 1985: the Glico Morinaga Case, in which the never-arrested criminal or criminals called themselves 'The Man of Twenty-One Faces' in the blackmails they sent to the police. Since the criminal(s) are never arrested, so many people consider it a Perfect Crime.

My review for Spider-Man by the same author: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Pawarut Jongsirirag · Rating 4 out of 5]

เล่มเเรกในชุดเเก๊งนักสืบจิ๋วของรัมโป รัมโปลดทอนสไตล์เดิมของเขาที่เน้นความหลอนเเละความวิปริตของมนุษย์ให้เป็นงานด้านรหัสคดีโดยเเท้ เน้นให้เยาวชนอ่าน ทำให้งานชุดนี้อ่านง่าย เดินเรื่องรวดเร็ว ไม่มีบทบรรยายยืดยาด

จอมโจรยี่สิบหน้า ค่อนข้างชัดเจนว่ารัมโปได้ต้นเเบบมาจากอาร์เเซน ลูเเปง ทั้งสไตล์การก่อเหตุที่ต้องส่งจดหมายมาข่มขวัญเจ้าทุกข์เสียก่อน ความสามารถในการเเปลงโฉม เเละฉลาดร้อยเล่ห์อย่างหาตัวจับยาก
ถึงกับว่าในเนื้อเรื่องนั้นมีส่วนนึงที่เหมือนกับยกตอนๆหนึ่งของลูเเปงมาปรับให้เป็นญี่ปุ่นเสียด้วยซ้ำ ถ้าเคยอ่านมาก่อน จะร้องอ๋อเลยทีเดียว

ในเล่มนี้เเม้จะเป็นชุดเเก๊งนักสืบจิ๋ว เเต่ก็ใช่ว่าโคบายาชิจะเป็นตัวเด่นทั้งเรื่อง เพราะนักสืบอาเคจิ โคโกโร่ก็เป็นตัวเอกเช่นกัน ซึ่งอาเคจิออกจะเด่นกว่าด้วยซ้ำ
เเต่ในส่วนของโคบายาชินั้น รัมโปก็ทำให้เราเห็นว่านักสืบจิ๋วคนนี้ก็มีของพอตัว สมกับที่เป็นมือขวาของโคโกโร่ทีเดียว

ถ้าใครชอบรหัสคดีเเนวอ่านง่าย ไม่ซับซ้อน ชุดนี้ของรัมโป ค่อนข้างลงตัวเลยครับ

[Angel 一匹狼 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to say that I'm actually surprised by this book, the first of the 26-book-long Young Detective series by Rampo Edogawa. Gladly so. This book is fun, it is easy to read and it is a blast.

The story is very simple. There is a thief, called 20-faces (freely translated) that is unstoppable. If he wants to steal something, he will. But not being satisfied with that, he sends notes to his victims before the theft telling them of the day and hour he is planning to do his hit. The book describes his fight against the famous detective Akechi and his young disciple Kobayashi. The style is fast, is full of funny conversations, the author talking to the readers and also full of surprises. It is fun to see Edogawa breaking the third wall to ask the readers about things from the story. Of course the book was supposed to be read by teenagers, so this influenced the style. It only makes the story more enjoyable.

Edogawa is probably the most famous mystery author in Japan. Whoever knows of the manga Case Closed (名探偵コナン in Japanese), know the main character is called Conan Edogawa in homage to this author (and Arthur Conan Doyle). Here it shows why. A totally worth reading.

The edition I read has as an extra for people who are learning Japanese: the furigana in almost all kanjis (the first time they appear in a page) so it makes for an easy search in case of not knowing one, and also it helps in the reading of the story.

7,5

[Holmlock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rampo does Leblanc. For his "Boy Detectives" series Rampo stepped away from his usual adult oriented horror stories and somehow came up with something completely family appropriate. "The Fiend with Twenty Faces" is a fun detective romp employing twists and turns around every corner. Rampo's main source of inspiration was Maurice Leblanc's "Arsène Lupin" series. Like Lupin, Twenty Faces, is a master of disguise and a genius when it comes to thievery. The book is filled with elaborate heists, car chases through 1930's Tokyo, kidnappings, and most everything one could want from a classic crime caper. As it was aimed at children, the book doesn’t always take itself seriously. Sometimes believability is stretched thin and some things play out over conveniently, but in spite of these things the book is a fun read. Very recommended to fans of Arsène Lupin. They should really get a kick out of "The Fiend with Twenty Faces". I would certainly like to see more of this series translated.

3.5 Stars

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute book for younger readers (like grade school or early middle school). Not super sophisticated and there's really not a lot here for older readers, but the plot moves along quickly and it's a fun, fast read.

[Chikara Shimizu · Rating 4 out of 5]

I regretted that I didn't read the book when I was a kid.
I still remember the book in my elementary school library that always caught my eye, but it looked too creepy and chunky for my child-self to read.

Since the book is so famous and has given a huge influence on Japanese modern mystery/adventure novels and comics for children, the story felt a bit too familiar and predictable even though I hadn't read it.

But I'm sure that the book will keep being recognized as a great classic Japanese mystery novel for children and I will indeed recommend it to my future kid.

[Vivi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written in 3rd person narrative voice in 1936.....Considering the author's cemented position in the founding of Japanese mystery fiction (and also b/c this book was written for kids), it comes as no surprise that elements within the plot are predictable and seem cliched. Despite this, it was fun to see the elements Ranpo took from a famous sleuth (Sherlock cough), and with these borrowed/stolen/whatever elements had influenced many popular Japanese mystery franchises today (e.g. Hanshew's Man of Forty Faces clearly influenced Ranpo's Fiend of Twenty Faces who in turn influenced Aoyama's Magic Kaito).

The author broke the 4th wall constantly, which may come as irritating to some, but personally had a nostalgic storyteller feel to me. Ranpo's writing style is one that lulls the reader sweetly into a journey of uncertainty, which doesn't disappoint the adult reader either.

Although it wasn't the intention of the author, the story offered interesting glimpses into the lives of Tokyo people right before WWII. The well-off enjoyed free labor basically from students who performed housework etc in exchange for meals &/lodging. Kids knew of a military base that eventually turned into the center area of Shinjuku. Voila:
「東京の読者諸君は、戸山ヶ原にある、陸軍の射撃場を御存じでしょう。」

Obviously the rich and privileged were the only ones who gave a shit about the artifact stealing thief, and the cat and mouse game were played by the elite, those who had government/military positions lel. And ofc women were just decorations in the book. Welp. What can you expect? 20th-century popular author? Ya gonna follow the status quo of that time. Not that it has changed much cough.

Long story short, as original of a plot as you can get. I mean that with the utmost sarcasm. You got the stereotype genius Gary Stu detective with quirks. You've got the villain, who's only purpose in life is to enjoy the police trying to chase him everywhere, and also has a masochistic tendency for the main dude. You've got a cute 10 person kid detective group, and only 2 of them exist for the reader. Kobayashi, the kid Watson to the Sherlock gets a chapter. Souji, the son of one of those wealthy men who got fucked over and then unfucked, gets a few lines. Cool. The strength's in the writing style though.

For fans of the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Encyclopedia Brown and all those youth mystery series, I suggest you give this a try.

[Tosh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rampo's semi-insane boy's adventure novel. A master villain matches wit and skills with the greatest detective and his young assistant who is 10 years old. Tokyo of the 30's is the landscape which can be compared to Fantomas' Paris. The world is about to end or be changed, and Rampo dances on the grave of Tokyo. Essential young adult literature.

[Ambar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read in the original Japanese. Great fun, and as good as mystery for children can get!

[Skjam! · Rating 3 out of 5]

The year is 1936. Japan occupies Korea and Manchukuo, and has set its sights on the rest of China. But for most Japanese civilians, war is far away. What is exciting right now is the capers of the man known as The Fiend with Twenty Faces, a master of disguise and perhaps the greatest thief in all Japan. He only steals fine jewels and artworks, announces his arrival in advance, and so far has made the police look like absolute fools! There is only one man who might be able to catch Twenty Faces, the great detective Akechi Kogoro. Too bad he’s out of the country and only his young assistant Kobayashi Yoshio is available. Can a twelve year old really do anything against the wily rogue?

This is one of the classics of Japanese children’s literature, the first in a series starring Akechi Kogoro’s assistants, the Boy Detectives. It’s inspired numerous imitators and knockoffs, including direct connections like the anime The Daughter of Twenty Faces and the real-life criminals that called themselves the Monster with 21 Faces. It was a career-saver for Edogawa Rampo (pen name of Hirai Taro) as government censorship meant many of the grotesque and erotic themes of his work for adults were unusable.

The book opens with Twenty Faces threatening to steal diamonds in the possession of the wealthy Hashiba family. The police are called in and all possible precautions are taken. Naturally, Twenty Faces has a clever plan that bypasses all these precautions (that will be obvious to any mystery genre veteran) but ten year old Hashiba Soji just happened to put an animal trap in an unlikely place which prevents Twenty Faces from fully escaping.

In retaliation, Twenty Faces kidnaps Soji and announces that his next target will be the family’s statue of Kannon (the bodhisattva of compassion) and they are warned not to call the police in or Soji will not be returned. The Hashiba family realizes Twenty Faces didn’t rule out private detectives and call for Akechi Kogoro. He’s not available, but his clever and youthful assistant Kobayashi Yoshio comes up with a plan.

This first encounter ends in more or less a draw, as Yoshio gets back the stolen items, but Twenty Faces eludes capture easily.

After a couple of interim adventures, Akechi returns from his overseas trip to take over the investigation just as Twenty Faces announces his intention to rob the National Museum blind! Too bad Twenty Faces abducts the detective shortly thereafter. Only Kobayashi, Soji, and the newly formed Detective Boys are left to turn the tide.

Twenty Faces makes a good villain for a children’s book. He’s a decidedly nasty fellow, so the kids are in some believable peril, but has lines he won’t cross, so we know he won’t kill or seriously injure the heroes. He’s very clever, but has a bad habit of sticking around to gloat and explain how clever he was, which nearly gets him captured several times.

The narration calls you “Intrepid Reader” and confides things that might not be obvious from the dialogue. Middle schoolers on up should enjoy this immensely.

Note that this is very much a boys’ book; female characters are scarce and have almost no dialogue. Akechi’s young beautiful wife Fumio is repeatedly mentioned, but she is a homebody with no lines and no effect on the plot.

Recommended to fans of “phantom thief” and “great detective” anime and manga.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before coming to the actual story, I want to say that the essay at the beginning of the novel is very useful to get you into the mood for this book. It goes over the time period in which the novel was published, its restrictions and characteristics, and after reading it, I paid a lot more attention to how the story was played out and was able to make sense of some potentially uncanny characteristics of the story.

The story itself is really good for what it is trying to be: Detective fiction for young boys. It wouldn't make sense to pit this novel against Sherlock Holmes or Poirot novels, as these are written for a completely different target audience. "The Fiend with Twenty Faces" is an enjoyable, adventurous, and sometimes even a bit scary series of three detective stories, all centered around Twenty Faces, the thief that the novel got its name from.

There are, however, some differences in quality between the three stories, even when you keep in mind that they were written for 10-year-olds. The first story is by far the most entertaining, pitting Kobayashi against Twenty Faces and having them both outwit each other in a repeated fashion. The second story is a bit dull, given that it mostly focusses on Twenty Faces itself and doesn't really feature any detective work whatsoever, with Twenty Faces (in best cliche villain manner) revealing the details to the plan he just pulled off. The third story is a bit better: Especially the first half in which Akechi has a battle of wits with Twenty Faces. The second half, however, is again a bit boring, with most of the action happening off-screen and Akechi simply revealing how he managed to solve the case afterwards.

The stories in this volume are always the most fun when either Kobayashi or Akechi are actively involved, which sadly isn't the case in half the stories. However, the stories always made for short and enjoyable reads before bedtime and I would definitely give this book into the hand of students of years 5 or 6 without any concerns that Rampo's more grotesque crime-writer nature shines through in these stories.

[Leo Hinkelman · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Fiend of Twenty Faces (怪人二十面相) is a classic Japanese detective story and one of the first of Edogawa Rampo’s mystery novels. The man with the twenty faces is easily considered to be like Lupin from Conan Doyle, but having adopted a more phantom-of-the opera-like looks and demeanor. Actually, it is a rather old book and does not have the uniqueness of many other books. I also think that this is partly inspired by Arsène Lupin, the original gentlemen thief in the Japanese detective genre.

His quick and deceptive disguise with a cunning mind has fooled his foes of police and guards in a magnificent presentation. He encapsulates a sentence in the movie, Megamind, “Oh you’re a villain alright, but not a super one”, to which he replies, “Oh yeah, what’s the difference?” And the difference is simply “Presentation!”, meaning a super villain needs to provide a spectacular presentation of effects.

Until he is defeated and outsmarted by some great detective that reminds people of Sherlock Holmes, he leads his wacky team of misfits that reminds me of Scooby Doo. It is a great mystery novel, just beware that this is an old book full of themes that may be a little simple for this time and age.

[Bella Azam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was fairly easy to read as it targets more to younger audience. Its about a very clever thief known to many as Twenty Faces as he is called a master of disguise who loved jewelleries and valuable items. His crime mostly are theft and roberries but he never resort to violence. The tricks are clever and well executed. I can see that this book inspired so many detective stories in Japan. One great example would be Detective Conan (or also known as Case Closed in US). The main character in the manga series was Edogawa Conan so basicalky he took the name of the authors of famous detective stories, Edogawa Rampo and Arthur Conan Doyle. Also, the thief in this book reminds me a lot of Kaito Kid, The Phantom Thief in the Detective Conan series.

For me, the mystery was not fully fleshed in this book but I do understand the reason why since its more towards younger reader so it may feels less explored to me since I was accustomed to more complex crime based books. I do appreciate the fact that Edogawa Rampo popularized this genre in Japan and had a great time reading the book. So all in all, I will rate this 3.9/5

[nadine · Rating 4 out of 5]

i really liked this!! i have always and will always, i think, love rampo-san's works, and this is no exception. i don't really have much to say about this, it's a traditional mystery with an element of adventure, which appeals to the target audience (young boys. something i was not aware of. i knew this was meant for a younger audience but i thought that that meant like middle grade, and although this isn't too far off from middle grade, i felt it a tad childish compared to some middle grade books i recall liking. that's why this is 4 stars, for the record), and an amusing narrator, whose writing reminds me a lot of bertie wooster.

akechi is rampo-san's sherlock holmes and, in the same vein, the fiend with twenty faces is his moriarty, which is incredibly interesting, and i would've liked to see more of their interactions but, given the nature of this book, the fact that it's meant to focus more on the boys detective club (who remind me of a more organised version of the baker street irregulars), you don't really see much of that here, which is a shame, id say.

i liked this, overall, but i wouldn't recommend it to anyone per say. i can tell you, confidently, that if i read this as a kid, i would've been absolutely and completely obsessed with it, alas, im an adult, so i just like it moderately.

[Jessica Dean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a fun and interesting mystery! The fact that they type out laughs like ha ha ha is fantastic. The villan was interesting and I'd read the next in the series if I could ever figure out which freaking order they went in.

[Maciej Borowik · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a reason why this book has been popular among kids in Japan for several decades. It's good fun. It's packed with action and dramatic plot twists. It's original and suitable for all ages.

[emil · Rating 5 out of 5]

IM LOVE HIM

[Hailong Hao · Rating 4 out of 5]

小时候看到肯定特别兴奋。

[sohta · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was interesting. I like how they introduce me to the book, I like how they put the plots, I like how they maximized the information with fewer words. This book was interesting overall. First I wasn't getting the story but as the story progressed I was getting what is story-like. The ending I feel like they could have done better at explaining but overall very interesting book.

[Le · Rating 3 out of 5]

童年回忆

[兀鹘 · Rating 3 out of 5]

几乎是柯南的原身了，当年的《乱步奇谭》也是杂糅了不少乱步的原著，得看看更重口的

[lumi · Rating 3 out of 5]

review at https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews...

[Abdoelharmali · Rating 4 out of 5]

good

[WorseIIWorst · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read in original Japanese.
A great book for kids. Old but still entertaining.

[Adityakw · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

[Bruna · Rating 2 out of 5]

importante e marca o início de um gênero literário do país, mas isso significa que é bastante imaturo em todos os sentidos, em outras palavras: ruim

[Abby · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Sherlock Holmes of Japan…for kids! I really enjoyed these stories, even more than the original, adult, series!

[Barrett Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The one blessing was that he stole only rare and beautiful items such as art and jewelry. Twenty Faces seemed to have no interest in cash and had never injured or killed anyone. He hated blood.”

This short little book was simply a blast to read through and I’m saddened by its end, but excited to know that there are still many adventures of Detective Kogoro Akechi and crew. It might be aimed towards a younger audience, but that still didn’t stop the excitement and the twists and turns from still working on anyone of any age. It truly is a timeless story of thief versus detective that had me wanting to read each chapter that came as soon as I had finished the previous. Overall, I highly recommend this story, it’s short, fun, and simply a delight to read.

[nadanera · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kaito Kid was inspired by the fiend
With 20 faces
So I was very interested in reading it

It was a very enjoyable story
About a thief who is a master in disguising himself and a detective who makes a plan to catch the thief

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're watching this season's "Ranpo Kitan: Game of Laplace," you should really read this book. Otherwise, it's still a fun children's mystery with spunky protagonists and a villain who was clearly originally intended to be the point of view character.