La ronde noire

by Misa Yamamura, Jean-Christian Bouvier (Translator)

Un premier meurtre " en chambre close ", puis deux autres crimes tout aussi "parfaits" conduiront, à son cœur défendant, la belle Chisako dans les bars de Tôkyô et dans une lointaine circonscription de province. Une subtile intrigue policière " à l'anglaise " par une redoutable et prolifique romancière japonaise contemporaine.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Japan

224 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 1, 1998

Reviews

[Bev · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Japanese police are rather busy with a rash of seemingly motiveless murders--the stabbing of a political philosophy professor from Kyonan University, the poisoning of a popular Tokyo nightclub owner and songwriter, and the hit-and-run death of a recently elected member of the National Diet. In each case, the person who would benefit most from the death has a solid alibi and beyond that person, no one else seems to have reason them dead.

Natsuhiko Hino is the political science tutor who moves into the vacant professorship at the university. His fiancée, Chisako Tanaka, is worried. Worried because Hino has been different ever since his two-year scholarly trip to America. Worried because of his apparent ties to Aki Kiriu, the beautiful singer/songwriter whose career has soared since the death of her rival. And worried because he seems to be marking time that has nothing to do with the number of days until their marriage. She can't resist doing a little investigation on her own with the help of a reporter who has been covering Kiriu's story. Then when a fourth murder--close to home--occurs, an intricate plot is uncovered.

Misa Yamamura tells an elegant, but very formal story. Whether she has her characters bowing ceremoniously or not, the very writing makes it seem as though they are--continuously--which gives the story an odd feel, but that also may be due in part to the translation. The story is very smooth and the characters are interesting. Yamamura uses a half-inverted method for the plot. She doesn't tell you upfront who did it--but the the unfolding of the story makes it very obvious who and how. The real mystery to me was whether the police (who did not seem to handle the murder sites very professionally--but maybe that all happened "off-stage" as it were) would ever catch on to what was happening. The story is most interesting for its characters and for the peek at Japanese culture and relationships. http://myreadersblock.blogspot.com/20... Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks

First posted on my blog

[Sae-chan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice easy read, although a little bit unconvincing in the American scene.

[隻眼簽到 · Rating 3 out of 5]

山村美紗著。吳心妤譯。
歌星霧生亞紀和議員候選人大門明，因在各自領域深感難以出頭，便設計了一場循環殺人案，以交換除掉各自前途上的阻路石。他們先構陷京南大學受藤堂教授排擠，調送至美國讀博士學位的助教日野夏彥刺死了一名美國黑人，以強迫他參加這起案件。至三人各自達成目的後，日野夏彥仍因不受信任而被霧生亞紀殺害滅口。這一切，日野夏彥的未婚妻千沙子在一開始就隱隱查覺了......
本書文風簡潔，專注劇情，不重人物行為敘述，讀來很是輕快。雖然書中的交換殺人、密室等詭計現在都容易猜到，但或許在作者創作的年代，這些點子還是少見的，倒不好因此便低估她。