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Un bacio di fuoco
Delivers psychological intensity and complications of plot in a gripping and bizarre story of arson, murder, and revenge
160 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1984
About the author
Masako Togawa
17 books66 followersMasako Togawa (戸川昌子) was a Japanese novelist, Chanson singer-songwriter, actress, feminist, LGBTQ+ activist, former night club owner, metropolitan city planning panelist and music educator. She was born in Tokyo, in 1933.
Masako Towaga began writing in 1961, backstage, between her stage appearances, and her first work The Master Key was published a year later, in 1962, for which she was awarded the prestigious Edogawa Rampo Prize. The story is set in the same apartment she grew up in with her mother. Her second novel, The Lady Killer , followed in 1963, becoming a bestseller. It was adapted for both TV and film, and nominated for the Naoki Prize.
She wrote more than thirty novels and was one of the most popular mystery writers in Japan, with many of her stories based on her own life experience.
She died in 2016.
Masako Towaga began writing in 1961, backstage, between her stage appearances, and her first work The Master Key was published a year later, in 1962, for which she was awarded the prestigious Edogawa Rampo Prize. The story is set in the same apartment she grew up in with her mother. Her second novel, The Lady Killer , followed in 1963, becoming a bestseller. It was adapted for both TV and film, and nominated for the Naoki Prize.
She wrote more than thirty novels and was one of the most popular mystery writers in Japan, with many of her stories based on her own life experience.
She died in 2016.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
January 8, 2023
[Revised, picture and shelves added 1/8/23]
A Japanese mystery novel by a female author who has been called the P. D. James of Japan.
Early on, one of the main characters, the detective, says he believes in chance but not fate. So what are the odds of the following? Many years ago three five-year-old boys were playing with matches and a fire started that killed the father of one of the boys. Fast-forward thirty years and those three boys are now a fireman, the detective investigating the string of arsons, and the arsonist. Is that fate or chance?
This novel is part detective story and part psychological thriller with a complex plot; so complex that you would have to go back and re-read it to figure out all the nuances. (I didn’t.)
At various times you are led to think that any of the three characters or their mothers or girlfriends could be the arsonist.
It’s a good story with a lot of local color of 1990s Japan. It had suspense, it kept my interest, and was a fairly quick read.
If you like her novels you are in for a treat because she wrote about 30 of them. As I wrote above one critic called her the P. D. James of Japan but others have characterized her writing, as I would, as a bit soap-opera-ish. Her novels are relatively low-rated on GR and they will be hard to find.
The Master Key, her first novel, is her best-known work, her highest-rated, and it won a Japanese mystery award when it was published.
The author (1933-2016) had a fascinating life. In addition to her writing, she was a night-club owner, actress, singer and songwriter and LGBT activist. She had several children, her last when she was 48.
Photo of the author from pushkinpress.com
A Japanese mystery novel by a female author who has been called the P. D. James of Japan.
Early on, one of the main characters, the detective, says he believes in chance but not fate. So what are the odds of the following? Many years ago three five-year-old boys were playing with matches and a fire started that killed the father of one of the boys. Fast-forward thirty years and those three boys are now a fireman, the detective investigating the string of arsons, and the arsonist. Is that fate or chance?
This novel is part detective story and part psychological thriller with a complex plot; so complex that you would have to go back and re-read it to figure out all the nuances. (I didn’t.)
At various times you are led to think that any of the three characters or their mothers or girlfriends could be the arsonist.
It’s a good story with a lot of local color of 1990s Japan. It had suspense, it kept my interest, and was a fairly quick read.
If you like her novels you are in for a treat because she wrote about 30 of them. As I wrote above one critic called her the P. D. James of Japan but others have characterized her writing, as I would, as a bit soap-opera-ish. Her novels are relatively low-rated on GR and they will be hard to find.
The Master Key, her first novel, is her best-known work, her highest-rated, and it won a Japanese mystery award when it was published.
The author (1933-2016) had a fascinating life. In addition to her writing, she was a night-club owner, actress, singer and songwriter and LGBT activist. She had several children, her last when she was 48.
Photo of the author from pushkinpress.com
April 12, 2024
Novela negra japonesa, me entusiasmaba mucho leerla pues no recuerdo haber leído este género de un autor japonés pensaba que sería muy diferente a la forma occidental.
El principio es llamativo, una persona provoca incendios y se busca atraparlo, a partir de esta anécdota se desarrolla una historia llena de reminiscencias combinadas con personajes que aparentan lo que no son, y otros que ni siquiera están seguros de sus recuerdos.
Al puro estilo occidental la autora juega con la historia y con las reflexiones de los personajes prestándose a confusiones, giros inesperados y tantas vueltas de tuerca, que al final parece que la tuerca se barre y ya no reacciona ante una vuelta más. Es demasiado diría yo, y llega a cansar.
Además el meollo del asunto es que son poco creíbles que los personajes principales sean tan desmemoriados, tan dudosos de sí mismos y de sus acciones pasadas, como si cada uno se hubiera golpeado en la cabeza y no fuera capaz de distinguir la verdad de la mentira, además todo lo qué pasa es tan improvisado que no te crees que estuviera milimetricamenfe planeado.
Al final no hubo tanta diferencia entre una mala novela negra occidental y una oriental adolecen de los mismos defectos.
El principio es llamativo, una persona provoca incendios y se busca atraparlo, a partir de esta anécdota se desarrolla una historia llena de reminiscencias combinadas con personajes que aparentan lo que no son, y otros que ni siquiera están seguros de sus recuerdos.
Al puro estilo occidental la autora juega con la historia y con las reflexiones de los personajes prestándose a confusiones, giros inesperados y tantas vueltas de tuerca, que al final parece que la tuerca se barre y ya no reacciona ante una vuelta más. Es demasiado diría yo, y llega a cansar.
Además el meollo del asunto es que son poco creíbles que los personajes principales sean tan desmemoriados, tan dudosos de sí mismos y de sus acciones pasadas, como si cada uno se hubiera golpeado en la cabeza y no fuera capaz de distinguir la verdad de la mentira, además todo lo qué pasa es tan improvisado que no te crees que estuviera milimetricamenfe planeado.
Al final no hubo tanta diferencia entre una mala novela negra occidental y una oriental adolecen de los mismos defectos.
February 12, 2008
Set in Tokyo, the story is told from three points of view: from the detective, who is one Ryosaku Uno, currently investigating a series of arson-set fires; from Ikuo Onda, who is a fireman who makes nightly patrols to try to prevent the firesetting, and from the arsonist (whose name I won't divulge here). It seems that when all three of these people were young children, they were playing a game with lit matches at the home of one of these three, and a fire broke out. After the fire, the body of a man was discovered. Fast forward to the present, and watch the investigation unfold.
I found the characters often to be a bit hysterical (so much so that I often wondered why a couple of them weren't slapped once or twice just to get them back to normal); but all in all, it was still an okay read.
I found the characters often to be a bit hysterical (so much so that I often wondered why a couple of them weren't slapped once or twice just to get them back to normal); but all in all, it was still an okay read.
March 20, 2020
I am a sucker for a mystery book, and so when I came across this in a little bookstore in Japantown, I decided to take a chance on it. It's a little dated, but exquisitely written and it does the thing I absolutely love, which is that each chapter takes on the point of view of a different character who is somehow related to/suspect of the crimes in question. I felt very strongly as though we knew who the perpetrator was from the beginning and thought that was the intention until the end, and there was quite the twist that left me feeling as though I knew nothing about the truth of the crimes at all...!
August 30, 2011
Another messy one. But somehow I'm drawn into it. It's the first novel I read where everyone thought he was the one responsible for the crime.
Could it really be, when you want to forget something really badly, you start to imagine an alternate reality and in the end you think that's the truth? I think it can happen. The way human mind works really scares the hell out of me.
Could it really be, when you want to forget something really badly, you start to imagine an alternate reality and in the end you think that's the truth? I think it can happen. The way human mind works really scares the hell out of me.
June 17, 2025
Esta es la segunda novela que leo de Masako Togawa y, si bien fluye como la recuerdo, no puedo evitar sentir que la conclusión de la historia se sintió un poco forzada. En 'Un beso de fuego' tenemos la historia de 3 personajes que, siendo niños, se ven envueltos en un desafortunado "accidente" que termina por alcanzarlos en la adultez. Mientras avanzamos, somos testigos de cómo los personajes interactúan entre ellos y cómo se va desarrollando una trama de venganza que encierra demasiados giros inesperados; tantos, que hasta cuesta creerlo. Sin embargo, siento que fue una lectura agradable y ciertamente gustará a muchos.
February 17, 2020
Cose che ho imparato leggendo questo libro:
- in Giappone vivono solo cinque persone, si conoscono tutte a vicenda in qualche modo ma hanno dimenticato di conoscersi
- gli uomini giapponesi sono costantemente ingrifati
- un leone e un barboncino? più o meno la stessa roba
- ramen noodles = tagliolini in brodo
- in Giappone vivono solo cinque persone, si conoscono tutte a vicenda in qualche modo ma hanno dimenticato di conoscersi
- gli uomini giapponesi sono costantemente ingrifati
- un leone e un barboncino? più o meno la stessa roba
- ramen noodles = tagliolini in brodo
January 6, 2020
Deeeeenso. Tres personajes vuelven a encontrarse desde la infancia. Un bombero, un detective y un piromaníaco. Una tragedia en el pasado los une.
January 23, 2020
Lento, lento, sumamente lento
June 7, 2023
Togawa si riconferma ottima nel tessere trame super complicate molto divertenti da seguire nelle loro molteplici prospettive. Solo tre stelle a sto giro perche forse era un po troppo arzigogolata ma comunque è stato piacevole leggerla. Adoro le sue protagoniste femminili molto Lady Macbeth
December 10, 2025
The book started as a strong mystery. Then about 70% of the way through it tried so many twists that it hurt the overall plot and experience.
December 31, 2025
4.5⭐️
Tenemos odio intrafamiliar. Tenemos amigos de las cerillas. Tenemos dolor por amor. Y nos queda para meternos con la gentrificación de Tokyo.
Tenemos odio intrafamiliar. Tenemos amigos de las cerillas. Tenemos dolor por amor. Y nos queda para meternos con la gentrificación de Tokyo.
April 23, 2026
Poorly organized mystery, and I assume that the translator is a contributor. Don't bother - the characterization was stilted and the plot jumped awkwardly with few transitions.
July 13, 2016
Un incendio en el que tres niños se ven envueltos. Un incendio que le cambia la vida a todos los involucrados. Un incendio que torna a todos culpables, víctimas y victimarios. 26 años después, las consecuencias comienzan a tomar forma. Una ópera que tiene como partida un beso de fuego.
March 11, 2022
"Tal vez quería que el fuego destruyera su cuerpo después de la muerte para que nadie pudiera verlo, pero en verdad nunca llegaría a entender el modo de pensar de los orientales."
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews