Honobu Yonezawa (米澤穂信), Yonezawa Honobu, born 1978) loved making up stories even as a child and began writing fiction at the age of 14. By the time he got to university he was posting stories on his own website. After graduation he continued writing while working in a bookstore, and first got into print in 2001 when Hyoka (Ice Cream), a YA mystery novel he submitted for the Kadokawa School Novel Prize competition, earned an honorable mention. Sayonara yosei (Farewell, Sprite), a critically acclaimed story of the relationship between Japanese high-school boys and a girl from war-torn Yugoslavia, helped cement his reputation when it was published in 2004. Since then he has been a regular presence on lists of the year's best mysteries. Oreta ryukotsu (Broken Keel) won the Mystery Writers of Japan Award for Novels in 2011. Though known especially for his distinctive and fresh blending of the tale of youth with the whodunit, Yonezawa has also made forays into science fiction, as with 2006’s Botorunekku (Bottleneck) and 2007’s Inshitemiru (Try Indulging), a sinister "murder game" story. In 2013 he published the novel Rikashiburu (Recursible). He is a leading figure among Japan's younger generation of mystery writers.
Short stories that take place between the first and second books. Super light and simple compared to the previous two entries but still very fun (and these kids deserve some fun after the last two books, even though this takes place before those events). Feels great to hang out with these characters and while the book doesn’t really add onto the “小市民” concept at all, it’s cool to see glimpses of the characters at their best (though some of their bad habits do slip through the cracks, Osanai quickly suggesting trailing people or surprise attacks, for example). I liked the middle two stories (cheesecake and fried bread) the best but the last mystery was the most well constructed (Chou cream)
This was a cute collection of short mysteries, where the theme is some kind of dessert element (Paris Macaron, New York Cheesecake, etc.). The main character Kobato-kun is just a regular high school student, joined by his classmate, sweets-loving Osanai-san, and together they solve mysteries. This is part of Yonezawa's Shoushimin (petite bourgeoisie?) series. Though I didn't realize that going into it, and you really don't need to read the other books in the series to pick up this one.
The writing is simple and easy to follow along. Each mystery is divided into several parts, which are roughly 10 pages each, which makes it really easy to pick up and read a part or two. My favorite mystery was the last one, Florence Cream Puff, with Berliner Doughnut coming second. I'd recommend this book for anyone looking for a cozy mystery.
This may just be due to my pea-sized brain being unable to imagine the full situation without the extra information being revealed near the very end, but I did feel the way some of the mysteries resolved were underwhelming.
I didn't realize Yonezawa is also the author of Hyouka, as well as Kokurojyo, which has won many literary awards and is currently a hot topic amongst the reading community. I'm unsure if I'll be picking up the previous books in the Shoushimin series but I'm definitely interested in Kokurojyo.