The Meiji Guillotine Murders
The Meiji Guillotine Murders is a historical mystery set in 1869 Japan, where a civil war fought to stem the influence of Western culture has just ended. Japan is still in a state of turmoil as it struggles to redefine its cultural identity in the face of new ideas sweeping in from the West.
The novel reflects this in a series of mysterious murders that expose the corruption of the government and are found to be connected by the investigating officers, chief inspectors Kazuki and Kawaji. The detectives investigate each murder, but don’t solve the mysteries themselves. Instead, the murderer is unmasked in scenes that are part séance and part Agatha Christie-like. As in any good mystery there is plenty of smoke and mirrors. This builds up to a big finale, and the curtain is pulled back to reveal the person pulling the strings.
The novel gives interesting insight into Japanese history and culture and does a good job of explaining the historical context of the story. However, there are a lot of cultural references specifically about clothing, so some notes would have been useful, for those of us not overly familiar with traditional Japanese fashion. The author also frequently breaks ‘the fourth wall’ to give asides, outside the scope of the narrative, which, while informative, disrupt the flow of the story. These are minor criticisms which I only mention because it is easy to get distracted and miss something important in the subtleties of the narration. This is a witty and clever mystery, with a very surprising twist at the end.
