Reviews

The Tattoo Murder Case by Akimitsu Takagi

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homakp's review against another edition

Too slow. 3 chapters in and still no idea what this book is about.
DNF because I've decided not to waste time on finishing mediocre books just because they're short or I'm a few chapters in.

hawkes's review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

manglitter's review against another edition

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4.0

"The tattoo has an attraction comparable to that of opium: once under its control, all resistance becomes futile. For those who fall prey to it, nothing else matters."

Akimitsu Takagi
Extract from his first book 'Shisei Satsujin Jiken' (1948)

It was a diabolically smart and so well elaborated murder mystery. The idea of adding the culture of tattoos to the plot was amazing. I was surprised by the last chapters and all the details of how the murders were committed, that was fantastic for a classic murder mystery book. It was a bit better than "The Noh Mask Murder" that I've read before reading this one.

heatheratops's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

grace_astudentreading's review against another edition

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mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Loveable characters? No

2.0

This mystery was not for me. I struggled with a lot of things in it, but first and foremost the characters. They all annoyed me. I thought that Kenzo was a fool even by amateur sleuth standards, made up solely of naive ego. Then Kyosuke was the exact opposite, being too smart and a totally obnoxious know-it-all. He also comes into the story way later than I expected him too. And the professor creeped me out so much. Of the characters the only one I could stand was Daiyu, yet I still didn’t love him, mainly because, like all the men in this book, he was rather sexist. As for the plot, it also annoyed me, especially how it was solved. It started off as a classic detective plus amateur sleuth assistant, with a lot of procedure. I enjoyed that, though it was a bit slow for my taste. But then about halfway through it Kyosuke appeared, and apparently solved the crime in minutes but managed to drag on explaining it. The final solution was ultimately clever. And I enjoyed learning about the history of Japanese tattooing. But overall I did not enjoy this book.

zoer03's review against another edition

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5.0

Weird, strange, disturbing and unsettling. I found myself wondering what was going on and who would do such terrible things to not only a woman but also any one. I at times wondered if the narrator was to be trusted too as in the brother of the police detective but that I think would have been too obvious. This is such a clever and twisted novel it’s definitely up there with the best such as Agatha Christie et al. If you are looking for a crime novel with an intriguing plot this is one to get hold of.