Tetsuya Honda

Oh, for the love of reason, this is the most overblown sexism I have encountered in ages. You can't go a page without a gross violation not just of basic respect or morality, but also law. Like I don't believe for a minute everyone gets away with this on a daily basis. I can see I'm not the only one whose reading was spoiled by this. For those wondering if it's a cultural thing... no. It's that all the characters are poorly written. They have over-the-top reactions to show you who is Good and who is Bad and what is Dramatic, because there's no other development or indication of these things. All in all it makes for an irritating read and wholly overshadows the story itself.… (mehr)

The second book in the Reiko Himekawa series begins similarly to the first, with some background narrated by one of the characters. Honda then moves onto the crime that forms the basis of this procedural, the discovery of a severed hand in an abandoned van. The Tokyo Homicide squad sets up a task force to investigate, including Reiko.

As with the first novel, Reiko has to compete with an implacable colleague who dislikes her methods, this time the process-bound Lieutenant Kusaka, who detests Reiko's intuitive approach. Reiko also detests him, although she has trouble identifying exactly why.

Reiko once again gets partnered with Ioka, who continues his slaveringly sexist disrespect of the first novel. One of the things that turns me off about this series is the extent to which this blatant sexual harassment of the main character goes uncriticised, is treated as humorous and bears little consequence for Reiko's harasser. I'm afraid that I cannot go along with that. Reiko's family and personal life are also sloppily treated by the author, with really quite ridiculous actions that seem totally out of character for his protagonist. It's not clear what he is trying to do with that side of his character, but it's pretty unconvincing so far.

That aside, Honda's plot is deceptively clever, with plenty of plot twists. I don't think it's quite as good as The Silent Dead, largely because Kusaka is not as strong an adversary as Katsumata in the first novel, and the other supporting characters have much less to do.… (mehr)

Reiko Himekawa is a young, ambitious Homicide lieutenant who has a habit of using intuition instead of hard graft to close her cases. That, her age and her gender make her the target of much jealousy.

Reiko finds her hands full with the discovery of a body near an industrial pond. The body has been slashed, repeatedly stabbed, eviscerated post-mortem and then dumped in a hedge. Puzzling over the forensic report, Reiko has a flash of inspiration and the police soon realise that they have a spate of serial killings on their hands.

Reiko's investigation is dogged by the antagonistic Lieutenant Katsumata who does everything possible to disrupt her progress and undermine her. She is also held back by the more conservative elements in the task force, who are reluctant to trust her judgment. Reiko must also deal with personal issues, both now and in the past, that are coming back to bite her.

This was a very good book with a few good twists that I did not see coming. Some of Reiko's colleagues were a bit annoying and two-dimensional, but this series shows a lot of promise, along the lines of something like a Japanese Martin Beck.… (mehr)