Preface
This is an introduction to a collection of full-fledged mystery short stories by Honobu Yonezawa, published in July 2023.
When I first learned about this book, a paperback edition hadn't been released yet, and it was only available in hardcover or as an ebook.
When I tried to buy the hardcover version on Amazon, I found that there were no new copies left, probably because it's so popular.
It was listed on some marketplaces, but it was being sold at a premium price of ¥4,000 to ¥5,000, so I didn't buy it and decided to give up and wait for the paperback version to be released.
However, when I was browsing the shelves at a local bookstore, I happened to find one copy of this book still there.
I remember seeing a row of books with various titles, and one with "Flammable Material" written on the spine, and thinking, "Of course it's going to burn," with a sense of inexplicable understanding.
I was a little excited to find a book in a physical store that was sold out on Amazon, so I impulsively bought it.
Of course, I was able to purchase it at the regular price of ¥1,700 + tax.
Introduction (no spoilers)
This book contains five short stories across 275 pages, each telling an independent case.
The main character (the detective) is Inspector Katsura of the Prefectural Police's First Investigation Division.
The story follows a leader in the investigation team, who decides on the course of action and uses the evidence gathered by the investigators to close in on the culprit.
The narrative is not written in Kuzu's first person, but rather from a third-person perspective, focusing on factual events.
The writing style was unadorned and gave me the impression of being as precise and efficient as a metal blade.
Since these are cases handled by the police, there are no outlandish incidents.
However, what appears to be a fairly common case at first glance is actually quite surprising in its true nature.
The highlight of this series is Inspector Kuzu's brilliant deductions, which allow him to uncover unexpected and surprising truths from ordinary, commonplace evidence.
My thoughts (no spoilers)
When I first started reading it, I didn't get the impression that it was much of a mystery.
The detective is a police officer in the prefectural police force and holds a commanding position, and the investigative methods are within the realm of what ordinary people like us can imagine. It felt more like reading a case file than reading a novel.
However, when it came to the deduction part, I was reminded that this was indeed a mystery novel featuring a detective.
I don't know exactly how police investigations are conducted, but I imagine that they don't rely on individual intuition or hunch, but rather use a large workforce to gather objective evidence, conduct scientific investigations, and systematically apprehend criminals.
This work also follows the expected pattern of investigation, and there were no instances of the detective's brilliant flashes of insight typical of mysteries.
(In the story, Kuzu himself thoroughly sets aside his own preconceptions and imaginations and proceeds with the investigation based on evidence.)
However, what makes this work stand out is not the ordinary conclusion that the collected evidence leads to, but rather Inspector Kuzu's deductions that derive unexpected conclusions from it.
In the story, Instructor Oda, who is Inspector Kuzu's superior, points this out.
Instead of arriving at a solid conclusion that follows from the gathered information and evidence, we arrive at ideas that are unimaginable from that perspective.
Since the thought process isn't described, it's difficult for the reader to fully appreciate its brilliance.
However, as quoted above, I feel that the final leap to identifying the culprit is the genius that the detective displays in a mystery novel.
After finishing the book, I felt that although it appears to be a low-key police mystery, it is actually a mystery story featuring a brilliant detective.
Looking back, the number of suspects didn't gradually increase during the investigation; all the suspects were revealed from the very beginning.
This format presents the problem in the style of a mystery novel, where the culprit is among the group.
Kuzu isn't particularly personable, so there are many instances where he treats his subordinates harshly.
However, as it says on the obi,They don't think Kuzu is a good boss, but no one doubts his investigative abilities.The line, "...", has a cool, almost demonic, professional feel to it, which is very appealing.
If you're interested in Inspector Kuzu's exploits, I highly recommend reading this book.
The works I introduced are here.
Flammable materials (by Honobu Yonezawa)
Rakuten Market: Flammable materials (Rakuten Books)