This is the second book in the series, following "The Gymnasium Murders," which I previously recommended as an easy-to-read, full-fledged mystery.
As for the detective role, it will naturally be the same detective as last time, "Urazome Tenma".
This book contains references to the previous work, so please be aware if you haven't read the previous book yet.
Review of "The Murder in the Gymnasium" (novel by Yugo Aozaki): An easy-to-read, authentic mystery novel.
Preface
I've recently started writing articles about mystery novels, but I still don't know how to write them.
When browsing the internet, you often see posts that contain spoilers, with comments and critiques about the tricks and culprits.
Many articles offer detailed analyses of the tricks used in mysteries, and I'm often left in awe of the skill of mystery fans.
However, I myself am not the type to meticulously examine every detail of a mystery novel.
I'm the type of person who enjoys reading detective deductions, thinking "Wow, that's amazing," without thinking too deeply about it, and just savoring the catharsis.
However, conveying that catharsis without spoilers is extremely difficult, and I'm still experimenting with various approaches to achieve that.
There are also other articles that list recommended mystery novels without spoilers.
I often rely on these kinds of article summaries.
When I'm struggling to decide what to read, I often browse several recommendation websites and pick up a book that I haven't read yet and that's been mentioned on multiple sites.
In fact, the books in this series, "The Gymnasium Murder" and "The Aquarium Murder," were books I picked up for that very reason.
However, I feel that it's difficult to write detailed articles about these kinds of topics due to the nature of the genre.
Simply labeling it as "A work with amazing narrative trickery!" is a kind of spoiler, so it's probably not ideal for people who want to read it without any prior knowledge.
In the end, the book-related articles I'm currently writing are a disorganized mix of random thoughts, introductions, and personal impressions.
I think that if I post more, I'll develop my own template, but I haven't solidified one yet.
Review (contains some spoilers)
Now that the lengthy introduction is over, I'll briefly discuss this work.
Now, since not many people will start with the second book, I'll write my impressions assuming that you've read the first one.
First of all, what I personally liked was that it didn't deviate from the main plot of a mystery, which is to pursue the truth of the incident.
You might think that's obvious, but there are works that don't follow that rule.
Especially in series, perhaps because it's predictable that several more books will be published, there's a tendency to lay the groundwork for future developments, such as setting up plot points and foreshadowing for the characters' backgrounds.
There were some parts like that in this work as well.
However, it didn't take up many pages and was quite brief, so it didn't feel like it was unnecessary.
I was glad that this work, which is touted as a genuine mystery, didn't include any unnecessary character-driven elements.
The tricks and key items were, as in the previous film, just ordinary tools.
The way the author picks up on subtle inconsistencies in seemingly insignificant details, uses them to advance the deduction, and then constructs solid facts from there, remains truly impressive.
This film is said to be mainly about breaking alibis.
I'm not a fan of alibi tricks because they confuse me, but it was good that this one was presented in a straightforward way, either everyone had an alibi or everyone didn't.
I liked the scenes that revealed the culprit's true motives and character better than in the previous film.
I felt the culprit in the previous film was a bit petty, which left me feeling unsatisfied.
However, since this work is a mystery that relies on logical deduction, I believe that these motives are merely the essence of the story.
It's a part that's not essential, but since it tastes good, I was satisfied overall.
However, reading these kinds of works can be mentally exhausting.
I try to read during my commute, but lately I've been feeling that books that don't require much thought would be easier to read quickly because my brain doesn't function very well in the mornings.
The works I introduced are here.
Rakuten Market: 水族館の殺人（楽天ブックス）