I was curious what a classic Japanese murder mystery would be and I think actually it is not entirely my cup of tea. There is a sparsity of prose that I recognize and value in other contexts as somewhat emblematic of modern Japanese writing (or what I see in my limited experience as such) - a direct, logical simplicity that I find incredibly satisfying when painting windswept metaphors, but which feels a bit sluggish and awkward when it comes to bloody murder. I guess its got the classic setup and misdirection and a bit of characters that are characters. But its lacking the charm of say Christie. And I think I have discovered that I like my bloody murders charming.