Inspector Imanishi Investigates Audiobook By Seicho Matsumoto, Beth Cary - translator cover art

Inspector Imanishi Investigates

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Inspector Imanishi Investigates

By: Seicho Matsumoto, Beth Cary - translator
Narrated by: Kenichiro Thomson
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Brought to you by Penguin.

A thrilling crime classic, from the bestselling author of Tokyo Express
Tokyo, 1960. As the first rays of morning light hit the rails at Kamata Station, a man’s body is found on the tracks. With only two leads – a distinctive accent and a single word, ‘kameda’ – senior inspector Imanishi Eitaro is called in to solve the puzzle.

Setting aside his beloved bonsai and haikus, he must cross Japan in search of answers, from Osaka to Akita, accompanied by junior detective Yoshimura. At each new town, they encounter traces of the avant-garde Nouveau Group – young Tokyo artists who are bringing new ideas from the West. What to make of this modern collective? And how to stop another mysterious death occurring? Inspector Imanishi investigates…

A fascinating glimpse into Japanese society at a time of great change, this is one of Seicho Matsumoto’s best-loved novels – a riveting mystery from the master of Japanese crime.

'An absolute classic, and a whole new world to explore ... irresistible' Lee Child
'Beautiful and melancholic, Inspector Imanishi Investigates is not just an ingenious and elegant mystery, but a fascinating window into 1960s Japan' Paula Hawkins


© 1989 Seicho Matsumoto (P)2024 Penguin Audio

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Enjoyed the page-turner sort of story. However, the narration made it difficult to follow at times as the characters sounded overly similar.

Difficult to tell the characters apart

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The book was different but also interesting. I usually like those golden era detective novels but because I really love Japan and Japanese people I wanted to try this book. The story was little bit confusing and I didn't quite follow all the nyances, but I did like ten book. Perhaps I listen it again some day.

Different and confusing

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Japanese crime novels set in the post war Japan are usually less about the crime story and more about the society, and the crime serves as a side piece rather than a central one.
If you’re looking for a good crime story with the post war Japan society as a side piece, one that’s well read by its narrator, look for Seishi Yokomizo’s novels.
This one here is all over the place, and one can easily forget they’re supposedly listening to a crime novel. The story is told from different angles with many characters involved that it’s hard to follow who is who, and why are they even mentioned.
The narrator did a poor job. He reads in a monotonous bored-like manner, many times he mutters when switching between characters in dialogues, and makes an already hard story even harder to follow.

All over the place with horrible narration

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