Содзи Симада - Murder in the Crooked House

“I think so.

“You mean that he tried to rescue the one person he believed to be honourable from the dishonour of being a murderer.”

“Right… But it went wrong. Hamamoto was too determined.”

“Mr Hamamoto probably went to prison without ever knowing just how loyal his trusted servant had been. But typically of him, he insisted to the end that he had carried out the whole operation entirely unassisted. And Hayakawa too, never told anyone what he’d done.”

“Why do you think that was? Why did Hayakawa never confess that he had helped his respected employer to practise sliding icicles?”

“I’m guessing because of Eiko. He knew how Hamamoto felt about her. He was guilty of aiding and abetting a murder, but the seriousness of the offence was much less than Hamamoto’s. I think he knew that a daughter who lost both parents would be in need of someone to watch over her.”

“Possibly so.”

As the Ice Floe Mansion slowly rots away, its tilted angle is even more symbolic. Having played its role, and living out its very short life, it is trying to return to the ground from whence it came. Or with the northern sea as its backdrop, it appears to be sinking slowly, like some giant ship.

I had this opportunity to travel up to the north, and I found myself drawn to this hill and the site I spent that unforgettable New Year.

The sun is setting, and somehow I feel uneasy. The grass rustles at my feet. It doesn’t have long to live free either, before being imprisoned itself under a dense layer of snow.

Born in 1948 in Hiroshima prefecture, Soji Shimada has been dubbed the “God of Mystery” by Japanese crime fans. A novelist, essayist and short-story writer, he made his literary debut in 1981 with The Tokyo Zodiac Murders, which was shortlisted for the Edogawa Rampo Prize. Blending classical detective fiction with grisly violence and elements of the occult, he has gone on to publish several highly acclaimed series of mystery fiction, totalling more than 100 books. In 2009 Shimada received the prestigious Japan Mystery Literature Award in recognition of his life’s work.

Louise Heal Kawai grew up in Manchester, England, but Japan has been her home since 1990. She has translated a variety of novels and short stories from Japanese, including Mieko Kawakami’s novella Ms Ice Sandwich for Pushkin Press, Seicho Matsumoto’s A Quiet Place, and Seventeen by Hideo Yokoyama.

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Naname Yashiki no Hanzai © 2016 Soji Shimada

First published in 1982 in Japan by Kodansha Ltd., Tokyo

Publication rights for this edition arranged through Kodansha Ltd.

English translation © Louise Heal Kawai 2019

First published by Pushkin Press in 2019

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ISBN 13: 978–1–78227–464–3

Although this translation is of the 2016 revised Japanese edition of Murder in the Crooked House, the novel was originally published in 1982, and all details, such as the angle of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, are correct as of that date. The translator has attempted to stay faithful to place and time.

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