Katsuhiko Takahashi – The Case of the Sharaku Murders

Recently, in the Japan Times I am getting to my door every day, I found a book review that stirred my interest: Katsuhiko Takahashi (高橋克彦) – The Case of the Sharaku Murders (写楽殺人事件), for which the author won the Edogawa Rampo Award (江戸川乱歩賞). Written by a former Ukiyo-e researcher turned to writer, the book tells the story of a great research discovery with some bumps, including suicide and murder. A funny, practically always very entertaining book that not only functions as thriller, but also explains lots of details on the history of ukiyo-e. The only critic I could utter is that at times the historic exposition on ukiyo-e are getting a bit long for the non-initiated. But this is probably also due to the many Japanese names appearing. All in all, a surprisingly interesting and funny book. (Side node for ebook reader: both version, the Japanese and the English one are available from Amazon and probably some other places)