In my blog post on The Tattoo Murder Case by Takagi Akimitsu , I mentioned that "I found this novel surrounding the tattoo subculture in Japan one of the best mysteries I've read this year." I've read two mysteries novels since making that statement, and while I still believe it remains "one of the best", Akimitsu Takagi's second novel, The Noh Mask Murder is even better.
Like The Tattoo Murder Case and John Dickson Carr's The Three Coffins, The Noh Mask Murder is a "locked room mystery" and like Carr's book, the story has three coffins. When it comes to "locked room mysteries", Takagi learned his lesson well.
I thought I had the story figured out. I was certain I knew the identity of the killer, only to be fooled and fooled yet again.
Four of Akimitsu Takagi's mystery novels have been translated into English. I'm about to start The Informer and then on to Honeymoon to Nowhere. It's unfortunate for me that there aren't more of his books in English.
As an aside, one of the characters in the book is considered the "Japanese Philo Vance". The Greene Murder Case is mentioned - there's even a chapter in The Noh Mask Murder with that title. I may get around to reading the S. S. Van Dine novel, although not until I've finished with Takagi.
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