The Black Swan Mystery is a masterful Japanese crime classic that immerses readers in the intricate world of alibi deconstruction. Set in 1960s Japan, the story follows Chief Inspector Onitsura and his assistant Tanna as they investigate the murder of a mill owner found near Kuki Station. What begins as a straightforward case unravels into a complex web of deception, with multiple suspects and a series of unexpected twists.

Ayukawa’s storytelling is both meticulous and engaging, drawing readers into a labyrinth of clues and red herrings. The novel’s strength lies in its ability to challenge the reader’s assumptions, keeping them on edge until the final revelation. Fans of classic detective fiction will appreciate the novel’s intricate plotting and the depth of its characters.

The Black Swan Mystery is a classic break the alibi detective story and the first in the Inspector Onitsura series that has recently been translated into English.

The director of the Tawa Textile Company was killed at 11:40pm on June 1st and thrown onto a train at Ueno Station. The one problem is that everyone has an alibi for that time. The Union leaders that were in negotiations with the company to stop their strike were on a train visiting the other plants to discuss the latest agreement. The "strongman" for a local spiritual guru is missing so they cannot determine his alibi. The police are not even entirely sure what the director's movements were that night. When the "strongman" winds up dead near the director's funeral the police are unsure if this has been resolved or if there was an entirely different killer. The case is handed over to Inspector Onitsura and Tanna. Through diligence and the desire to solve a mystery they go out to figure out what really happened.

The first half of this story is the initial investigation and the second half is Onitsura and Tanna. This is a hit the pavement, ask questions, find the inconsistencies kind of detective story with multiple murders, multiple suspects, multiple motives, and multiple alibis. The story is set in 1050s Tokyo so there are no Google searches or calling someone up to get an answer, instead there are train trips and paper train timetables. If you are interested in this genre of novel definitely pick up this classic.

Sadly, I became bored pretty quickly with this one. I was also not a fan of how the women were described in this book. 3 stars for semi-intriguing mystery.

This book started out slow but gradually picked up the pace as the story goes on. It builds well, and even though there are a lot characters, it doesn't feel convoluted or messy. There is excitement leading to the conclusion and I enjoyed it.

I was so looking forward to reading this book because:
I like Japanese literature.
I am fond of translations.
It's an award winning mystery.
The cover looks very captivating.

But it was too slow paced for my liking. Three four chapters and nothing significant happened. Moreover it's filled with typing errors: ff, fi, ffi, ffl…are missing and words with these letters look odd (coffee is coee, first is rst etc), which was very distracting and irritating.
Also, I couldn't connect with the characters and writing style. The dialogues were flat, too.
Thank you for the copy, sorry it didn't work for me.
Not posting the review anywhere else.

This is an award winning Japanese murder mystery, translated into English, set in 1960s Japan.

I was really excited to read this book, but unfortunately, I really struggled with it. I found the story extremely slow and hard to follow at times. All words containing 'ff', 'fi', 'fl', 'ffl' and 'ffi' are missing these letter combinations, making the story very hard to get into as the flow is broken every time you have to stop to figure out what a word is meant to be.

I found the characters to be very flat and uninteresting. The main detective doesn't show up until about halfway through, which I believe is because his job is to review cases that have hit a dead end and risk becoming cold cases. However, this means that a lot of the investigative procedures are repeated, adding to the slow pace.

There are train timetables placed occasionally throughout the book, which are not formatted for digital reading, and unless you are really into Japanese train timetables, I feel like they add nothing to the book.

I feel like a lot of information and idiosyncrasies got lost in translation.

The Black Swan Mystery is a murder mystery set in Japan. A body is found on the railway tracks, there's more blood on a bridge over the railway. Did the victim fall or was he pushed? Of course nothing in this mystery is simple. There are lots of red herrings and misdirection. Thankfully there are a few dedicated detectives who leave no stone unturned to find the culprit.

Black Swan Mystery started off well but I found it overlong and quite repetitive. Once the mystery has been solved we have one explanation of how the murder(s) were committed ( yes, there's more than one) and then the culprit repeats the explanation - there is a reason but it seems a little like overkill. And then there's another shorter summing up of the same explanation.

For me, the story was overlong and a little lacklustre. I normally love Japanese murders but this one was a little disappointing.

Thankyou to Netgalley and Pushkin Vertigo for the advance review copy.

Tetsuya Ayukawa’s The Black Swan Mystery starts strong with the unusual murder of Gosuke Nishinohata, investigated by Inspector Onitsura and Tanna. The setup is intriguing initially.

But as the mystery unravels, the plot feels unnecessarily convoluted, as if it was made complex just to be unique. The cleverness ends up feeling forced, weakening what could’ve been a tighter, more satisfying mystery.

These old mysteries are almost always guaranteed to entertain. But some are better written than others. I think this one is a bit long-winded and we don't even find the detective until we've gotten through half the story. Before that, it feels as though several investigators are taking a stab at it with nobody in charge. Then suddenly we Onitsura and Tanna show up and I feel like the investigation starts for real. Perhaps this part could have been condensed a bit. I admit it took me some time to get into this book, but I was still entertained by the end. But I also must admit that I had forgotten characters introduced earlier in the piece so that I felt I was coming to this as a stranger. While this wasn't great it still has value.

I will point out there are several instances of train timetables included but, in the arc, it doesn't present very well, and I couldn't make heads or tails of it at first. I personally found this totally irrelevant to the story although I can see they might be of interest to train loves.

Overall, this was an okay read, and I will rate it 3 stars. Thank you to Netgalley and to Pushkin Press for releasing this book for modern readers.

When the director of a mid-range textile firm in Tokyo is found dead the question that Inspector Onitsura must answer isn't who had the motive to kill the director but who didn't. Almost as soon as his death is announced multiple suspects jump out and the team investigating the case hits a dead and not just because their victim seems to be a womanizing jerk, but because more bodies connected to the case keep popping up. The Chief finally has Onitsura take a second look at things after their lead suspect is found dead and he almost immediately finds the murderer, he just has to crack their airtight albi first.

Another fantastic overly complicated murder that has all kinds of misdirection (especially all of the language directed towards women) that leads to less of a who done it and more of a how the hell do we prove it ending.

I really enjoyed Onitsura and I think he may be a new favorite. He's much more gosh just normal than some of the other detectives in books from this time frame. He doesn't drink, he doesn't smoke, and he examines things from all angles. He is just a really great character all around. I also like that at least in this one he's the "fresh eyes" guy and he's not a jerk about it. The two detectives that were originally assigned the case overlook some things that had mean saying "OMFG are you kidding me!?" and while Onitsura eludes to this being laziness on the other detectives' parts he says something once and moves on. It allowed for harmony among the police instead of in-fighting drama which was great.

The murders themselves were needlessly complicated in the best possible ways. The murderer clearly believes they are the smartest person in the room and that is, as usual, their undoing. I also feel like there's a bit of panic to their "planning" as well though and while the murderer seems to think that all of this extra is sound, logical planning when at the end they give their confession it doesn't sound like that at all. It sounds like they came up with all of these plans at the very last minute on no sleep and way too much caffeine. I loved it!

I also really enjoyed how you really have to pay attention to everything in this. All of the clues are right there making this extremely easy to figure out but it's not easy to parse what's important and what's not. But there are several themes, things that are mentioned in passing over and over again that become some of the biggest clues to the killer's identity.

Highly recommend it, this is a fantastic read that is more police procedural than anything but the first half of it is definitely a mystery as they try to figure out who the killer is. The second half is how they did it and it was a really fun puzzle that made you think. You're invested by this point and trying to nail the bad guy is just as much a point of pride for you the reader as it is for Onitsura I think!

As always thanks to NetGalley and Pushkin Press for the eArc!

In the morning outside Kuki Station, a body is found lying next to the railway tracks, shot dead. This body belongs to the owner of a local mill which was embroiled in a labor dispute. Suspicion instantly falls on the worker’s union. Chief Inspector Onitsura and his assistant Tanna follow the clue, which brings them across Japan to find the killer.

There is strong Japanese cultural involvement in the story. The story is presented at a fast pace with a very detailed timeline and the Chief Inspector Onitsura and Tanna's route journey. But this story misses out some actions, just like a cake which is cut off before the person blows their birthday candle.

The event of murder really needs some description of it. It will be more interesting if there is the suspect’s POV. Also, it needs much more suspense to make the reader more thrilled about what happened in the story.

This story has so many characters that it makes me really confused about whom the main character is if I do not read the blurb carefully. Poor character introduction and it needs more description. The story itself is running out in the circle and pretty blunt for me. I’m so sorry. I don’t think I really enjoy this book, plus I also know who is the suspect in the middle of the story and it is not fun anymore. The one and only thing that I like about this book is the killer meticulous plan and that’s it.

It's not anything like the crime novels I usually read and that is refreshing. I really liked this.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I'm not sure if the translation was weird or if it's the actual writing of the book, but the dialogue was really weird and kind of off-putting. It made it a slog to continue to read.

The s-l-o-w pacing of The Black Swan Mystery was common when it was written especially because it was serialized first. The detective and his assistant don’t even appear until the halfway point of the book. But the tempo and all the hard-to-remember character & location names made this book a difficult read for this American reader. As a golden age mystery fan, I wanted to like it but somehow didn’t. The conclusion was particularly disappointing. It is recommended only for diehard classic mystery fans. 3 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and Pushkin Vertigo for providing me with an advanced review copy.

Tetsuya Ayukawa’s The Black Swan Mystery is a masterclass in precision plotting, atmospheric detail, and one of the most brilliantly executed examples of the alibi deconstruction mystery ever written. Originally published in Japan and long considered a crown jewel of classic honkaku (orthodox) mystery fiction, this intricately woven puzzle now finds its rightful place among international crime literature’s elite thanks to a sharp new translation.

The novel opens with a chilling discovery: the body of a mill owner found dead beside the railway tracks outside Kuki Station in 1960s Japan. At first glance, the death might seem like an accident or perhaps a suicide—but Ayukawa wastes no time peeling back layers of motive, opportunity, and cunning misdirection. Was it the disgruntled labor union? The shadowy new religious sect gaining traction in the area? Or something much deeper, colder, and more calculating?

Enter Chief Inspector Onitsura and his sharp-eyed assistant Tanna, whose journey to uncover the truth takes them on a tour of mid-century Japan—from the urban hum of Tokyo to the cultural soul of Kyoto, the bustling cityscape of Osaka, and the misty, evocative coastline of Kyūshu. Along the way, the killer stays one step ahead—and keeps killing.

What elevates The Black Swan Mystery beyond its whodunit peers is Ayukawa’s meticulous craftsmanship in constructing (and dismantling) seemingly airtight alibis. Every time you think you’ve caught the killer in a logical snare, the ground shifts beneath your feet. Fans of Agatha Christie’s 4.50 from Paddington and Seichō Matsumoto’s Tokyo Express will feel right at home in Ayukawa’s world of railway timetables, conflicting testimonies, and psychological subtlety.

Yet this isn’t just a mechanical puzzle. Ayukawa, writing during Japan’s post-war reconstruction era, embeds his story within a socially resonant context—touching on labor unrest, spiritual uncertainty, and a society grappling with rapid modernization. The portrait of 1960s Japan is rich, authentic, and quietly poignant, lending emotional depth to a narrative otherwise defined by cool logic and procedural elegance.

The Black Swan Mystery rightfully earned the Japanese Detective Writers Club Prize, and it’s not hard to see why. Ayukawa’s intricate plotting and razor-sharp deductions are utterly engrossing. For connoisseurs of the classic detective story—especially those who delight in alibi breakdowns, red herrings, and sleight-of-hand solutions—this is not just a recommendation, it’s required reading.

I was reminded of an Agatha Christie novel in many ways while reading this. Many of the similarities are in the long buildup and bouncing around to different suspects and theories. The beginning starts out interesting and then as it goes on it’s a little harder to follow and keep up with the different characters and stories unfolding. Though while I’m reading it I am mostly enjoying it I find I enjoy it more thinking back on it. Definitely a fun tale though for fans of the genre!

Thank you to NetGalley and Pushkin Press for the arc!

The Black Swan Mystery is a classic Japanese whodunnit, packed with trains, decoys, poisons, and an intricate murder investigation set in postwar 1950s Japan. When a mill president is found dead on the tracks amid a heated labor strike, two detectives dive into the case—only for more bodies to follow. Eventually, Inspector Onitsura and his assistant Tanna take over, traveling across the country, chasing down clues tied to train schedules and crisscrossing timelines.

The mystery unfolds methodically, with step-by-step detective work, interviews, and clue gathering that fans of classic crime fiction may appreciate. There's also a deeper social layer, with themes of worker exploitation, poverty, and the influence of cults and corruption.

That said, the book isn’t without flaws. The narrative can feel long-winded, the cast is large but forgettable, and the resolution—despite all the buildup—lacks impact. Onitsura, who seems positioned as a recurring lead, doesn’t appear until halfway through, and his dynamic with Tanna never quite clicks in the way of great detective duos. Additionally, some outdated and off-putting remarks about women detract from the experience.

While it’s not a standout in the genre, fans of vintage-style mysteries and train-centric plots may still enjoy this slow-burn classic—just don’t expect a thrilling finale.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Pushkin Press | Pushkin Vertigo for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

A Japanese murder mystery, the director of a prominent textile firm is murdered, as there is a trade union strike underway at the firm the union bosses come under suspicion. The detectives tasked with investigating travel by train, bus and foot as they try to unravel what happened.
A very engaging tale, from a time before computers and fast cars. Very interesting how the threads were untangled and the solution established.
My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the arc.

A very good mystery thriller that will be enjoyed by readers who like Agatha Christie, Dashiell Hammet and/ or Earle Stanley Gardener. A mystery flavored with different POVs and settings geared to an Asian audience. It is a cultural education of sorts for non-Asian readers. An enjoyable read.

The Back Swan Mystery is a slow burn crime classic that every murder mystery lover will enjoy! 💫💫💫💫💫

The president of the local textile mill is found dead. He was dealing with an intense battle with the union workers. He was found shot on a railway track. An investigation begins, and while that is set in motion, another murder occurs. This is when Detective Onitsura and Tanna step in and begin an intense investigation into several suspects. Each scene is detailed to perfection, and the clever tricks in which the murderer is slowly reveals really makes the murder mystery so much more enjoyable.

Thank you, Netgalley and Pushkin Press, for my Arc. All opinions are entirely my own.