Two short stories in this book.

The first I really enjoyed. I did not predict the twist at all. It was an interesting murder mystery - reminiscent of Agatha Christie where one person sits and explains it all in the end after you've gathered clues throughout the story.

The second short story did not keep my interest enough to fully immerse myself and I had to stop reading partway through.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC. The formattig of the file was a little frustrating as some of the letters were missing on certain words that had "f" "fl" in themselves made kthaed to read as I had to guess soem words.

2.5 but rounding up to 3.

This was an okay read during a stormy night. It had good vibes and set the atmosphere. Definitely not what I expected when I requested this and it read more like... reading an old case file in a way? Interesting use of newspaper clippings and letters in the second of two novella-length stories.

Personally as I didn't know I would be jumping into two stories and with them being so short, there was no connection and I just wasn't immersed in this as I expected. But I did like the writing style.

In post-war Tokyo, a patrolling policeman makes a gruesome discovery at the Black Cat Cafe: the body of a woman in a hastily dug hole, and a dead cat by her side. Legendary sleuth Kosuke Kindaichi is called to untangle a web of love, jealousy and betrayal and find the truth of what happened.

I read and enjoyed The Honjin Murders from this author a year or two ago, so I was really intrigued to check out more of their work. Murder At The Black Cat Cafe brought the return of detectice/sleuth Kosuke Kindaichi, a character I really enjoy reading. He encompasses Sherlock Holmes style deductions, in a slightly dishelved suit, and delivers them in a way that feels like the end of an Agatha Christie novel as all the pieces of the puzzle come together. I've seen the author described as "Japan's answer to Agatha Christie," and I would very much agree. There was a lot in this story that felt very familiar, in a lovely, comforting kind of way.

I always enjoy how Yokomizo takes a classic murder-mystery plot, like the 'faceless corpse,' and delivers it with a new twist that I hadn't seen coming. I spent part of the story thinking I had solved the case, but he always finds a way to surprise me in his books.

This was an enjoyable read, and a great cosy-crime story for the Autumn. Definitely worth checking out, especially for fans of Christie!

NB: trigger warning for animal death

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC of this short story collection, however, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

I have to admit that I never really got into either story in this collection. I love the full length Kosuke Kindaichi novels, but these short stories didn't really add anything to the collection for me. They had some of the same sort of interesting set-up that I appreciate in these novels, but it didn't have the follow-through of a regular Kindaichi novel. I think that fans of the series, while they may read these, they won't be as enraptured by them as they have been with other installments in the series.

Side note: I love the cover though.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Pushkin Press for an ARC of this novel.

Seishi Yokomizo is a powerhouse Japanese author of detective fiction, with a huge fan following for his series starring detective Kindaichi Kosuke. This is a newly reissued edition of his bestselling 1971 novella, translated by Bryan Karetnyk, and has the added bonus of short story that is not mentioned in the title.

I confess that my preconceptions about Japanese literature (in English) were shattered by this book, unless it is in a style peculiar to this genre. I’m entirely new to both the author and the genre. The writing I’m familiar with is soft and meditative, slow-paced, reflective, and often sad. By contrast, these stories are fast and unemotional, and crimes are surprisingly graphic in their depiction. There are hints of, and allusions to, the otherworldly, but the spirits are vengeful and even bloodthirsty. The context of a rural village in postwar Japan still struggling to recover from the war and adapt to the new factories and the migrants displaced from other parts of the country really opened my eyes to a time in its history I knew little about. It’s evident that the writer witnessed what he recounts here.

Also interesting is his approach, outlined in the prologue, in which the author sends a letter to an unnamed recipient laying out the details of a crime that Kindaichi investigated. The author becomes an omniscient storyteller, with Kindaichi helping him by sending further letters and records. This prologue is also a map to the classic types of Japanese mysteries, which is enormously helpful to the uninitiated. He focuses on the ‘faceless corpse’ story, and his protagonist obliges him.

The scene of the crime, the Black Cat Cafe, is a small, dingy establishment in a neighborhood of similar businesses. It was run by a married couple, Daigo and Oshibe Itojima, who have just sold it. There is a real black cat who figures in the investigation sparked by the new owner’s renovations. A young Buddhist monk, digging behind the cafe, uncovers the faceless corpse of a woman.

The questions centre on the Itojimas’ involvement in the murder—she had been dead for some time. And how do the monk, the cat, and the rather sleazy neighbours figure in the story? What might seem obvious is not. Yokomizo is a fine storyteller.

The short story, Why Did the Well Wheel Creek, is a somewhat different sort of mystery. It focuses on the Honiden family, who have gradually increased their wealth and power, mostly by exploitative means, including moneylending. One of the family patriarchs has two near-identical sons, the legitimate Daisuke, who is a wastrel, and the hardworking illegitimate Goichi. Both serve during the war, which causes villagers who had left to return to its supposed . Tension mounts as the war goes on, and the family must deal with the understandable hostility that surfaces. The result is a murder that Kindaichi must solve.

I’m not sure this style of mystery is something I want to pursue, but I admire the excellent crafting and writing. As an introduction to the genre, I can’t imagine I could have done any better.

A murder has been committed just outside Tokyo in Japan. A body which due to decomposition is faceless has been found by a monk in a shallow grave. A dead black cat is also found nearly. After many twists and turns, red herrings and another body, renowned sleuth Kosuke Kindaichi arrives on the scene and gives an account of what actually happened.
An interesting short novel.

Seishi Yokomizo captura muy bien la esencia del detective clásico: un misterio que parece imposible de resolver, pero que poco a poco va tomando forma con las pistas. Como lector, uno también intenta descifrarlo y se da cuenta de que no es tan sencillo como parece.
Eso sí, sentí que con la llegada de Kosuke la resolución fue un poco más simple, aunque quizá sea porque aún no estoy tan familiarizado con el personaje.
Lo que más me gustó fue cómo cada detalle y cada personaje aportan algo al misterio, manteniéndonos atentos todo el tiempo. Y la segunda historia me pareció aún mejor: la manera en que se cuenta a través de artículos y pequeñas historias paralelas le da un cierre redondo a ambas tramas.
Definitivamente, quiero leer más de Yokomizo. Es una gran puerta de entrada a las novelas de crimen y misterio.

Gracias a Steerforth & Pushkin | Pushkin Vertigo y NetGalley por la oportunidad de leer este ARC

Classic Detective..
A classic Golden Age Japanese mystery featuring the enigmatic Detective Kosuke Kindaichi as he investigates murder at the Black Cat Cafe. Bubbling with intrigue, misdirection galore and red herrings aplenty, a fiendishly complex plot and the perfect detective in Kindaichi. Atmospheric and compelling.

This book wasn’t for me.. but that was more of a preference thing than anything so absolutely no reflection on the author or the book.
I did ultimately DNF and just don’t think I can give fair feedback so therefore won’t be posting a public review.

Thank you so, so much for the opportunity!

Murder at the Black Cat Café brings together two post-war Tokyo mysteries that showcase Seishi Yokomizo’s talent for blending puzzle-plot intrigue with cultural atmosphere. The book includes the titular story alongside Why Did the Well Wheel Creek, each offering a distinct reading experience.

The first story, Murder at the Black Cat Café, begins with the discovery of a faceless corpse buried behind a café. The setting itself is wonderfully atmospheric—the café feels like more than just a backdrop, carrying smoky charm and whispers of hidden tensions that draw you into the heart of post-war intrigue. Detective Kosuke Kindaichi takes center stage here with his eccentric mannerisms and sharp, almost erratic brilliance. The mystery is cleverly laid out, with clues scattered fairly, but the final reveal feels a little rushed and stretched in places. While the solution works, the logic sometimes feels forced together rather than seamlessly earned. Readers familiar with Kindaichi from The Honjin Murders series will likely enjoy his quirks more, but newcomers may find his character underexplored.

The second story, Why Did the Well Wheel Creek, was the standout for me. Told through letters and newspaper articles, it delivers a much more compelling and believable mystery. The narrative is enriched with touches of Japanese folklore that heighten the misdirection at its core, and the emotional weight of a family tragedy gives the puzzle greater depth. Interestingly, Kindaichi only plays a minor role here, which makes this story feel far more effective as a standalone. The pacing is tighter, the reveal more satisfying, and the blend of folklore with human drama left a lasting impression.

Overall, this collection captures much of what makes Yokomizo’s work memorable: atmospheric settings, clever misdirection, and a lingering sense of melancholy shaped by Japan’s wartime past. While the titular story doesn’t quite reach the heights of his best work, the second more than makes up for it. Fans of classic golden age mysteries will find plenty to enjoy, and new readers might discover Yokomizo best through Why Did the Well Wheel Creek before diving deeper into Detective Kindaichi’s world.

Thank you to Steerforth & Pushkin | Pushkin Vertigo and NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC.

I really liked this book. I thought it was charming and very captivating. But unfortunately the typos, sometimes 12 to a page, half of words missing, made it hard to properly get lost in the story. I’d like to read the story again once published without all the typos.

3.5 stars, rounded down to 3 stars

‘Murder at the Black Cat Café’ is a book comprised of two murder-mystery novellas both set in post-war Tokyo. In the first story, the titular ‘Murder at the Black Cat Café’, the corpse of a faceless woman is found buried behind a café and the police are tasked with determining her identity. In the second story, ‘Why Did the Well Wheel Creek’, the story of a man returned from war and a family tragedy is told through a series of letters written by a sister to her brother and through newspaper articles.

Seishi Yokomizo is a new author for me as I haven’t read any of ‘The Honjin Murders’ collection, so Detective Kindaichi is a new character for me too. The book was marketed as a stand-alone piece but I don’t feel like I fully understood Detective Kindaichi as a character and more of his backstory should have been added for people unfamiliar with him. I don’t think the lack of backstory for Detective Kindaichi massively detracts from the stories but maybe I would have appreciated them a little more if I had more context of why the character behaves the way he does.

The story ‘Murder at the Black Cat Café’ was a decent enough murder mystery in that I didn’t guess the reveal but all the clues are laid out in the story so the conclusion doesn’t feel too outlandish- though it still does feel a little unbelievable. The reveal part of the story felt a bit rushed however, almost like Detective Kindaichi was having a manic episode explaining it, and it did feel like some pieces were forced together rather than being a good fit. For me this story felt very reminiscent of the writing of Seicho Matsumoto, particularly ‘Tokyo Express’, in that rather than being just a whodunnit, it was more about figuring out how it was done. Both stories are of roughly the same length but in ‘Tokyo Express’ the reveal feels much more believable as the logic used to get to the conclusion was much stronger and had better foundations laid throughout the story, whereas ‘Murder at the Black Cat Café’ had weaker execution overall and the ending did feel like a bit of a stretch.

‘Why Did the Well Wheel Creek’ was the much more enjoyable read of the two stories for me as it was completely tonally different and much better paced. I particularly appreciated the inclusion of some Japanese folklore in this story and how it tied into the misdirection that is central to the narrative. The reveal in this work felt a lot more believable within the context of the story and the whole premise was much more interesting- additionally, Detective Kindaichi only features very briefly so this story did work much better as a standalone piece.

Overall, ‘Murder at the Black Cat Café’ was a quick and fairly easy read and I think fans of Detective Kindaichi would enjoy getting to read another one of his cases, but the titular story does rely a little bit on you being familiar with ‘The Honjin Murders’ collection. That being said, I did really enjoy the second story and would recommend that one to new readers like myself.

Thank you to Steerforth & Pushkin | Pushkin Vertigo and NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC.

3.25*

I love the Detective Kosuke Kindaichi novels and find them to be truly intriguing and imaginative mysteries. 'Murder at the Black Cat Café' is a newly published book with 2 novellas/short stories and whilst they make for a fun and quick read they aren't as compelling or absorbing as the full length novels.

Ideal for readers looking for a quick read or introduction to Japanese translated crime fiction but those familiar with the intrepid detective may not find this addition to the series as interesting or satisfying a read as the other stories.

Thank you to NetGalley and Steerforth & Pushkin | Pushkin Vertigo for a digital review copy of "Murder at the Black Cat Café " in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.

This book contains two short stories, the stories are based on information the private detective Kosuke Kindaich passed to the author, the first story is the Murder at the Black Cat cafe where a body is discovered buried in the grounds at the back of the cafe. The body has started to decompose so cannot be identified, and this leads to confusion and the police initially believing the body to belong to someone else. The second story, also set in post war Tokyo, involves a murder, in this case the person killed is believed to be a lookalike.
I enjoyed both stories and was caught out in the second one.
My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the arc.

This edition of "Murder at the Black Cat Cafe" by Seishi Yokomizo features two short stories.

Story one, The Black Cat Cafe, is set in postwar Tokyo, where a policeman uncovers a buried 'faceless' woman and a dead black cat behind the cafe. The plot is told from the perspective of the narrator, who has been sent the case notes by Detective Kosuke Kindaichi after expressing an interest in these types of cases. Mostly, the story follows the authorities as they struggle to work out who the woman is before Detective Kosuke Kindaichi appears and solves the case.

Overall, this story felt really rushed (it's only 100 or so pages), and I wasn't blown away by the resolution and unmasking of the murderer. I would have preferred a longer story, with more presence from the main character.

Story two, I struggled with, as it is told through letters and newspaper clippings, and I ultimately did not finish.

2.5 stars (rounding up to 3)

[This review is based on NetGalley ARC provided in exchange for an honest, unbiased opinion]

This is a book that is translated from Japanese. It is a story about an amateur sleuth, Kosuke, who uncovers the mystery behind a faceless body of a woman found buried behind the Black Cat Café. It is also set in post-war Tokyo. I liked this book and think it's a good read to pick up if you like a murder mystery and translated works.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

Reading Murder at the Black Cat Café was like stepping into a classic golden age mystery, but with that distinct Japanese twist that makes Yokomizo’s stories so memorable. The novel sets the scene in post war Japan, with the Black Cat Café itself becoming both a gathering place and a stage for intrigue, secrets, and ultimately murder.

What I appreciated most was how Yokomizo creates atmosphere, the café isn’t just a backdrop but feels like a living character in the story, full of smoky charm, whispers, and hidden tensions. The pacing is deliberate, drawing me in slowly, before suddenly confronting me with a crime that feels both shocking and inevitable.

Detective Kosuke Kindaichi, as always, brings his eccentric yet sharp presence to the case. His mannerisms, awkward at first, conceal a razor-sharp logic that peels away the layers of misdirection. Following his thought process was both challenging and rewarding; Yokomizo has a way of scattering red herrings that left me second-guessing my own deductions.

The book balances puzzle plot satisfaction with human drama. Beneath the twists and reveals, there’s a sadness to the characters, especially as the war’s shadow lingers over their lives. That emotional undercurrent makes the solution when Kindaichi finally lays it bare more than just clever; it feels earned and haunting.

Overall, Murder at the Black Cat Café was a captivating read. It combined the elegance of a traditional whodunit with the cultural and historical depth that makes Yokomizo’s mysteries stand apart. If you enjoy classic detective fiction with atmosphere, clever plotting, and a touch of melancholy, this is a book to pick up.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this advanced reader's copy and the opportunity to this early. Review has been posted on Waterstones and Goodreads.

Along with the hugely popular Japanese “healing fiction” genre, Japanese murder mysteries have become some of my absolute favorites, and Seishi Yokomizo’s works are at the top of that list. His cases always feel impossible to solve, yet Detective Kosuke Kindaichi unravels them with such clever precision that it makes me nostalgic for Hercule Poirot!

In this one, Kindaichi finds himself in post-war Tokyo, trying to untangle a dark web of love, jealousy, and betrayal. It all begins when a patrolling policeman makes a chilling discovery: the body of a woman, her face disfigured beyond recognition, lying next to the corpse of a black cat. Yet, strangely, the café’s beloved black cat is alive and well. So where did these two bodies come from, and why were they buried in the café’s garden?

This edition also includes a bonus story told entirely through letters, slowly unraveling a heartbreaking mystery involving multiple families. Both stories are equally gripping, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading them with a cup of tea by my side.

What I adore most about Yokomizo’s mysteries is how deceptively simple they appear, only to reveal themselves as intricate puzzles with multiple layers and characters. Even though I’m never able to guess the ending, the final explanation always clicks perfectly into place, leaving me in awe of his storytelling.

I’ve been a fan of Yokomizo ever since I read The Honjin Murders a few years ago (I even own the limited edition! 😍), and Murder at the Black Cat Café only deepened my appreciation for his work.

Read if you love:
🌀 Complex murder mysteries with satisfying reveals
📖 Japanese crime fiction
🖋️ Short story formats
🕵🏻‍♂️ Agatha Christie-style puzzles

If you’re looking for the Japanese counterpart to classic Christie-style mysteries, this one is a must-read.

Pub Date : Sep 9, 2025

Thank you to Netgalley and Pushkin Vertigo for an arc 🫶🏻

I think it was a good easy read. It just needs a few minor tweaks and edits before publishing!

I would recommend this book to people who want a quick easy read for autumn.