Murder in the House of Omari

Ashibe (Murder in the Red Chamber) delivers a ponderous historical mystery set in the merchant quarter of Semba, Japan (now Osaka). In 1906, Sentaro Omari, the designated heir of his family’s cosmetics business, vanished mysteriously. Several decades later, in 1945, other members of the family begin to die one by one. As the corpses proliferate, so do characters hoping to solve the murders, including police superintendent Kusakabe and officer Kaibara; doctors Namibuchi and Natsuko Nishi; the family’s daughter-in-law Mineko; her young, detective novel–obsessed daughter, Fumiko; and self-styled PI Koshiro Hojo. The truth is tied to Sentaro’s long-ago disappearance, but Ashibe takes his time getting there, focusing instead on detailed, sometimes repetitive descriptions of life and commerce in early-20th-century Japan. When the solution arrives, it feels rushed and far-fetched, though patient readers may be charmed by Ashibe’s engagement with the tropes of golden age detective fiction and his vivid evocation of old Semba. It’s a bumpy ride. (July)