‘Reading Notes’ is one of my initiatives to keep a tab of what I read and when I read. These are just my general musing; I am interested in recording my thoughts as I read so that I can look back and reflect on my thought patterns. It will be a raw, unedited version of my thoughts.
So here it goes. I am starting with ‘Inspector Imanishi Investigates’ by Seicho Matsumoto.
Start Date: 02-March-2026
End Date : 04-April-2026
30-March-2026
This is the second book of Seicho Matsumoto that I am currently reading. One month and 100 pages into the book, I find it as interesting as I did the first one - Tokyo Express. Seicho’s writing style is plain and concise. I find it a bit similar to Keigo Higashino’s way of writing (perhaps Keigo was inspired by Seicho). The detective work described in both the authors’ books is close to how a real-life detective would go about solving mysteries. It’s real, tough and involves investigation lot of dead leads. Their deduction capabilities are instinctive and raw. Their a-ha moments are sudden and most often lucky coincidences when they see something random in the generic patterns of the world. Contrast this with old school Western authors like Arthur Conan Doyle, Edgar Allan Poe or Ellery Queen, where the characters’ deductive reasoning often seems mathematical and rooted in logic. The story far is about a man who is found dead near a railway station. The man’s face is severely beaten, rendering it unrecognisable. Imanishi, the titular character, has been assigned to investigate the case. While there is lot of evidence (such as murder weapon and witnesses) around the crime scene, Imanishi and his subordinate, Yoshimura, have run into dead-ends so far. There’s another backstory running in parallel - about a group of men called Nouveau. I am interested to know if such a movement ever existed in Japan in the 1960s.
That’s it for today, shall write more on this soon.
04-April-2026
I finished the book today and I must say I am absolutely loved reading it. The style of writing is just flawless and simple. The sentences are not too long, but the prose is vividly descriptive at the same time. The prose demands the reader’s attention at all times.
Unlike other detective novels where it’s left to the reader to surmise the possible list of suspects, Seicho-san is different. He doesn’t allow the reader to think of it themselves, nor does he fully invite the reader into what’s going on in Imanishi’s mind. But the reader is still deeply immersed into the story. The times when Imanishi felt hopeless about the case, I felt the same too. The times when Imanishi was struck with inspiration, I was lagging behind trying to think what could possibly lead to a light-bulb moment for him. Some conclusions that Imanishi drew early on are not fully until the last few pages into the book. At first, I was a bit exasperated due to lack of clues but it seemed like a recurring theme throughout the book. Seicho-san demands patience from the readers and doesn’t let them get ahead of Imanishi. It’s almost as if he wants them to be on the same pace as Imanishi and give readers a taste of what detective work looks like. It’s hard, engrossing and consumes a large part of the detective’s life.
Overall, I quite enjoyed reading the book. I want to jump into another mystery novel but I am just going hold myself back. Other genres require exploration too..
Until next time.
Cheers.