Abstract

A collection of five short stories: Shun’outei Enshi, a rakugoka (traditional Japanese comic storyteller) who is a mentor to a college girl (I) on trivia, brilliantly solves puzzling mysteries that I encounter, with his wealth of miscellaneous knowledge.

“Mystery in Everyday Life” has firmly established itself as one of the mystery genres of today; although no brutal murders occur there, puzzling mysteries are hidden here and there in ordinary life. The real thrill of the genre lies in solving the mysteries with logical deduction, the technique used in authentic mysteries.
Kaoru Kitamura, the author, is the founder of this genre and has influenced the style of many mystery writers who have followed his footstep. He continues to convey to us the appeal of authentic mysteries that do not rely on bloodshedding scenes that are so common in mystery novels. Flying Horse is without a doubt a representative of the “Mystery in Everyday Life.”

Author’s Information

Born in 1949. Graduate of the First Department of Literature, Waseda University. Made his debut in 1989 with Soratobu uma (The Flying Horse). Kitamura won the 44th Mystery Writers of Japan Award in 1991 for Yoru no semi (Night Cicada), one of the series that follows Soratobu uma, the 6th Honkaku Mystery Award in 2006 for Nippon kouka no nazo (The Mystery of Japanese Coins), and the 141st Naoki Prize in 2009 for Sagi to yuki (Fraud and Snow). In 2016, he won the 19th Japan Mystery Literature Award.