Review – Shadow Family

Shadow Family

by Miyuki Miyabe

(not available on Kindle)

I don’t normally read paperbacks, but I’ve been drawn to Japanese authors lately. I’ll most likely be reading a lot more paperbacks in the future as a lot of these authors don’t have their titles available on Kindle.

This book focuses on the two murders of a middle-aged man named Ryosuke Tokoroda and a college student named Naoko Imai. Email correspondence from Tokoroda’s computer shows that he’s created a fantasy family on the Internet where he is the father. His real daughter, Kazumi is drawn into the interview process of this “shadow” family and the psychological thriller begins.

What I liked about “Shadow Family” is how believable each and every character was. Takegami is the lead detective in the case and he’s been pulled from his desk job to do the interrogation. He’s a very fallible detective put in this very important role which makes him very human.

Another character I enjoyed was Kazumi’s mother and Ryosuke’s wife, Harue. She was easily over-powered by her daughter and her husband. She wasn’t a strong person, but that made her all the more believable. She had a weak-willed personality and Miyabe portrayed her perfectly.

The only thing I didn’t care for about the book was that it was fairly obvious as to whodunnit. That still didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the book as the cat and mouse game between the police and the perpetrator was very entertaining.

It’s a slim volume and a fast-paced story making it a quick read. I enjoyed it so much I’ve already purchased more books by this author.

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