奇巧玩具店

I finished 沉默的曼德拉 by 赤蝟, and I found the mystery overall very good.

The magical powers of the mandrake are cleverly used in the plot, and overall, I found that the tricks, motivations and setting were all good. But personally, I don’t really like fantasy, so even though I enjoyed reading the short story, it also failed to completely get me involved. I would also say that the solution was very foreseeable right from the beginning. but even then, the investigation was pleasant to follow, and the characters’ motives felt solid and relatable.

I’m halfway through the fourth short story, 沉默的曼德拉 by 赤蝟, a murder mystery in a Hogwarts-like setting. Not really my cup of tea, but the story is enjoyable, albeit quite predictable (I’d be happy to be proven wrong though!). I like the world and the different characters positions and backgrounds, but it’s just that the genre and tone are not really for me.

I hadn’t planned on finishing the third short story today, but 白骨無聲 by 羅永昌 was impossible to put down. It was a really engrossing investigation led by a disillusioned reporter who is tasked with reviving an old case to serve political manoeuvres. But he decides to look for the truth behind the case, and it’s crazy how suspenseful the plot was, with a good mystery to start with and good twists until the end too.

But the short story also shines with its background, how it subtly integrates Hong Kong recent history into the plot, and shows how journalists have to deal both with their journal’s direction and their political ties, as well as dealing with their own moral choices when deciding to reveal the truth.

I really love the protagonist, 陳焱火. He is a really good detective, and his internal conflicts, his personality and experience make him a very complex and interesting character, especially for a short story.

The only thing I did apart from playing Genshin’s AQ today is read the second story of the collection: 直到真相盛開 by 陌途. It was excellent, such a good mix of human drama and murder mystery. I initially thought the story will be mostly focused on family drama and be more of a journey towards acceptance and how to cope with suicide. But the short story surprised me with a really good murder mystery and a suspenseful investigation. Even if it was relatively short, I almost feel like I just finished a novel, like I spent more time with the characters than just 40 pages of e-reader. The author really managed to make me care for the characters right away while also offering an engrossing murder mystery.

I finished the first short story, 無尾巷底左邊那個房子 by 四弄一號, it was really great! There’s a double mystery: a good murder case and the identity of our mysterious narrator. I love the humour, and the end was very good too.

I’m halfway through the first short story, and it’s a very intriguing start!

The book takes place in 1995 and it says Mariah Carey’s All I want for Christmas is You that released the year before was broadcasted everywhere. I didn’t realise this song was so old! Well, 30 years later and it’s still broadcasted everywhere in Seoul during the whole month of December. I can’t stand this song, I came to accept the fact that you can’t escape the Christmas playlist, but hearing this one over and over is torture.