Library

Keigo Higashino is the first author I read in Japanese (卒業, the first book in the Kaga series), and he’s also the reason why I got so passionate about learning Japanese and reading novels in Japanese. His books are so easy to read, he was the author I read the most when I was studying Japanese, so that’s why he’s still the author I read the most by far, even though I don’t read him as often lately. Kyoichiro Kaga is my favourite fictional detective of all times, and the series has a special place in my heart.

I actually haven’t read a lot of Edogawa Ranpo’s works in Japanese. I did read some short stories in translation before learning Japanese, and then started the project to read the whole Kogoro Akechi series over the course of a year (one book per month). It was a really great experience, even though the series as a whole ended up very different from what I expected (more adventure than actually detective).

Jeon Gunwoo has an impressive bibliography of mystery and horror fiction. I have loved everything I read by this author, his books are always so entertaining, suspenseful and easy to read. Novels like 죽은 집에 관한 기록 and 불귀도 살인사건 are incredibly suspenseful and belong to my favourite books ever,

Chung Myung-seop has written a lot of books in various genres, but I only his mystery novels and short stories. I’ve loved everything I read by this author, he belongs to my favourite Korean authors of crime fiction.

The first book I read by Kanae Minato is 豆の上で眠る, and it is still my favourite one, even though I also really loved 告白. I haven’t loved the other ones as much, but Kanae Minato is definitely the kind of authors I like to come back to from time to time.

I don’t know why it took me so much time to start reading Otsuichi, but he might just be my favourite Japanese author now, I love the world and characters he creates.

The duo Futari Okajima is one of the best discoveries I made thanks to the project I had of reading all the winners of the Mystery Writers of Japan Award. The novels that belong to the horse racing cycle were all absolutely fantastic.

I discovered Jokichi Hikage thanks to the MWJ Award, and I’m so glad I decided to explore his bibliography, because I ended up loving other works more than the one that won the prize. The two novels set in Taiwan are masterpieces to me, and Jokichi Hikage is one of my favourite Japanese authors.

I love Jun Ikeido, his books are all so suspenseful and entertaining! I’m not a read of financial thrillers otherwise, but every single book by Jun Ikeido has drawn me in right away.

Yen Yu is probably my favourite Taiwanese author, his police novels are so unique, insightful and suspenseful at the same time, I plan on reading them all.

The fact that 変な家 is so good, especially for a debut novel, is really impressive, but making a second volume that’s even better… I just didn’t think it would be possible. I’ll probably read any new publication by Uketsu!

Yun Jayeong is both a science teacher and an author of mystery novels, he made his debut in 2015 with the short story 습작소설 and won the 한국추리문학상 Newcomer prize in 2019 with 교동회관 밀실 살인사건. I love that his mystery novels and short stories are really easy to read and entertaining. 교동회관 밀실 살인사건 is one of the first novels I read in Korean, and still one of my favourite ones.

The first book I read by Yuki Haruo was 方舟, which I loved. Then I read 十戒 and, it was overall a disappointment to me. I’ll still probably read other books by this author!

I don’t know a lot of authors from Mainland China, but I really love Zhou Haohui’s Death Notice (死亡通知单/暗黑者), I’m having such fun reading it. I’m still in the middle of the series.

世界から猫が消えたなら is one of the first books I read in Japanese, and I chose it mainly because it was easy to read, but it’s not really my cup of tea. I don’t really see myself reading a lot more books by Genki Kawamura, but who knows?

硝子の塔の殺人 is a widely acclaimed novel, but I disliked it a lot. I did love 十字架のカルテ, so I might read some of the more medical mysteries by the author.

I didn’t find 蹴りたい背中 as exceptional as people say to be honest, it was good, but not extraordinary. I read 勝手にふるえてろ in the French translation and this one was really underwhelming. Then I read 私をくいとめて in Japanese and I didn’t find that this book had anything that made it worth reading. Obviously, just my personal opinion, but yeah I probably won’t read Risa Wataya again.

I love the train mysteries so much, I really need to read Kyotaro Nishimura more!

I don’t know much about this author, and I have only read one novel, but it’s one of my favourite books in Korean! I’ll definitely be on the lookout for new books by 안세화.

I can’t seem to find any information on this author, but I did find a list of their works, and some look very interesting. If I can find a way to buy the ebooks, I’ll explore the author bibliography for sure!

I really love Huang Shan-liao’s writing, even though I only read one novel. Not really my typical read, but I feel like I will come back to this author from time to time when I want to read something that’s not crime fiction.

돼지의 피 won the 최우수상 at the 11th Kyobo Mungo Story Contest (2023), and it was a really good novel!

I discovered Udaru Oshita thanks to the Anthology of Japanese detective fiction, and it completely blew my mind. I read several short stories and they are all fantastic, Udaru Oshita is one of my favourite Japanese authors.

Both a doctor and writer, 小酒井不木 has written a lot of medical mysteries.

I tried to read 占星術殺人事件 and ended up DNFing it, it was probably not a good reading time to me. I don’t know if I’ll continue the 御手洗潔 series, or try stand alone novels in the future.