Ask HN: What are some captivating fair play mystery books that you've read

38 pointsrcshubhadeep2y ago10 comments

I have read "The devotion of Suspect X" recently and although it is not truly a "Fair Play" mystery but I have since then delved into more and more Japanese Shin Honkaku style writing. I really love them. Would like to know more from other parts of the world (with an English translation if possible :)

10 comments

vagab0nd2y ago

If you are open to some game-y element, I highly recommend the Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective series.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherlock_Holmes:_Consulting_De...

cqcumbers2y ago

I can’t personally speak to every recommendation, but rudetection has a a pretty comprehensive syllabus of so-called “deductive fiction”, which you might find interesting: https://rudetection.wordpress.com/2023/05/24/a-syllabus-of-d...

The Invisible Event has reviewed a good collection of books by French author Paul Halter: https://theinvisibleevent.com/2022/10/01/the-demon-of-dartmo...

And Ho-Ling Wong, translator of some Shin Honkaku classics like The Decagon House Murders and The Moai Island Puzzle has a long-running blog reviewing predominantly Japanese mystery fiction: https://ho-lingnojikenbo.blogspot.com

As for me personally, the best non-English mystery novels I’ve read this year are probably Death on Gokumon Island by Seishi Yokomizo, The Borrowed by Chan Ho-Kei, and Dogra Magra by Yumeno Kyusaku.

MollyRealized2y ago

Can you define what 'fair play' means in this context, for those of us unfamiliar with the term?

ashraful2y ago

"Fair play" in mystery novels means the author gives you all the clues up front, so you have a shot at solving the mystery just like the book's detective.

21432y ago

Ah! Okay!

I've observed while reading Sherlock Holmes that we the reader isn't provided with all the information Holmes has. (I still like it though).

TIL "fair play" was the term for it.

hiyer2y ago

Not sure if it's Fair Play, but, apropos of Japanese detective fiction, I found the works of Seishi Yokomizo [1] absolutely amazing. His works are very atmospheric and quite dark, but - dare I say it - better than even Agatha Christie's IMO. Unfortunately, I could only find 4-5 of his books translated to English.

Keigo Hagashino's (the author of Devotion of Suspect X) Detective Kaga series is pretty good as well.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seishi_Yokomizo

rcshubhadeepOP2y ago

Absolutely love his Honjin Murders. And I may as well go ahead and read others also.

Thanks to everyone for suggesting all the interesting things here.

Cheers!

ezedv2y ago

I recently got immersed in "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" series by Alexander McCall Smith. These books blend captivating mysteries with a strong sense of fair play and moral values. The protagonist, Precious Ramotswe, approaches each case with compassion and integrity.

creer2y ago

That sent me in a bit of a rabbit hole. And I'm helpful that way. I regularly read mysteries where the solution feels somewhat within the reader's means - and I would like to try books where that's more deliberate. Where the challenge is more measured - and so where it's more worthwhile to spend some effort in playing.

A redditor's "what is fair play" genre review: https://old.reddit.com/r/mysterybooks/comments/qlvq1c/what_i...

On honkaku: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/apr/27/honkaku-a-cent...

There are works that straddle the genre of "your own adventure" - with clue pieces and clippings and whatnots.For example, Murder Off Miami, Dennis Wheatley, original from 1937 but with modern editions, is not a novel. It's literaly a pile of telegrams, clippings, reports. You are supposed to read them, in order or not. and decide on a solution. Then break the seal for the author's solution. Wheatley gets high praise on originality but mixed scores on solvability. Fantastic write up here: https://denniswheatleyproject.blogspot.com/2011/07/murder-of...

Murder off Miami seems to be online https://lparchive.org/Murder-off-Miami/

When reading, I'm not mad if the author was misdirecting and "overly ingenious" or something but then I rarely expect that it's worthwhile to put in the detective effort instead of simply enjoying the ride. I would like pointers to books where it's clearly worthwhile - that is, where that effort is rewarding beyond simply enjoying the ride. In fact too many books are flawed because of gross inconsistencies which actually make it hard to enjoy the ride. A "wait? what? NOOOO!!! inconsistent!" is just plain distressing - beyond say, typos or out-of-place language.

I agree with the game parallel raised in the reddit thread. In a great boardgame there are several rewards: the fun, the shared fun around the table, the visuals, but also the engineering solvability and strategizability of the game. Randomness is great so it's not always the same winner but I want to have significant control of my destiny (my avatar's - but in a great game that's me). Same for a great (table top) role playing game session: I want both my effort and reward for my effort.

fancazzista2y ago

Jan Potocki‘s “Manuscript found in Saragossa”.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse