DEATH ON GOKUMON ISLAND

Akira Matsumoto's performance takes listeners to post-WWII Japan's inner sea and the remote and clannish fishing island of Gokumon. Detective Kosuke Kindaichi, voiced with a crackly voice, arrives on Gokumon with two messages: The powerful Kito clan boss's son, Chimata-san, is dead, and his three stepsisters are in mortal danger. Matsumoto uses a variety of Australian accents to clearly differentiate the cast of characters in this mystery, written in 1971. Detective Kosuke, along with the local police, follows the subtle clues sprinkled throughout. Matsumoto's narration shifts smoothly from Japanese terms to English narrative as listeners are challenged to parse the clues interspersed amid numerous descriptions of customs and local history. M.B.K. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine [Published: OCTOBER 2022]