Safe Return Doubtful

translated from the Japanese by Polly Barton

Food as an art form seems to be something the Japanese have embraced recently.
Off the back of the strangely compelling TV series The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House, comes this novel.

And it seems to work again.. though I couldn’t imagine coming into either that I would be drawn to their attractions.

This is a slow burn mystery, that begins when a journalist, Rika Machida, asks for a beef stew recipe from Manako Kajii, a self-indulgent gourmand recently convicted of extorting and then murdering a series of older men.

It’s almost impossible not to be tempted to try at least the simplest of Kajii’s tips, for example, ride with soy sauce and butter.

Pardon the pun, but it’s such a simple recipe – an ordinary and well-used plot brought to life by descriptions of tastes and how ways of seeing the world can become imbued with food.

It’s easy to read, and surprisingly rewarding. It’s ripe for a TV adaptation.

My GoodReads score 3 / 5