21 Oct / Prefecture D: Four Novellas by Hideo Yokoyama, translated by Jonathan Lloyd-Davies [in Shelf Awareness]
Hideo Yokoyama (Seventeen) might not yet have a following in the U.S. like some of his compatriot mystery writers – Keigo Higashino and Natsuo Kirino, for example – but the acclaim he’s earned in his native Japan will likely spread to English-language readers. With Jonathan Lloyd-Davies, a Welsh expat who lives in Tokyo and agilely translated the internationally bestselling Six Four, Yokoyama returns with Prefecture D, comprised of four compelling, loosely interlinked novellas. Six Four and Prefecture D are companion titles: Prefecture D, originally published in Japan in 1998, introduces the setting, with a few key players reprised 14 years later in Six Four, which appeared in Japan in 2012. Both titles easily stand alone, but to read both offers enhancing insights.
Shinji Futawatari, known among his peers as “the ace” for holding “the record for being the youngest officer to make superintendent in Prefecture D,” is the single character who appears in all four sections; his enviable reputation looms throughout. He has the rather dreaded annual task of personnel management – redistributing problem officers, staggering retirements, balancing departments. In “Season of Shadows,” he’s just about solved the latest pending employment puzzle when he’s called in by his superiors and told that one of the pieces won’t budge: senior executive Michio Osakabe will not be retiring as originally expected. Racing against the clock, Futawatari diligently chases the elusive and enigmatic Osakabe to discover that his refusal to step down involves dump-site inspections, a daughter about to be wed, cold-case violent crimes, a dead officer, a taxi-driver-turned-chauffeur, and a single hair.
Each novella presents a mystery that exposes the labyrinthine relationships within Prefecture D’s sprawling police department. In “Cry of the Earth,” Internal Affairs Officer Takayoshi Shindo is assigned to investigate an anonymous missive that accuses a division chief of improprieties. In “Black Lines” – the quartet’s strongest – Section Chief Tomoko Nanao (the highest-ranking woman) grows increasingly alarmed when one of her younger charges, Sergeant Mizuho Hirano of Mobile Forensics, goes missing. In “Briefcase,” Masaki Tsuge, who manages relations between the police and local government, is ordered to protect Prefectural HQ’s reputation in an upcoming election debate.
Yokoyama’s dozen years’ experience as an investigative journalist undoubtedly enhances his already sharp fiction with unexpected minutiae that proves essential. Beyond cleverly solving mysteries, he adroitly exposes gender inequity, career climbing, personal sacrifice, dysfunctional relationships, power imbalances and abuses. Who needs actual criminals when Prefecture D is already abuzz with lawbreakers?
Shelf Talker: Solving the mysteries contained in these four loosely interlinked novellas exposes the dysfunctions of Prefecture D‘s multi-layered, multi-leveled police department.
Review: Shelf Awareness Pro, October 15, 2020
Readers: Adult
Published: 1998 (Japan), 2020 (United States)