Seishi Yokomizo, The Honjin Murders

A vintage Japanese locked-room mystery, translated into English for the first time. It was funny to read something so familiar but in an unfamiliar setting. It reminded me of nothing so much as an episode of Jonathan Creek, with an incredibly convoluted and complicated mechanism and set up. The suspension of disbelief and elaborate staging required is entirely unbelievable, but still very enjoyable. I guess the skill of the greatest like Agatha Christie lies in making an artificial unbelievable scenario seem credible.