She Walks at Night, by Seishi Yokomizo

 

9781805335573

Pushkin Vertigo, 2026

originally published as Yoru Aruku 夜歩く(1948)

translated by Jesse Kirkwood

247 pp

paperback

I’m always pumped to hear news of another Seishi Yokomizo novel coming out in translation, and I’m always looking forward to whatever comes next. While my reading mojo may have gone walkabout for a few months, my book-buying enthusiasm has remained very much alive and kicking -- I’ve already preordered Yokomizo's The Queen Bee Mystery, due to be published in May 2027.  

Early in this novel (which, according to Wikipedia is Yokomizo's  third in the Kosuke Kindaichi series) the narrator, Torata Yashiro (who writes really third-rate crime novels)  imparts to the reader a chilling warning: She Walks at Night is a tale of a “series of murders so ghastly they defy comprehension.” The crimes are “steeped in an atmosphere so nightmarish they resemble something from a macabre old picture book,” complete with the “musty scent of an ancient hereditary curse.”  At just seventeen pages in, Yokomizo already has my full attention. 

Torata also lets us in on the fact that "the origins of these events were as distant and deep as they were complex," requiring a "careful journey" into a "dark and convoluted past."   Bringing us back to the present, what he calls the “Furugami murder case” appears to get underway with a bizarre incident at an upscale, and apparently popular, cabaret. Koichi Hachiya, a hunchback and “rising star of the art world,” is shot, although fortunately the wound isn't fatal. The incident takes on a more intriguing dimension when Torata's friend, Naoki Sengoku, reveals to Torata that the shooter is none other than Furugami daughter Yachiyo.  The two friends  share a strange bond, with Torata's "peasant farmer"  family having originally been "under the control" of the wealthy and powerful Furugami household dating from the time of Japan's feudal era.  Torata had never been to his home village, since his father had left the area to seek his fortune in Tokyo at the end of the Meiji period.   Naoki and Torata discovered they hailed from the same area when they met at university; Naoki had likewise never been back to the "Furugami family's former territory."  However, based on their mutual geographical roots, Naoki had put himself in the role of Torata's quasi-benefactor, helping him out financially and otherwise, a relationship that continues in the present when they are both thirty-five.  Torata needs the money Naoki offers since the crime novels he writes are not so profitable, but there is always something he must do as repayment, to make himself "useful" to Naoki.  

After filling Torata in on the unsettling business surrounding Yachiyo, Naoki reveals a series of developments that seem to have been lifted from some particularly dark nightmare. A fortune-teller has predicted that Yachiyo will one day marry a hunchback, and a disturbing letter sent to her appears to reinforce the prophecy. Then comes another letter, accompanied by a photograph from which the head has been snipped. To make matters worse, Hachiya has been staying at the Furugami family home for the past week and has been wreaking more than a bit of havoc with his behavior.   Convinced that something dreadful is brewing, Naoki invites Torata to the Furugami mansion on the outskirts of Tokyo, warning him that “something's going to happen” and that “the house is a powder keg.” Torata, feeling once again indebted to his friend, can hardly refuse. But he may soon regret accepting the invitation. Before long, he finds himself caught up in a succession of increasingly sinister events, culminating in murder and the discovery of a headless body. And if the Furugami mansion is already a powder keg, it seems someone has just lit the fuse.  

cosplay event honoring detective Kindaichi Kosuke from kuratoco

Unlike most of the previous Kindaichi Kosuke novels, our scruffy detective takes his time getting onto the scene, and seemingly doesn't do much active detecting. However, he does uncover the huge twist this story takes, which is beyond satisfying and comes at a point where, like good old Kindaichi itching from his famous dandruff, the reader is likely scratching his or her head wondering just what the heck is going on.  

Trying to convey the full complexity of this novel would be a daunting task, so I’ve deliberately kept my description a bit on the vague side. There’s a great deal to unpack here, from Japan’s feudal past and the upheavals of the postwar period to the tangled web of relationships within the Furugami family. All of these elements contribute to a story whose depths are best discovered by the reader firsthand.  As a friendly piece of advice, before even starting this book, it would be more than helpful to scan or take a photo of the family tree/acquaintainces diagram offered before the start of the novel, and the list of "other characters" on the page that follows. Doing that will hopefully spare readers the frequent interruptions I experienced myself, having to flip back through the pages to keep track of who was who and how everyone was connected. 

While it may not be my favorite of the Kindaichi novels, She Walks at Night still has plenty to recommend it, particularly its creepy atmosphere and pronounced Gothic undertones. I would certainly recommend it to anyone following the Kosuke Kindaichi series in English. The tangled backstories and complicated family relationships demand rather more concentration than the average crime novel, but the effort is still very much worthwhile.