Treachery of Words
I’m noticing a rising trend of me either covering or writing anti-mysteries. I wonder why that is?
I think the idea of mystery stories that defy the conventions of its genre are particularly appealing particularly because of the way said conventions exist. To some extent, the genre itself is ripe and ready to be twisted and defied.
What other genre, for instance, has, not one, but two (and possibly more!) sets of rules for authors to follow when creating their stories? What other genre can have readers object to the author’s arguably artistic choices (IE, the solution to the mystery) and have actual ground to stand on? What other genre can be as paradoxical as to have its plot as its central focus while deliberately hiding the true nature of said plot from the reader?
“Subversion” and “deconstruction” are words we’ve learned to yawn and roll our eyes at, but I think there’s always a certain joy in seeing the commentary that comes from someone that’s either read or written enough of the genre to break free of that norm – either to create something new altogether, or to mix with other genres, or just comment on the genre itself.
Kenij Takemoto’s This is Not a Mystery falls firmly into that last category. Its message is not necessarily anything new – particularly if you’re familiar with the works of Yutaka Maya – but I found the way it delivers it relatively novel and entertaining.
The story focuses around a group of college students meeting up in a remote mansion in the middle of a lake to play an annual game of “Guess the Culprit.” One of the students – the game’s host – presents the others with a murder mystery they’re written, and the others craft and prepare their solutions throughout the day, battling it out to see who’ll get to the truth.
However, in the foggy morning of everyone’s arrival, this year’s host is found strangled in his room – the manuscript containing the game’s mystery and its intended solution gone, too.
Whodunnit?
…Is the question asked by the host of this year’s “Guess the Culprit” game.
Everything above was actually part of the story he’d prepared and presented to the people gathered at the mansion they usually gather to play their game. In addition to the university students, there are also four high schoolers that happened to tag along. They each begin thinking up a way to solve the mystery.
However, the next morning, they find that their host has disappeared. The manuscript containing the solution to the mystery presented is gone.
Whahappun?
Although the students theorize on the disappearance, they soon find they’re somewhat limited in how far they can take it – they’re certain the disappearance is tied to the solution of the “Guess the Culprit” mystery – but what’s the nature of the connection? The problem statement, after all, had been read – what in the story’s solution troubled someone to make the host disappear? Did the host leave on their own?
There’s some other minor questions present throughout. Why, for instance, do all of the characters in the manuscript have fictional names except one person, that has the same name as one of the real-world students? Are they supposed to figure out who in the manuscript corresponds to whom?
I think it’s a bit difficult to explain the title without talking about the way it plays out, but This is not a Mystery does set itself apart from a traditional mystery novel in a lot of other ways.
For example, the mansion is enveloped by a thick fog that makes it difficult for the students leave, but there’s nothing actively preventing them from doing so besides that – they’re able to contact the outside world, they can reach out to the caretaker living on the other side of lake and can use their phones.
Another element separating the novel from its contemporaries is its structure. The novel is frequently interrupted by characters talking about their dreams, most of which have very little bearing to the actual events.
I thought this was a fun little story! It’s a fairly short novel and everything moves pretty quickly. Of the characters, only the high schoolers are really given any true characteristics; their interactions are simple but enjoyable.
Obviously, if you go in expecting a mystery in spite of the title, you’ll probably walk out a little disappointed – but rest assured the author isn’t trying to slap you in the face or mock you. There’s nothing otherworldly going on. There is still reasoning involved. The story’s conclusion is designed to prove a point. – one which I think it does fairly well!
The “Guess the Culprit” concept did make me a little nostalgic for the days of the Umineko Discord server where we came up with custom mysteries for each other to solve – first based on Umineko and then inevitably spiraling to full-fledged mysteries… (Granted, the server still exists, but y’know. Mostly just laziness on my part to get back into it. Kinda bad, given that I’m the server owner.)
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