THE INVESTIGATION

Written by Lee Jung-myung

Review written by Angela Hatherell


THE INVESTIGATION
Mantle
RRP: £16.99
Released: 27th March 2014
Hbk

The setting is a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp, a bleak, harsh place, cold and violent. The time is the 1940s, with war raging. The prisoners are North Koreans, starved, beaten, and tortured. The alarm bell rings out, Watanabe, a very young prison guard, joins the jostling prisoners to discover the crucified body, dripping blood, of Sugiyama, the most brutal guard.   

Watanabe is given the task of finding out who killed Sugiyama, and you might think that would not be difficult in a secure environment. No footmarks are found in the fresh snow. However, it is much more complex. Watanabe is also given the job of censoring all mail. This made more arduous by the fact all prisoners must write only in Japanese.

There is one prisoner, Choi, who acts as letter-writer. He is an interesting character, who keeps trying to escape, and who has a habit of stirring up riots. He is arrested for the murder, but the investigation leads to Yun Dong-ju, a Korean poet, who seems to have struck up a relationship with Sugiyama.

A great deal of the story is now taken up with deep poetical, psychological, even metaphysical discussions between prisoners and guard, and it gradually becomes apparent that Yun had a profound effect on Sugiyama. Maybe all that violence was hiding something in Sugiyama’s character.

Meanwhile secret tunnels are being dug, not reported by Watanabe: a musical doctor from the hospital wing is has started up a choir and is arranging a prestigious concert to be attended by the big-wigs - you might think "never a dull moment", but that would trivialise a very seriously thoughtful book.

This is obviously not a bog-standard whodunnit, it is much more. Yes, we do find out whodunnit, but that is almost incidental.

 

Chi-Young Kim is the celebrated translator of the Man Asian Booker Prize-winning international bestseller Please Look After Mother.

 

abortion pills abortion pill abortion pill buy online
I cheated on my wife want my wife to cheat website
website beautiful women cheat women who cheat on husbands
online click here why women cheat on men
women that cheat married and want to cheat wife cheated
instant chlamydia test chlamydia symptoms in men chlamydia symptoms in women
i need to cheat on my girlfriend go i cheated on my girlfriend and i want her back
why married men cheat link My husband cheated on me
walgreens printable coupon ravithkumar.com walgreens coupon code for photos
how to spy on cell phone app spy phone spy a cell phone
2016 viagra coupon site coupon for free viagra
discount coupons for cialis site cialis discounts coupons
abortion effects saiftec.com abortion clinic chicago
cialis coupons printable read cialis coupons from manufacturer
cialis dosage by cialis dosage recommendations
cialis savings and coupons link free cialis coupon 2016
motilium et grossesse site motilium enceinte
citalopram hydrobromide high read citalopram hydrobromide and alcohol
adalat oros adalat adalat oros
cialis 20mg cheap cialis cheap cialis
manual vacuum abortion how to terminate pregnancy naturally diagnostic dilation and curettage
online coupons sites coupon promo codes website for coupons
addiyan chuk chuk thebaileynews.com addyi menopause
amoxicillin dermani haqqinda amoxicillin nedir amoxicillin nedir
abortion in first trimester fao-events.com terminating pregnancy at 5 weeks
whats ldn centaurico.com low dose ldn
revia medication reviews link drinking on naltrexone
cefuroxim kinder temperaturhvorvi.site cefuroxim alkohol


Home
Book Reviews
Features
Interviews
News
Columns
Authors
Blog
About Us
Contact Us

Privacy Policy | Contact Shots Editor

THIS WEBSITE IS © SHOTS COLLECTIVE. NOT TO BE REPRODUCED ELECTRONICALLY EITHER WHOLLY OR IN PART WITHOUT PRIOR PERMISSION OF THE EDITOR.