“…the entire place was crumbling and decrepit.” #20BOS26 Book 34

One of the books I picked up last month when we were having our little shop to celebrate mum was by an author I’ve read before – Seishi Yokomizo. Back in 2020 I reviewed his “The Honjin Murders” which had kindly been passed on to me by a fellow blogger, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Pushkin Press have released several further titles by him, but I had somehow not kept up with them. However, browsing in the British Heart Foundation charity shop, I noticed this title in a stack of books which had just been priced ready to go out on the shelves. Luckily I was still in the process of paying for my other finds, so I was able to pick this one up – and it turned out to be the perfect read whilst travelling home. The book, translated by Bryan Karetnyk, actually contains two novellas: the title story “Murder at the Black Cat Cafe” and “Why Did The Well Wheel Creak?” First published in 1973, the stories are set earlier in the century in a post-WW2 landscape. Both hinge on confused identities and…