Shin honkaku

Shin honkaku is a sub-genre of Japanese detection fiction — and my new obsession!I’ve even designed my own book cover, scroll down to see…An intro to the genre“Shin honkaku” translates to “new orthodox” and pays homage to classic western authors of the early 20th century such as Poe, Queen, Van Dine, Carr, Christie, and Conan Doyle. All of whom are often referenced by the fictional detectives within shin honkaku books.The genre began in the 1980’s. As the name implies, it’s a return to the roots of mystery fiction. There is a deliberate emphasis on “fair play” allowing the reader every chance to solve the mystery. Prior to shin honkaku, Japanese detective fiction had a seedy reputation.Sōji Shimada writes in the foreword to The Moai Island Puzzle:In the 1920s, when Edogawa Rampo imported the Edgar Allan Poe-Arthur Conan Doyle style of mystery novel which started in the West, and new Japanese writers gathered to solidify the form of this new genre, the scientific revolution which had…