64

64 by Hideo Yokoyama is a thick crime book from a different environment than I'm used to be reading. The Japanese culture is far from the crime books I normally read, and I don't think I've ever read a crime book from Japan. The main story line is the case number 64 about a girl who went missing 14 years prior to when the book starts its story. The case was never solved. The cops are still trying to solve the case, since loosing face if it doesn't get solved is not something taken lightly. The daughter of police commissioner Mikami and his wife has just disappeared and Mikami is being called out to identify a dead girl. Everything is connected, and this crime book has a slower pace than normal. It takes its time, and sets the mood and describe Japan and really lets the reader get to know the characters. Its different than other crime books. I liked the fact I get to know a different culture at the same time as I'm reading a crime book. I think the crime itself might have come second after the description of environment and description of characters in this book. But it's not necessarily a negative thing. Normally what makes me turn the pages in a crime book is the crime itself and the pace things happen. In this book the reading experience is enough. I enjoyed it, and I've read this is Hideo Yokoyama's third book, but the only one translated. I hope the other two gets translated as well.