THE English translation of Japanese mystery novel Suspicion by the late author Seichō Matsumoto has hit the shelves.
In the middle of the night, a car with two passengers drives
off a pier. An elderly man drowns but his young wife Kumako Onizuka lives.
Due to her past life, she finds herself accused of
orchestrating the incident. Local journalist Moichi Akitani writes a series of
articles about the crime which turn the community against her. But when a
surprisingly scrupulous public defender takes on her case, Akitani begins to
doubt himself, and he fears what might happen if Kumako ever gets wind of the
contempt he spread about her.
Seichō was credited for popularising detective fiction in
Japan. His works broke new ground by incorporating elements of human psychology
and ordinary life, as they often reflected a wider social context and nihilism
that expanded the scope and further darkened the atmosphere of the genre.
Translator Jesse Kirkwood said: “Translating crime novels
has made me appreciate the genre a lot more to see how much you can do within
the bounds of the conventions. For me, every work has something interesting in
the style or the voice. It doesn’t matter if it’s literary or genre fiction.”
Jesse has worked as a professional academic, legal and
commercial translator from French and Polish into English, and is currently
focusing on Japanese literary fiction.
