I understand that for Chinese fiction, some of it comes down to politics and censorship. But I guess, I have been on an Asian crime/mystery thriller kick lately, and I’ve got about two or three dozen excellent Japanese crime thrillers on my TBR, after already polishing off a good dozen or so. Crime and mystery authors like Hideo Yokoyama, Heigo Higashino, Sheicho Mastumoto, Akimitsu Takagi, Seishi Yokomizo, Soji Sjimada, Akimitsu Takagi, Yukito Ayatsuji, Riku Onda, Masako Togawa, etc. and each of these authors have multiple books.
I have found a handful of good crime and mystery fiction from South Korea and China – The Good Son and Seven Years of Darkness by You Jeong Jeong (Korea), The Bad Kids and The Untouched Crime by Zijin Chen and The Inspector Chen series by Qiu Xiaolong (China).
However, most of the results I get when I search “crime thriller” or “murder mystery” are decidedly NOT that. The Hole, Plotters, Please Look After Mom etc. are not crime/mystery thrillers in the classical sense I think of them as.
Is it merely a matter of lack of translation into English? Or am I just missing a whole body of work somewhere? Any non-Japanese recommendations appreciated!
by WeddingElly