People who have a tattoo are still not allowed to enter the swimming pool or hot springs in Japan, because it is strongly associated with the mafia – yakuza. In times when the plot unfolds, tattooing was prohibited by law (the ban was lifted in 1948, when The Tattoo Murder was first published in Japan.) The tattooing process itself was much more painful, time consuming and expensive then than it is now. And in addition, people with a tattoo were much more discriminated against than today.
Nevertheless, even then there were people who, once they got to know the beauty of a tattoo, could not resist the temptation to decorate their bodies. This group also includes the protagonists of this book – Professor Hayakawa and Kinue Nomura. It is the tattoo of the legendary tattoo artist’s daughter, Kinue – a beautiful snake – that becomes the desire of the professor. He wants to acquire the woman’s skin after her death and tries to negotiate with her. (A little curiosity – although the story is obviously fiction, there really is a collection of human skins with tattoos at the University of Tokyo.)
Before the negotiations are finished, Kinue’s decapitated head is found in her bathroom – the door to which was locked. In addition, a neighbour who can see the entrance to Kinue’s house from his flat confirmed that no one else went inside. How is it possible that someone killed the woman and left the house with her torso? Find out by reading The Tattoo Murder!
Finally, I would like to add that the book was highly regarded by Ranpo Edogawa, the author of Gąsienica published by Tajfuny – we definitely recommend it to fans of classic detective stories!
