Death on Gokumon Island

 Death on Gokumon Island (1948) by Seishi Yokomizo

Gokumon Island has a long, forbidding reputation--with a name meaning Hell's Gate Island and a history as a pirate stronghold. Since its pirate days, it came to be ruled by two strong, clannish fishing families. The head family, long lead by Kaemon Kito, is depending on Kaemon's grandson Chimata to return from the war and take his place as head of the family. But Kosuke Kindaichi, the famous detective, served with Chimata and when his friend succumbs to an illness acquired during the war, he begs Kosuke to go to Gokumon Island and protect his younger sisters. Chimata is certain that the girls will be killed if Kosuke can't prevent it.

Unfortunately, Kosuke's arrival sets in motion a well-prepared plan. A plan that even Japan's greatest detective could hardly have expected. And soon his mission of prevention becomes one of investigation as one by one the sisters are murdered in bizarre circumstances. Suspicion falls upon, the girls' father, a man driven mad by his autocratic father and Kaemon's treatment of the son and his wife. But the madman is locked up--how could he have done it? Other suspects include the "branch" family--related to the Kitos, but not in power. The scheming matriarch of the branch family wants the power for her own--would she or one of her household kill for it? And Kosuke himself spends a night in jail when Sergeant Shimizu, the island's police officer becomes suspicious of the strange outsider (before Kosuke has revealed his true identity and mission).

There is a lot going on here...and, unfortunately, some of it takes place off the page. So, when we get to the wrap-up scene at the end, there really isn't any way for the reader to have reached the same conclusions as Kosuke. I had a sneaking suspicion of part of the answer, but no solid evidence to back me up. I just thought a certain person was acting a bit oddly (though, if you read the story and see how many of these people are behaving oddly, you might wonder how I told the difference...). But--the story is engaging, provides a lot of history for the area and time period, and gives a good, twisty plot that can be enjoyed even if one might wish for more clues. ★★★ and 1/2

First line (Prologue): Seventeen miles south of Kasaoka, falling right on the border between Okayama, Hiroshima, and Kagawa Prefectures, in the middle of the Seto Inland Sea, there's a tiny island.

First line (1st Chapter): Kosuke Kindaichi. Reader, if you happen to have picked up the mystery The Honjin Murders, you will be familiar with him.

Last line: He placed his hands together in a posture of prayer as he bade farewell to Gokumon Island.
*******************

Deaths = 11 (five natural; one drowned; three strangled; one hit on head; one in war)