After dreaming of getting rich, I dressed up as a collapsed idol

What is very interesting about detective novels compared to other literary works is that the story content is a challenge from the author to the readers.

All the clues and evidence are laid out before the readers through the development of the plot, but the readers are not allowed to guess the final mystery. When the truth is finally revealed, they will have that sense of sudden enlightenment of "Ah, why didn't I think of that?"

"Astrology Murder Magic" is undoubtedly top-notch in this regard.

The whole story raises three unsolvable puzzles.

The man who wanted to create Asodo, the owner of the diary, Heiji Umezawa, was killed in the secret room. This is a mystery within a mystery, a double secret room.

Umezawa's daughter Kazue was murdered and showed signs of assault on her body, but the murderer's blood type did not match that of the only person at the scene with an alibi.

Finally, there is the core mystery, the Asword case.

The three cases are closely linked to each other, with various hidden threads connecting them, and mysteries covering up mysteries. When I watched the ending for the first time, the complex, crazy, and somewhat perverted artistic killing methods were really chilling and sent chills down my spine.

For readers who like detective novels, the ingenious structure of this book is truly eye-opening.

The novel murder method and the writing style that is completely different from today's mystery novels have prompted more and more people to read it for fun, and its reputation has become better and better, and sales have gradually increased.

Lu Qingfeng's identity as a writer began to become his distinctive label and was recognized by Japanese readers.

But just as any innovation will face opposition in the early stages, unconventional breaking of conventions will inevitably lead to hostility from those who stick to the old ways.

This situation was very obvious when this story first appeared. There were still constant arguments in China about the emergence of the new orthodox school, but due to its weak literary foundation, it did not seem to have much influence from the outside world.

But in Fuso, a country with a strong culture of reasoning, the outcry it caused far exceeded that in China.

What's more, Lu Qingfeng is still an outsider to the literary world here.

[Recently, a mystery novel written by a Chinese writer has been very popular. Several old friends recommended it to me, saying that it is very popular among our Japanese readers.

So I found a copy and read it out of curiosity.

When I read it for the first time, I felt that the design of Asoed in the book was indeed wonderful, and the core trick was exquisite and gorgeous. Even if I glanced at this, the conception of the whole book was still admirable.

But after careful reading, I felt that something was wrong, so I read it a second time and discovered several problems in this book.

1: Although the novel was written by a Chinese writer, the details in the book show that he has a deep understanding of the geography of Japan. I approve of this attitude in writing books, but the burial coordinates mentioned in the book are too precise. According to the Edo period in the book, how did the murderer accurately locate these places?

It is hard to imagine that there was no navigation at the time, and the murderer could accurately transport the bodies to all parts of the country in the deserted mines.

In this regard, this case is only theoretically possible to implement in reality, but not specifically feasible.

2. Compared with the grand mystery in the book, the murderer's motive for killing is unconvincing. It is difficult for me to sympathize with the murderer's final confession, and then to take it for granted that under such circumstances, he would come up with such a complicated killing method.

The overall feeling is top-heavy.

3. The writer's writing is not good, the narrative is disorganized, there are many long-winded parts in the middle, the plot arrangement is not organized, and some places are just a list of things that are used to fill the word count.

Although detective novels are mainly about entertainment, they are ultimately a literary genre, and the beauty of words is indispensable.

Therefore, this novel can only be considered acceptable overall. Its current popularity is simply due to a misplaced concept. I don't agree with the so-called new orthodox style.

This is an article posted on a social platform by a senior mystery writer from Japan named Tomogoro Fujimoto.

Fujimoto Chigoro, who is about 70 years old, is not well-known, but he has met a group of famous writers during the golden age of Japanese mystery and has received their guidance.

Although he has limited qualifications and has never written any good works, he has survived until now and has a high status in the literary world. He is also a member of the Fuso Mystery Writers Association and one of the judges for major mystery literature awards.

He is the kind of person who is not well-known to the outside world but has a say in the industry.

The more such people there are, the more they cling to the old conservative ideas and are the first to criticize "Astrology Murder Magic".

What's more, his words are meaningful. Although he can't write a good story, he has been in the literary world for so many years and still has some appreciation ability. He raised several questions, which are also the points that this mystery novel has been criticized for many years since it was published in its previous life.

The issue of the inability to implement tricks in reality has been controversial since the book was published, which is why this group of mystery novel writers led by Shimada Soji are called new orthodox novels.

While incorporating traditional orthodox theories, the series focuses on pursuing brain-burning, excitement, and puzzles, while downplaying reality; the narrative techniques are flexible and diverse.

These writing techniques had been developed over the years by the New Classical Writing Society in the past, so they were not new and readers were accustomed to them. However, when they first appeared, they also confused those traditional mystery writers.

It's like in the era when Nokia's feature phones were popular, if you introduced a smartphone, it would be too advanced and people who hadn't experienced it would find it outrageous.

How can your phone have no buttons?

However, the poor writing style and lengthy narrative are the shortcomings of the original work. Although Lu Qingfeng made certain modifications to these based on his own understanding.

But while keeping the framework unchanged throughout the book, only minor improvements can be made.

Plus, there's the translation issue.

Unavoidable.

The issue of motivation is also one of the main points of complaint among readers who have read this book.

How should I put it? It's probably like the old online novels, where the villain's inner thoughts: 'He glanced at me, this boy must not be allowed to live', compared to the wonderful tricks in the previous part, it does feel like a poor addition.

However, because the book is so structured, the last paragraph cannot be modified.

In short, since Tomogoro Fujimoto came to prominence, many traditional writers have openly or covertly disparaged this book.

It's not necessarily that the book is really bad, it's also possible that people can't stand Lu Qingfeng's Chinese identity, but the mystery novels he published can sell so well.

There are also people who can't stand the fact that he has been in the spotlight for so long.

The reasons vary, but there has indeed been a trend of boycott to a certain extent.

There were also some people like this in the readership who followed suit and clamored. For a time, the Fuso Foreign Network caused a sensation, and even the TV station specially produced a program to discuss the matter.

Several well-known writers were invited to the show to discuss whether "Astrology Murder Magic" could be considered a mystery novel. The majority of them were against it, with only two remaining neutral.

After the show was aired, it received high ratings, and with it came even greater controversy.

Regardless of anything else, the sales of books have been rising in Fuso after being stable for a while.