Fish swimming in dappled sunlight by Riku Onda

Name of Book: Fish swimming in dappled sunlight

Author: Riku Onda 

ISBN: 9781913394592

Publisher: Bitter Lemon Press

Type of book: Japan, siblings, accident or murder, secrets, apartment, intelligence, desire, nature, contemporary times 

Year it was published: 2022

Summary:

Set in Tokyo over the course of one night, Aki and Hiro have decided to be together one last time in their shared flat before parting. Their relationship has broken down after a mountain trek during which their guide died inexplicably. Now each believes the other to be a murderer and is determined to extract a confession before the night is over. Who is the murderer and what really happened on the mountain?

In the battle of wills between them, the chain of events leading up to this night is gradually revealed in a gripping psychological thriller that keeps the reader in suspense to the very end.

Characters:

Main characters are Aki and Hiro, brother and sister who have recently reunited and are wanting to get to know each other by sharing an apartment together. Aki I would describe as extremely passionate, intelligent and type that romanticizes all events. Hiro, for some odd reason, striker me as a beachbum who can't see underneath the surface,  detached, and is ready to get it over with. He also has a tendency to look down on people and knows very little of Aki. 

Theme:

Because title plays such an important role in narration, I often understood it to mean a glimpse of truth that can't be grasped and it ultimately vanishes. 

Plot:

The chapters are written in first person narrative from Akis and Hiros points of view, the duration of one last night where the other hopes to get a confession about the murder of a local hiker. No subject is left untouched as Aki and Hiro travel from childhood to adulthood, sifting through memories and finding possible unexpected answers. ( there is an unanswered question that I desperately wanted answered, but it didn't happen.) The title is also related a lot to the narrative, so it's not an accident that it's named the way it is.   Like previous reviewers mentioned, it's also a claustrophobic novel where only three people know the truth, but one is killed, and can one trust the remaining two? 

Author Information:
(From goodreads)

Riku Onda (Japanese name: 恩田 陸), born in 1964, is the professional name of Nanae Kumagai. She has been writing fiction since 1991 and has won the Yoshikawa Eiji Prize for New Writers, the Japan Booksellers' Award, the Mystery Writers of Japan Award for Best Novel for The Aosawa Murders, the Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize, and the Naoki Prize. Her work has been adapted for film and television. The Aosawa Murders was her first crime novel and the first time she was translated into English. It was selected by The New York Times as a Notable Book of 2020.

Opinion:

This is definitely a change from Riku Ondas previous novel: THE AOSAWA MURDERS. While her previous novel had a wide range of characters and people as well as time and place, the current one is completely opposite. While I also felt that in first one one can find a multitude of answers within the story, this one is the opposite, and it is up to the reader on whether or not to believe Aki or Hiro, and whether or not the conspiracies the two build are valid or what are called "red herrings". (Distracting/ attention grabbing or genuine clues?) It is a pretty good read and I have to applaud the author for versatility in writing mysteries. 

This was given for review 

4 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)