Miyabe Miyuki

Miyuki Miyabe turns out to be a celebrated author in Japan. This book—All She Was Worth, translated from a novel known in Japanese as "Train," is a fine "domestic murder mystery" published (in Japanese) in 1992. It feels quite modern, and although what the author chooses to tell us about the life she sees around her is not exactly what a Western author would see in that same life, time and again we easedrop on what the author thinks important enough to mention. For example, a great deal is made of the differences in the Osaka and Tokyo dialects. None of us is likely to know enough Japanese to notice this, even if we were there, but it is obviously important to the author.
 
We see many details of home life, as we follow along with Detective Shunsuke Honma, hobbled by a leg injury and technically on leave from his Tokyo police position. As in so many novels, there is someone missing from the nuclear family, in this case the mother. Their son, 10, plays a part in grounding the story to its domestic roots, and their family life, if not conventional is certainly loving and nurturing.
Detective Honma is asked by a relative to investigate the disappearance of his fiance. Slowly, bits of the mystery appear and it develops as Honma lives his Tokyo life. We even get to other locations in Japan, but mostly the story concerns Tokyo.
 
I like what she has chosen to tell us of Japanese life. You will see some reference to economic conditions, and I even thought of the British novelist Dick Francis, who chooses a theme for each novel, and seeks to educate the reader on that theme while keeping his attention with an action-packed mystery. All She Was Worth is not action-packed, but it is a compelling read in a genre that allows both elucidation and intrigue to mix within the reader's experience.