The Kamogawa Food Detectives

Father & daughter duo Koishi Kamogawa & Nagare Kamogawa run a restaurant down a backstreet in Kyoto. The guests come to eat great food and many of them come to them because they know Koishi & Nagare are food detectives. The father and daughter duo use their expertise and investigations to recreate dishes from their customers memories that will that hold a key to their forgotten past and a key to their future happiness.

Originality, Writing & Setting

While I was expecting an actual murder mystery to happen with Food Detectives in the title, it is not a mystery in that sense, that being said, I was not disappointed. I like the fact that the story is basically magical realism since Nagare & his daughter Koishi are recreating dishes from their customers pasts to relive a past fond time while also moving on to a better future. The writing is beautiful and descriptive. Its original because I don’t know if any magical realism story where food helps jog memories and giving a possibility of a better future. I loved all the characters from the father and daughter to the customers and of course the cat Drowsy. I love how it was written how it was short stories of each character in one book that interconnects into one story. I love that the setting was in Kyoto Japan and the food for each chapter made me want to eat them especially the Mackerel Sushi.

Overall

If you enjoy books about food, stories that take place in different parts of the world especially Japan, & some magical realism, I recommend The Kamogawa Food Detectives by by Hisahsi Kashiwai. I can’t wait to read the sequel The Restaurant Of Lost Recipes.