Murder At the End of the World

Akane Araki's Murder At the End of the World was one of the newer mystery novels we were excited to read. Set in the Fukuoka region right before an asteroid is about to destroy humanity, the novel features a young woman and her ex-police driving instructor solving a series of murders. The case actually takes place after the initial exodus and rioting that rocked Japan, especially as the site the asteroid is projected to land is in Japan. This background helps the reader understand why Haru has been living mostly in isolation since the exodus, although her motives for seeking a driving license with the collapse of most government services and institutions is not completely unveiled until later. That said, she finds herself involved in the series of murders for reasons we do not wish to spoil. Isagawa, her driving instructor/coach, is a former police detective with a dangerous sense of duty with regard to justice. Consequently, the duo begin to investigate the murder of a woman and two teens, eventually leading them to find out about a series of serial murders committed in the area. With the police shutting down stations and losing so many staff (many Japanese had left the country, trying to get to places like South America or Western countries, even though the impact of the asteroid collision will wipe out all human civilization in just a few more  months), Isagawa and Haru (with the aid of fellow holdouts in the region) solve the case. 

As one might expect, this is a deeply disturbing read. Mass suicides in the wake of the news of the impending asteroid as well as the breakdown in law and order made for a bleak landscape. Haru must confront her own morality while surrounded by this, as well as ponder what it means to stop a killer when everyone is going to die soon. There are some glimpses of positive human collaboration even in the face of disaster. Holdout villages, for instance, have sprouted in the area, providing safe and secure spaces for the remnants of the human population in the region to wait out their final days. A doctor running a small clinic continues to help patients and use the clinic as a shelter for the aging residents. Haru and Isagawa also open their investigative crew up to two brothers scavenging to survive and a teenage girl, making sacrifices for each other to survive. This more positive side of human nature is contrasted with the brutal serial killings, the rich planning to leave the planet in a spaceship and wait out the impact of the asteroid, and the wealthy with access to luxury underground tankers in countries in the western hemisphere. This all adds up to an engaging and entertaining read of a civilization facing imminent decline.

Unfortunately, the actual mystery aspect of the case is where things began to fall apart. We applaud the attempts to mix other genres with mystery, but in this novel there were only 3 real suspects for the crime. Since one of them would have been too easy and obvious, that leaves us with only two. We were able to correctly identify the killer quite easily and thought that perhaps more of a focus on laying out more clues and suspects may have helped the plot. In other words, does a better job on the apocalyptic fiction side rather than mystery.