By James Wilson<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was the last time Teiko ever saw her husband\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n From the last line of its very first chapter, <\/span>Point Zero <\/span><\/i>draws you into its eerie, muted setting. A crime novel written by the late Seicho Matsumoto, the story focuses on Teiko, a professional\u00a0<\/span>in her mid-twenties. Teiko marries Kenichi Uhara, the manager of an advertising agency who is\u00a0<\/span>ten years her senior. This age gap, though brushed off initially as inconsequential, becomes\u00a0<\/span>pivotal when the novel delves into the buried histories of its characters.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Only a month after their marriage, Kenichi goes missing while away on a business trip.\u00a0<\/span>Teiko, fearing for her husband\u2019s safety, embarks on a series of journeys across the coast of\u00a0<\/span>Northern Japan, trying to unravel the mystery of his disappearance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This setting lends itself beautifully to such a narrative; grey, storm-tossed rural coastlines and\u00a0<\/span>wintry, snow-covered city streets. Some of the novel\u2019s most poignant moments occur when\u00a0<\/span>Matsumoto pauses to allow his readers to take in such scenes more deeply.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The story, however, rarely stays still for long, with Teiko moving back and forth across the\u00a0<\/span>country as her situation becomes increasingly dire. The novel does a good job of keeping the\u00a0<\/span>wool over its readers\u2019 eyes, with a compelling and original mystery at its centre which keeps\u00a0<\/span>the wheels turning.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The characters we meet are all believable figures, each with their own individual quirks and tendencies. Teiko serves as a likeable, resolute and resourceful protagonist, joined in her\u00a0<\/span>search by the amiable Yoshio Honda, who worked for the same company as her husband. <\/span>In the moments where the author allows the mystery to unfold, however, it can at times be\u00a0<\/span>done rather heavy-handedly. Matsumoto has a habit of dedicating entire pages to narration on\u00a0<\/span>Teiko\u2019s speculation about her current situation. This speculation, more often than not, turns\u00a0<\/span>out to be the absolute truth of the matter. There are a few occasions where the novel feels as\u00a0<\/span>though it is offloading information onto you, rather than allowing you to feel as though you\u00a0<\/span>have a hand in solving the mystery yourself, as many great mystery stories do.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n There are also instances where somewhat unbelievable plot-conveniences play a part in helping lead Teiko on to the next clue, but these are thankfully few and far between.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Point Zero<\/span><\/i> is a subtly complex narrative which keeps you engaged throughout, right up until its vivid, emotional climax. Its grim, rugged setting is perfect autumnal reading for fans of\u00a0<\/span>crime and mystery.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A subtly complex narrative and grim, rugged setting keep you engaged throughout, right up until a vivid, emotional climax. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":4922,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","iawp_total_views":24,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37,151],"tags":[295,922,607,920,150,921,437],"wf_post_folders":[211],"class_list":{"0":"post-4918","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts","8":"category-reviews","9":"tag-book","10":"tag-crime-novel","11":"tag-japan","12":"tag-mystery","13":"tag-review","14":"tag-snow","15":"tag-winter"},"acf":[],"author_meta":{"display_name":"Gaudie Staff","author_link":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/author\/gaudie-staff\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Screenshot-2024-12-05-133523-300x197.png","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["Arts<\/a>","Reviews<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Arts<\/span>","Reviews<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["Book<\/a>","crime novel<\/a>","Japan<\/a>","mystery<\/a>","review<\/a>","snow<\/a>","Winter<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Book<\/span>","crime novel<\/span>","Japan<\/span>","mystery<\/span>","review<\/span>","snow<\/span>","Winter<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 2 years ago","modified":"Updated 2 years ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on 6 November 2024","modified":"Updated on 13 January 2025"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on 6 November 2024 13:30","modified":"Updated on 13 January 2025 23:11"},"featured_img_caption":"Train in a snowstorm. Credit: Pixabay","series_order":"","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4918","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4918"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4918\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5074,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4918\/revisions\/5074"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4918"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=4918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}