The Black Umbrella Mystery is a story with the soul of
Ellery Queen and the body of an anime protagonist. There are
a few Japanese writers who seem to be channeling the spirit of Queen, and this was Yuugo Aosaki’s pitch, earning him the moniker of “Ellery Queen of the Heisei period.” (Too bad we’re already in
Reiwa.)
The Black Umbrella Mystery received a fair amount of praise and hype, but didn’t quite go the distance for me. It features a fairly sterile puzzle plot, which was fine and not unexpected given the Queensian reputation, but the core locked room trick strained my credulity just a bit too much.
