Review by C.J. Bunce
The food detectives are returning for six more “episodes” where they uncover lost recipes brought to them by lost souls who have only by chance encountered the detective agency’s very existence. In an unmarked backstreet building in Kyoto, Japan, retired cop and widower Nagare Kamogawa and his 30-something daughter Koishi only advertise via a single, cryptic line in the ad column of Gourmet Monthly. If you cook it they will come? What they offer is the re-creation of a memory via a dish from your past. I reviewed the 2013 bestselling novel The Kamogawa Food Detectives, here at borg, followed by Kamogawa’s follow-up novel The Restaurant of Lost Recipes here, and the second sequel, Menu of Happiness here. Translator Jesse Kirkwood brings the next volume to Random House/G.P. Putnam’s Sons, The Kamogawa Food Detectives: A Serving of Hope, available for pre-order now here at Amazon.
How has the author’s writing changed over the course of the four books in the series? What changes do our cozy mystery food detectives face in their next six cases?
As with the first three books in the series, these quaint, short, palm-sized stories of two people using their skills to help strangers find themselves via self-reflection and nostalgia aren’t what Western readers would typically think of as mysteries. Filled with Japanese cuisine and brief trips to neighborhood-level Japan past and present, the mystery is uncovered off the page by master chef Nagare. Each chapter follows the exact same formula as in the first book, which makes the narrative like watching an episode of a Hallmark TV drama, and once you step into the second book it all works in these stories’ favor.
First the stranger finds his or her way to the restaurant. Next, they sample food from whatever Nagare has prepared for the day. During this segment it’s really not about the food–we learn a little about the new client guest. Then Nagare’s daughter Koishi gives a brief interview to each new guest including completing a form, inquiring about the details of what they remember about the food, where they ate it and when, even with whom in some cases. Koishi schedules an appointment for them to return, then she discusses the details with her father, and he leaves to begin his research. The surprise for anyone familiar with Western mysteries is that the very next paragraph is the guest returning to sample the meal (usually) two weeks later. Usually in one sentence Nagare says something intended to resonate with the guest. We never learn more of the guest, and the next chapter moves on to the next guest. Repeat five more times. Drowsy, the cat on the cover, is back, too.
Author Kashiwai’s storytelling has improved with each volume. Each book may touch on a theme, and this latest assemblage of stories truly mirrors the title subject of hope. The people who come to Kyoto to meet Nagare are lonely. In America when we celebrate our favorite eating moments they usually aren’t eating alone, and here Nagare and his daughter leave the room for their guest to experience the nostalgia alone, with nobody to share the experience of remembering. It’s probably a necessary part of the author’s construct–Nagare wasn’t there when a man had a certain meal with his mistress, or a woman had macaroni and cheese the last time she saw her son–so that’s why Nagare steps out of the room. But the loneliness is palpable in this volume. There’s also some duality–like a young man wanting a certain meal his mother made, and the woman wanting to recreate the meal she last had with her son. We also meet a man who doesn’t seem to like or want the meal he is requesting, and another client a little too snooty for Nagare’s off-the-beaten path location and unrefined café.
Were I selecting from all 24 cases in the four books only a few cases to test out in a television series I would pick the chapters “Onigiri” and “Shogayaki” from this volume simply because we get a rare brief window into what makes the author and Nagare tick, via a clever switch-up in style at the end of each story. Does Nagare finally break one of his personal rules of this unique detective agency he has established?
The dishes this round that set Nagare off sleuthing as only a retired person could do include an underachiever law clerk after a miso soup, a hair stylist seeking onigiri (white rice wrapped in seaweed), a newly retired CEO seeking shogoyaki (a grilled pork dish), a doyenne seeking hiyashi-chuka (a cold ramen dish), the son of a former client looking for a kara-age dish (an old fried chicken recipe) and a mother long separated from her son seeking a macaroni gratin (a Japanese macaroni and cheese dish).
Are we only now uncovering small hints at why Koishi still lives with her father? Not much changes for the two stars of these stories, but it’s the familiarity and comfort readers will return for. As I’ve noted before, the series screams for recipes to be included in an appendix. The ingredients and high level details of the recipes are practically included in the text, so hopefully a recipe book will follow one day. Translator Jesse Kirkwood again keeps the pleasant tone and English swaps for Japanese sayings completely easy to understand and relate to.
The series, including this latest installment, are highly recommended for foodies and fans of cozy mysteries. A good partner with both the Geek Anime Cookbook (reviewed here) and The Unofficial Ghibli Cookbook (reviewed here), pick up your copy of the English editions of The Kamogawa Food Detectives, available here, its first sequel, The Restaurant of Lost Recipes available here, and The Kamogawa Food Detectives: Menu of Happiness, available here. Catch up on the entire series and order The Kamogawa Food Detectives: A Serving of Hope, available for pre-order now here at Amazon, coming to bookshops October 6, 2026.
