The Kamogawa Food Detectives

Hisashi Kashiwai

Translated by Jesse Kirkwood
04 April 2024
9781035009596
208 pages

Synopsis

The first book in the bestselling, mouth-watering Japanese sleuthing series, The Kamogawa Food Detectives is perfect for fans of Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop, Days at the Morisaki Bookshop and Toshikazu Kawaguchi's Before the Coffee Gets Cold.

What’s the one dish you’d do anything to taste just one more time?

Down a quiet backstreet in Kyoto exists a very special restaurant. Run by Koishi Kamogawa and her father Nagare, the Kamogawa Diner treats its customers to wonderfully extravagant meals. But that's not the main reason to stop by . . .

The father-daughter duo have started advertising their services as 'food detectives'. Through ingenious investigations, they are capable of recreating a dish from their customers' pasts – dishes that may well hold the keys to unlocking forgotten memories and future happiness.

From the widower looking for a specific noodle dish that his wife used to cook, to a first love's beef stew, the restaurant of lost recipes provides a link to the past – and a way to a more contented future.

A bestseller in Japan, The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai, and translated from Japanese by Jesse Kirkwood, is a celebration of good company and the power of a delicious meal.

The Kamogawa Food Detectives search for the taste of memories. Like sights and sounds, tastes are also deeply connected to one's memories. The depictions of the beautiful scenery of Kyoto and its native dishes, which are like the original landscape of Japan, warmed my heart
The food writing is truly superb
'The Kamogawa Food Detectives is an absolute joy; hilarious, emotional, and entirely delicious. Hisashi Kashiwai's tales of love lost, found, grown older and reborn are both striking and comforting — truly one of a kind. Delectable and delightful'