Overview
In Shadow Family, Miyuki Miyabe draws readers into the amorphous world of Internet chat rooms-a world of people from all walks of life attracted by the possibility of being whomever they want to be.
Police investigating the murder of a middle-aged office worker discover e-mail correspondence on the victim's computer that indicates he had been a regular participant in an Internet chat room, as the "father" in a fantasy "family." Meanwhile, a female detective is assigned to protect the dead man's real-life daughter who complains of being stalked. As the real daughter confronts her father's alternate life, we are pulled into a psychological drama that pits reality and illusion against each other in astonishing ways.
Reading Guide available
Synopsis
Shadow Family is a compelling murder mystery focusing on the murky world of Internet chat room populated by people from all walks of life attracted by the possibility of being whoever they want to be.
Police investigating the double murder of a middle-aged salary man and his college-aged girlfriend discover email correspondence linking the victim with members of an online fantasy family, in which he plays the part of Dad. Meanwhile, his real-life teenage daughter is assigned police protection after complaining of being stalked. The investigation focuses increasingly on the Shadow family, as there is evidence that the member emerged from the chat room and started meeting up offline.
Veteran Desk Sergeant Takegami finds himself unexpectedly in center stage of the investigation after his colleague is hospitalized. Adding to his surprise, he is partnered with his old friend Detective Chikako Ishizu after a break of fifteen years. Working on a hunch, they collaborate to unravel the fine line between fantasy and the harsh reality of Murder.
Shadow Family is excellent detective fiction that keeps you guessing until the end. Within a skillful web of intrigue, Miyabe sensitively explores the meaning of family and relationships, and the devastating effect of betrayal.
The Washington Post - Richard Lipez
… patience pays off, for Shadow Family blossoms into both a suspenseful murder mystery and an astute running commentary on the parallel cyberworld inside which millions of people now spend so much of their time. She makes this escape into manufactured reality especially understandable for people like Ryosoke, Karue and Kazumi Tokorada, whose unhappiness "had at its core a hard fact, one never spoken aloud: parents and children are not always compatible, and where differences are irreconcilable, ties of blood can end up turning into heavy chains."
Editorials
From Barnes & Noble
The Barnes & Noble ReviewShadow Family by Miyuki Miyabe -- one of Japan's foremost mystery writers -- is the second novel by the bestselling Japanese author to be translated into English (after the critically acclaimed All She Was Worth).
When a married businessman is found dead with 24 stab wounds in a new housing development and his college-age mistress is strangled to death near the karaoke club she worked at, members of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department find evidence at the crime scenes that link the murders. After further investigation, the police discover that the businessman, Ryosuke Tokoroda --unhappily married, with an ill-tempered 16-year-old daughter -- has been spending much of his time in cyberspace participating as the father in an Internet family that interacts through chat rooms and message boards. But in the murky world of cyberspace, where anyone can pretend to be whoever they want to be, what happened when Tokoroda met his shadow family in real life?
While novels that have been translated from a foreign language often give readers that "lost in translation" feel, Shadow Family is a fluid, understated read that not only brings contemporary Japanese culture vividly to life but also explores the world of cyberspace, where millions of lonely people search for some kind of meaning in their lives. Mystery fans looking for something new should pick up this surprisingly compelling novel, which deals with culturally transcendent themes like betrayal, abandonment, and redemption. With a plot complexity comparable to Agatha Christie and the police procedural proficiency of an Ed McBain 87th Precinct novel, absolutely nothing about Miyabe's Shadow Family is lost is translation. Paul Goat Allen
New York Times Book Review
A trim translation from the Japanese by Juliet Winters Carpenter . . . the theatrically constructed plot is soon swirling with the naked emotions of unattached, deeply unhappy people eager to express their yearnings for an idealized family life no longer possible in the fractured social structure of modern-day Japan . . . Miyabe is a sympathetic observer, but also a sly one; and we're not surprised when one of the cops points out that the loving cyberfamily was drawn together through mutual admiration for a movie, "American Beauty," about an ideal family that sustains itself on illusions that bring it to a crashing, violent end.Richard Lipez
… patience pays off, for Shadow Family blossoms into both a suspenseful murder mystery and an astute running commentary on the parallel cyberworld inside which millions of people now spend so much of their time. She makes this escape into manufactured reality especially understandable for people like Ryosoke, Karue and Kazumi Tokorada, whose unhappiness "had at its core a hard fact, one never spoken aloud: parents and children are not always compatible, and where differences are irreconcilable, ties of blood can end up turning into heavy chains."— The Washington Post