The Kindaichi Case Files Volume 2- The Mummy's Curse by Yozaburo Kinari and Fumiya Sato

Kindaichi and his friend Miyuki Nanase are surprised by a story going around the school: that one of the students, Wakaba Tokita, is having an affair with one of the teachers, Odagiri-sensei. It's more than a rumor, because someone has posted pictures of them leaving a "love hotel" on the wall at school.

At first, Wakaba is going to be expelled, but Miyuki speaks up for her at the meeting of the PTA. When that doesn't get any results, Kindaichi takes a few pictures of his own at the love hotel: of the Principal leaving with the head of the PTA. That gets Wakaba reinstated, but her family, smarting under the scandal of what she has done, calls her home to be married to her fianceé in her home village. But before she goes, she thanks Miyuki and Kindaichi for what they have done for her, gives Miyuki a necklace with Wakaba's family crest, and invites them to her wedding, which will be in a few weeks.

A few weeks later, Odagiri asks to come with them to the wedding, saying that he wishes Wakaba nothing but the best, and eventually, Kindaichi and Miyuki agree. The village is in a remote area, and seems to constist of six mansions, each arranged around the points of a Mogen David, or a Star of David, with the remains of a burned-out church in the middle. Each family identifies itself as a Mogen David missing one point, and Wakaba's family is missing the top point on the star.

It's a strange village, but things get even stranger when they are shown the inside of the house that Wakaba's family owns. The family servant warns them off exploring the house, and when they do, they discover a mummy missing its head in the basement. It's very strange, but they don't question it, even after they are discovered by the servant and shown back to their room.

The next day brings a wedding rehearsal: Wakaba the blushing bride, her betrothed pudgy and a cloth mask covering his head due to scarring from a childhood illness. But after dinner, the guests from the other houses reveal a strange custom: The Bride-to-be must sleep in the ruined church for one night, meditating on her sins, before she can be considered purified for marriage.

Watching over her will be another girl from one of the families, Kiriko Kabuto. But that night, the bells in the church ring, and Wakaba's decapitated body is recovered from the church, missing its head. Kiriko is missing, and Miyase and Kindaichi feel it is up to them to find out who killed Wakaba. Was it Kimiko, or one of the other families in the small town?

As the bodies mount up, Kindaichi finds himself working with an old "friend", Detective Kenmochi of the Tokyo Police. But is he up to the strain of working on this unusual murder case, and can he discover the true identity of the killer, and why Wakaba and the others had to die?

Another excellent murder case, occurring in a locked and secluded church. Once again, we head into serial killer territory as the killer takes multiple victims. The creepy nature of the town and the inhabitants there, as well as the secret they are all hiding and which eventually causes the murders, is quite interesting. Readers will enjoy this locked room mystery even when finding the cause and the murderer seems quite impossible.

In addition to the murder mystery, the characterizations and character designs are first-rate, adding to the creepy and eerie feeling in the town. It's not impossible to keep up with Kindaichi, either, but readers will have to be sharp and quick of wits to do so. Kindaichi comes off as likeable and a bit of a smart-aleck, but wins your trust with his ultra-sharp wits and how he never misses a trick. I was a little less than thrilled with how Wakaba is used more as a plot device, keeping getting put in danger so that Kindaichi has to rescue her. I'd like to see her be more, but I understand that just comes with the territory.

All in all, a most enjoyable story, and not something we see very often in manga. I, and other readers, are most used to seeing the fantasy, science fiction and even romances that come out of Manga that it's sometimes hard to remember that manga is more than just a few classes of stories in Japan: it's a type of medium like graphic novels in America, although in Japan, *everyone* reads manga, and the stories go from short-form kid's comics to raunchy, hard-core pornography read by Japanese Sararimen. This is very different, and very welcome.