Review by Frank Plowright

While the stories supplied in Master Keaton remain unpredictable, that doesn’t apply to the themes. Co-writers Hokusei Katsushika and Naoki Urasawa have their favourite scenarios and rework them for most volumes. There’s another supposed haunting, two stories where fathers are central, a mystery set on an archaeological site, the former Eastern Germany is again a story point, and there’s another solo outing for Keaton’s father. This however, isn’t repetition as the stories around those themes are new and original.

The East German location indicates the time the stories were created, moving on to the mid-1990s when the country no longer existed, but enough revelations about the recent past provide material. In this case it’s a man accused of being a spy for the former autocratic regime who has a family in London, but did he also leave one in Berlin? It’s the strongest of the dozen stories here, the motivations and understanding shining through some sordid circumstances.

For the first time in Mister Keaton there’s a story stretching over three chapters. Being set primarily at an archaeological dig in Orkney covers one regular feature, but it remains a pastime for Keaton, who actually earns his money as an insurance investigator, and those themes are tied together with a killer on the loose. It’s contrived in places, but as always with this series Urasawa’s elegantly attractive art is capable of pasting over any plot lapses. Not that there are many.

As ever, the writers ensure a strong emotional pull to their characters. We’re concerned for the boxer fighting his last bout, for Keaton’s housekeeper when he’s initially dismissive, and for a father learning the truth about his son in the opener. Alfred Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train, or Patricia Highsmith’s novel on which it was based, as the inspiration for the closing two-parter’s initial scenario is evident, but Katsushika and Urasawa move into a more complex scenario involving other characters. It’s the explanation of there being mountains in the background when Keaton’s pictured on the cover.

Residents of Bromley, Kent will be surprised to learn of a grand mansion in acres of land near their home, but Urasawa’s generally convincing about the locations, well researched long before the availability of online searches.

This is another excellent selection of crime stories with unassuming Keaton at their heart, and Master Keaton 12 is the final pick.