In Usotoki Rhetoric a bright but impecunious detective Iwai Soma relies on cadging free meals off a nearby restaurant. One day he comes across a girl Urabe Kanoko collapsed from hunger who is cursed with an ability to know when people are lying. Being able to tell when people are lying is a useful ability for a detective so he hires her as an assistant.

Usotoki Rhetoric is set in the early Showa era in Japan (the 1920s). Whether it’s historically accurate I don’t know but it’s different and interesting. I’m a sucker for times past. The clothes are much prettier than modern day serials.

The cases are varied, sometimes veering into the bizarre but often with uplifting outcomes. Kanoko grows through the eleven episodes. She comes to terms with her ‘curse’. At points Usotoki Rhetoric does ask are there good lies and bad lies? As when the kind-hearted restaurant tries to organise a surprise Christmas do for Kanoko.

As to whether the detective and his assistant ever get together - that is left a mystery.