The Honjin Murders

(Hardback)

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'The Japanese Agatha Christie' Sarah Cox, on BBC2's Between the Covers

'The master of ingenious plotting' Guardian

'Dazzling' New York Times

______FROM THE FATHER OF JAPANESE CRIME

_____In the winter of 1937, the village of Okamura is abuzz with excitement over the forthcoming wedding of a son of the grand Ichiyanagi family. But amid the gossip over the approaching festivities, there is also a worrying rumour - it seems a sinister masked man has been asking questions about the Ichiyanagis around the village.

Then, on the night of the wedding, the Ichiyanagi family are woken by a terrible scream, followed by the sound of eerie music - death has come to Okamura, leaving no trace but a bloody samurai sword, thrust into the pristine snow outside the house. The murder seems impossible, but amateur detective Kosuke Kindaichi is determined to get to the bottom of it.

Reviews

'Plenty of golden age ingredients... with a truly ingenious solution' - Guardian, Best New Crime Fiction

'Readers will delight in the blind turns, red herrings and dubious alibis... Ingenious and compelling' - Economist

'At once familiar and tantalisingly strange... Its an absolute pleasure to see his work translated at last in these beautifully produced English editions' - Sunday Times

'With a reputation in Japan to rival Agatha Christies, the master of ingenious plotting is finally on the case for anglophone readers' - Guardian

'The premise alone is dazzling [and] the solution to this mystery came as a complete surprise - exactly what I asked for' - New York Times

Author Bio

Seishi Yokomizo (1902-81) was one of Japan's most famous and best-loved mystery writers. He was born in Kobe and spent his childhood reading detective stories, before beginning to write stories of his own, the first of which was published in 1921. He went on to become an extremely prolific and popular author, best known for his Kosuke Kindaichi series, which ran to 77 books, many of which were adapted for stage and television in Japan. The Inugami Curse, Village of Eight Graves, Death on Gokumon Island, The Devil's Flute Murders and The Little Sparrow Murders are also available from Pushkin Vertigo.