'Ingenious' The Critic

A classic Japanese mystery from the author of The Honjin Murders and Murder at the Black Cat Cafe

A dissolute aristocratic family. A sleepwalking heiress. A headless corpse. Can Detective Kindaichi untangle this macabre mystery?

Fear looms over the luxurious Furugami estate. The beautiful, young Yachiyo Furugami, plagued by episodes of sleepwalking, receives a series of cryptic letters culminating in an ominous warning: 'Walk not at night'.

Then a body is discovered, decapitated with a centuries-old samurai sword. The police are baffled, so the famous sleuth Kosuke Kindaichi is called upon to solve the mystery, but before he can do so, the killer strikes again. Can Kindaichi get to the truth before the Furugami family is destroyed by its own secrets?

PRAISE FOR SEISHI YOKOMIZO

'The diabolically twisted plotting is top-notch' - New York Times

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

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

'This is Golden Age crime at its best, complete with red herrings, blind alleys and twists and turns galore... A testament to the power of the simple murder mystery and its enduring appeal' - Spectator

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

'Truly ingenious' Guardian

'The king of the locked-room mystery' CrimeReads

'The Japanese Agatha Christie' Sara Cox, Between the Covers

'Fiendishly complex and wonderfully atmospheric' S.J. Bennett, author of Murder Most Royal