Japanese Mystery

WATERSTONES BEST FICTION BOOKS OF 2023 PICK The Kamogawa Food Detectives, translated from Japanese by Jesse Kirkwood, is the first book in the bestselling, mouth-watering Japanese sleuthing series for fans of Before the Coffee Gets Cold. What’s the one dish you’d do anything to taste just...

Brought to you by Penguin. A thrilling crime classic, from the bestselling author of Tokyo Express Tokyo, 1960. As the first rays of morning light hit the rails at Kamata Station, a man’s body is found on the tracks. With only two leads – a distinctive accent and a single word, ‘kameda’...

As they do every year, a small group of acquaintances pay a visit to the remote castle-like Water Mill House, home to the reclusive Fujinuma Kiichi, son of a famous artist, who has lived his life behind a rubber mask ever since a disfiguring car accident. This year, however, the visit is disrupted by an impossible disappearance, the theft of a painting, and a series of baffling murders. The brilliant Kiyoshi Shimada arrives to investigate.

Brought to you by Penguin. Chris Harding's enormously enjoyable new book distils Japan's long, complex and fascinating history into the stories of twenty remarkable individuals. These vivid and entertaining portraits take the reader from the earliest written accounts of Japan right through to...

Award-winning novelist Michael Pronko examines Tokyo as a place, a culture, and a series of intense experiences, with humor, delicacy, and enchantment. More than just a setting for novels and films, Tokyo is a lively, interactive space that constantly pops up questions: How do you sweat politely, in Tokyo’s sweltering summers? How do you glance sideways, on crowded trains? How do homeowners transform a sliver of space into an impeccable garden? The answers are not what one might expect.

内容紹介
郷田三郎はこの世の全てに面白さを感じることが無く退屈しきっていた。

Emma Hooper thought coming home to small-town life and the family farm would give her a chance to rest and recover from a traumatic accident. But that was before she started seeing ghosts. It was before Grandma Hooper started singing on the roof, and it was way, way before anybody spotted a ghost in a 19th-century cavalry uniform coming out of an outhouse. Can Emma learn to handle her newfound ability to see spirits, while figuring out a confusing relationship with the handsome local doctor? All while solving the ghastly murder of Preacher Jacob? 

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.

Brought to you by Penguin Flo is sick of Tokyo. Suffering from a crisis in confidence, she is stuck in a rut, her translation work has dried up and she's in a relationship that's run its course. That's until she stumbles upon a mysterious book left by a fellow passenger on the Tokyo Subway. From...

Brought to you by Penguin. Shogun meets Sherlock Holmes! Over 24 million copies have been sold of this beloved samurai adventure It has been half a year since Akiyama Daijiro became a samurai; half a year since he left his father Kohei – once the most skilled swordsman in the land – to set...

Brought to you by Penguin. While on a business trip to Kobe, Tsuneo Asai receives the news that his wife Eiko has died of a heart attack. Eiko had a heart condition so the news of her death wasn't totally unexpected. But the circumstances of her demise left Tsuneo, a softly spoken government...

二億円の絵が一夜にして二百万円に急落。鑑定人は、忘却探偵・掟上今日子。しかし、絵がすり替えられた形跡もなければ、今日子さんには記憶もない。美術館警備員・守の依頼を受けて看破した真相は、さらなるアートな難事件を巻き起こす！　彼女と過ごす時間はいつだって最初で最後。「忘却探偵シリーズ」第2巻。

Japanese Tales of Mystery & Imagination, the first volume of its kind translated into English, is written with the quick tempo of the West but rich with the fantasy of the East. These nine bloodcurdling, chilling tales present a genre of literature largely unknown to people outside Japan, including the strange story of a quadruple amputee and his perverse wife; the record of a man who creates a mysterious chamber of mirrors and discovers hidden pleasures within; the morbid confession of a maniac who envisions a career of foolproof "psychological" murders…

When her cozy hometown is visited by death, Emma's investigative skills are enlisted by a secretive ghost. But with the uncooperative spirit holding so much back, and with the handsome local doctor pressing Emma for answers, will she ever get to the bottom of the case? Or will the Hollow be forever haunted by the secrets of the past? 

In Hillbilly Hollow, even the dead want the last word...When an eccentric local artist meets an untimely end during the annual Flower Festival, Emma gets pulled into two cases at once. First, the murder investigation. Second, the hunt for a dangerous burglar who has the whole town on edge. After all-brawn-and-no-brains Sheriff Tucker declares the death an accident, Emma's search for the killer hits a dead end... until a vengeful ghost comes calling. Can Emma decipher the mad ramblings of the disgruntled spirit?

二人の「きたさん」が事件に翻弄されつつ成長していく物語で、著者が「生涯、書き続けたい」と願う捕物帖。 舞台は江戸深川。一人目の「きたさん」こと北一は、亡くなった岡っ引き・千吉親分の本業だった文庫(本や小間物を入れる箱)売りで生計を立てている。

小泉八雲(ラフカディオ・ハーン)の怪談小説。死者の霊にとり憑かれた盲目の芳一を守るため、住職と納所とで芳一を裸にし、筆を以て芳一の、胸、背、頭、顔、頸、手足…、身体中どこといわず、足の裏にさえも般若心経というお経の文句を書きつけた。忘れた箇所はないのか…!?住職の言いつけどおり芳一は、縁側に坐り、迎えの霊が来ても、動きもせず、口も利かず静かに坐っていたが……。さて、うまく危険は回避することができたのか…?あまりにも有名な怪談の歴史的傑作『耳無芳一の話』をオーディオブックにしました! (C)2008青空文庫

The heartwarming, award-winning Japanese sensation, My Grandfather, the Master Detective is an affectionate, cosy whodunit – and a story of living your days to the fullest. Perfect for fans of Before the Coffee Gets Cold. There used to be a cafe called Mon Cheri at Nishi Waseda where members...

『文芸ポスト』に連載した西村氏の人気シリーズ、十津川警部と私立探偵・左文字進のミステリー三本を収録。表題は十津川シリーズで、捜査一課に次々と送られてくる白骨を巡る難事件に挑む。他に左文字の名

Danger awaits best friends on the island of Malta, where one will be accused of murder and the other of being a spy on the run. A missing journalist cannot tell the world he is still alive by becoming a mystery writer's alibi. When Hiromi came back to Paris to settle an old score, she had no idea her target might be hiding on the island of Malta. But, now, she has a chance to redeem her reputation by neutralizing a rogue agent and capturing the mystery writer who hides agency secrets in his novels.