I’m delighted to announce that Yukito Ayatsuji’s classic is now available on Amazon and Kindle. It’s the book which is credited with re-launching the Golden Age style novel (known locally as honkaku) in Japan after a forty year period dominated by social/police-procedural mysteries.
Although it is an open tribute to Dame Agatha’s And Then There Were None, it is nevertheless brilliantly original and richly atmospheric. Publisher’s Weekly has named it as one of their Best Summer Reads of 2015.
As an added bonus, the maestro of honkaku, Soji Shimada himself, has done me the honor of writing a fascinating Introduction which describes in detail the evolution of Japanese detective fiction and the renaissance of honkaku. Of particular interest is the role played by the Kyoto University Mystery Club, covered in an essay by Ho-Ling Wong, the gifted translator of DHM, himself a member.