An old writing adage says, “Write what you know.” I live (and write) by a personal corollary: “Write where you’ve been.” I can’t actually visit 16th-century Japan (and given the lack of indoor plumbing, I’m not entirely sure I’d want to), but fortunately, I have been able to visit a number of historical sites and…
International bestseller Keigo Higashino returns with his latest crime mystery―Newcomer―as newly transferred Tokyo Police Detective Kyochiro Kaga is assigned to a baffling murder. Detective Kyochiro Kaga of the Tokyo Police Department has just been transferred to a new precinct in the Nihonbashi area of Tokyo. Newly arrived, but with a great deal of experience, Kaga…
From the international bestseller Keigo Higashino, author of The Devotion of Suspect X, comes Newcomer, one of his finest works of crime fiction yet—take a visual tour with GIFnotes! Detective Kyochiro Kaga of the Tokyo Police Department has just been transferred to a new precinct in the Nihonbashi area of Tokyo. Newly arrived… But with a great…
Read Part 3 of Nicolás Obregón's 3-part series, “The Birth of Blue Light Yokohama,” and make sure to sign in and comment below for a chance to win a copy of his exciting debut! Part 1 | Part 2 Some six years ago, I boarded a flight from London Heathrow bound for Japan. As I…
Blue Light Yokohama by Nicolás Obregón is a compelling, brilliantly moody, and layered novel that's sure to be one of the most talked about debuts in 2017 (available March 7, 2017). Slogans, symbols, and suicide. Are they connected? If so, how? “This is what Japan should be,” insists an insurance company slogan. “Creating Tomorrow Together,” boasts another.…
A brutal murder. A serial killer with no seeming motive. And a symbol that represents the darkness and evil that's to come. A perfect formula for a murder mystery, but also a perfect recipe for this week's Pick Your Poison—where we create a cocktail inspired by a recently published mystery, thriller, or crime novel—the…
Read Part 1 of this thrilling 3-part series first over at Thought Matters! The Miyazawa family’s house was a fair size, especially by Japanese standards. It stood in a municipal park in Setagaya, a largely residential ward clinging to the western limits of Tokyo. Soshigaya Park has quaint walking trails, sports pitches, a playground for…
Six Four by Hideo Yokoyama is a dark and riveting plunge into a crime, an investigation, and a culture like no other. Read Chapter 1 of Six Four first! For five days, the parents of a seven-year-old Japanese schoolgirl sat and listened to the demands of their daughter’s kidnapper. They would never learn his identity.…
Most of us love the idea of islands—their beauty, their singularity, their separation from the wider world. And, of course, we all believe that life may somehow be easier on islands, more laid back, simpler, even Edenic. But islands have their dark side, too. And just as most of us are drawn to the mythic…
The Silent Dead by Tetsuya Honda follows the young Lieutenant Reiko Himekawa of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police’s Homicide Division as she investigates a string of strange murders that might include her as the next victim. Like many other mystery lovers, I'm a big fan of the police procedural. Most of my experience has been with…
