If you've already devoured our tremendous Book of the Year Butter by Asako Yuzuki, never fear because Japan has a rich heritage of exceptional crime writing with an ever-growing number of titles becoming available in English translation. Discover some of the very best below.
A true word-of-mouth bestseller whose beguiling blend of social commentary and psychological thriller have captured readers imaginations across the globe, Asako Yuzuki's Butter is our Book of the Year for 2024.
The novel follows in a proud tradition of dazzling crime fiction writing emanating from Japan, and key to Butter's power and complexity is its devastating critique of Japanese society with particular relevance to ingrained misogyny and toxic body image. There are other fine examples in the Japanese crime writing canon of panoramic state-of-the-nation epics, from the exhaustive takedown of cpaitalism that makes up the two volumes of Kaoru Takamura's monolithic Lady Joker to the kaleidoscopic dissection of police procedure that makes up Hideo Yokoyama's electrifying Six Four and the visceral feminism of Natsuo Kirino's cult classic Out.
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Teeming with searing insights into sexism, obsession and pleasure, this glorious Japanese cult classic revolves around a famed female chef convicted as the serial killer of lonely businessmen and a story-hungry young journalist who wishes to learn the secrets of gourmet cooking from her.
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A heist thriller with a heavyweight emotional and social undertow, Takamura's seminal 1997 work is an enduring slice of Japanese noir and the worthy recipient of a long overdue English translation.
Paperback
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Deftly translated from the original Japanese, the concluding volume of Takamura's seminal crime duology sees the increasingly desperate kidnappers spiral into mortal danger.
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A panoramic critique of contemporary Japanese society that doubles as an utterly immersive crime thriller, Yokoyama's masterpiece examines the ripple effects of a vanished daughter on all those involved in the years-long case.
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Four female factory workers get embroiled in a murky world of murder, dismemberment, yakuza hitmen and psychotic hoods, in this gleefully transgressive slice of Tokyo Noir.
For those readers who prefer more orthodox detective fiction, there are plenty of masters of the murder mystery from the Land of the Rising Sun. Ironically, the pioneer of honkaku (translated as 'classical whodunit') - Edogawa Rampo - dealt more in action-packed narratives involving near-superhuman supervillains than meticulously constructed puzzle box mysteries, but his successors such as Seishi Yokomizo and Seicho Matsumoto were craftsmen of the highest order, fashioning fiendish and thoroughly satisfying stories with exquisite twists and reveals.
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A seminal work of crime fiction from one of Japan's pioneers of the genre, Beast in the Shadows spins a twist-laden tale of disturbing letters, damsels in distress and sinister writers in which nothing is as it seems.
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A crime classic from the Japanese Golden Age, The Honjin Murders presents amateur sleuth Kindaichi with a perplexing mystery involving samurai swords, mysterious strangers and blood-soaked wedding nights.
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With a plot as precise and meticulous as the railway timetables which form such a crucial part of the mystery, Matsumoto's classic whodunit of impossible murder in coastal Japan is reminiscent of Georges Simenon at his finest.
Paperback
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One of the great Japanese murder mysteries, Takagi's audacious, brilliantly structured novel revolves around a killer with a seeming fetish for tattooed skin.
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The secrets of the residents of a ladies' apartment in Tokyo come to light in the wake of a shocking slaying in this deliciously twisty and satisfying whodunit.
After a period of greater social realism in Japanese crime fiction, the 1980s ushered in a new generation who revered the classical virtues of the perfectly plotted mystery but furnished their stories with a dash more gore and horror. Murder at Mount Fuji, The Tokyo Zodiac Murders, The Decagon House Murders and the later The Devotion of Suspect X all boast irresistible, head-scratching plots with a harder edge than what had gone before, whilst twenty-first century novels like Bullet Train prized high-octane, cinematic thrills and fast-paced unputdownable storytelling.
Paperback
Coming soon
- 23/01/2025
Awaiting publication
A rediscovered Japanese crime classic perfect for fans of Lady Joker and Butter, Murder at Mount Fuji revolves around a New Year celebration at a lavish mansion which turns lethal when the family patriarch is brutally slain.
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A jaw-dropping marvel of crime fiction construction, Shimada's fiendish mystery sees an eccentric amateur detective investigate the case of a murdered artist and the grisly ritual that he has apparently carried out from beyond the grave.
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Ayatsuji's cult classic mystery about a group of sleuthing university students trapped on a notorious island pays homage to the Golden Age puzzle-plot novel whilst cleverly pushing its boundaries.
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A modern classic of Japanese thriller writing, Higashino's deftly structured page-turner takes a seemingly straightforward tale of domestic murder and spins a mind-bendingly audacious narrative blessed with a dizzyingly brilliant twist ending.
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A high-octane crime thriller with echoes of a Japanese Tarantino movie, Bullet Train finds five ruthless killers sharing the same locomotive as a suitcase full of cash leads to a dizzying array of double-crosses and plot twists.
Paperback
Coming soon
- 08/05/2025
Awaiting publication
An unputdownable whodunit set during the darkest days of World War II, Murder in the House of Omari pitches a financially ruined dynasty into a waking nightmare as their family members are picked off one by one.
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