Murder at the Black Cat Cafe
Seichō Matsumoto
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From the publisher
Translated by Bryan Karetnyk
A Times No.1 and Sunday Times Top 10 bestseller
A classic Japanese mystery, from the author of The Honjin Murders
‘The Japanese Agatha Christie’ Sara Cox, Between the Covers
Tokyo, 1947.
The Pink Labyrinth is one of the bomb-scarred city’s most shady neighbourhoods. There, in the dead of night a patrolling policeman catches a young Buddhist monk digging in the back yard of The Black Cat Cafe, a notorious brothel. In the shallow grave at his feet lie the dead body of a woman, her face disfigured beyond recognition, and the corpse of a black cat.
Who is the murdered woman, and how was she connected to the infamous establishment? And where did the dead cat come from, given that the cafe’s feline mascot seems to be alive and well? The brilliant sleuth Kosuke Kindaichi investigates, but as he draws closer to the truth, he finds himself in grave danger…
‘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