Kyojiro Tsubaki, a struggling drummer in Osaka, notices a hearing-impaired middle school boy named Haruto sending an SOS hand sign while being harassed by rough men, and steps in to help him. This act of kindness draws the unwanted attention of yakuza, semi-organized crime groups, and suspicious detectives. Racing across Osaka with a cast of colorful companions, Tsubaki is pulled into the murky world of development rights surrounding a real wetland in northern Osaka Prefecture. This debut novel, winner of the 29th Japan Mystery Literature Award for New Writers, blends the breezy cadence of Osaka dialect with classic hardboiled fiction.

Told in a breezy Osaka dialect, yet at its core an utterly orthodox hardboiled novel. — Selection committee member Ryoe Tsukimura

Seven people selected as potential jurors are gathered at an orientation venue when a sudden announcement declares: prove the correct verdict before midnight, or the building will be detonated. As the participants are trapped in a sealed deliberation room and must solve the mystery under extreme pressure, a lawyer named Hamizu independently investigates the case from outside, convinced of the defendant's innocence. A taut time-limit suspense combining courtroom drama, death game, and orthodox mystery. Winner of the 28th Japan Mystery Literature Grand Award for New Writers.

Courtroom x death game x orthodox mystery — expose the truth before midnight in a sealed deliberation room.

Seventeen years after detective Miki Chono lost her son, she investigates a station-front bombing and a stabbing. The cases force her to confront a past incident that had long been buried.

Around the investment consultancy “60%,” which specializes in money laundering, a charismatic gangster and a former banker expand their influence in the underworld. A noir novel dealing with illicit funds, hidden assets, and drug money.

Illicit funds, hidden assets, and drug money...

Suzune, who was adopted as a baby and never knew her birth parents, spends a summer with friends at a holiday home in Nagano. When Aya, the five-year-old daughter of a family close to them, disappears, a suspicious letter six years later leads Suzune toward the mystery of her origins and of 'Blue Snow.'

A full-length mystery in which a girl's disappearance and a single letter uncover truths hidden in a family's past.

In 2024, the Summer Olympics are held in Tokyo again after a new COVID-19 outbreak in Europe. At an examination attended by registered Japan Equestrian Federation veterinarian Satomi Ichinose, a new equine influenza that makes horses violent emerges. Veterinarians confront the unknown virus and the crisis that follows.

A new equine influenza that makes horses violent has emerged.

High-school student Chuntaro Seike learns that his sister Mikuwa has been found crucified in a music studio. A note in her wallet, saying that there is a devil in the family home, leads him to investigate his family's secrets and the truth behind her death.

A traditional mystery about a sister found crucified and the identity of the “devil” within her family.

Of seven Ground Self-Defense Force members sent on a PKO mission, one dies abroad and another dies by suicide after returning home. Mental-health officer Keisuke Kamiya and psychiatrist Rinko Aizawa seek the truth amid conflicting testimony and pressure from senior Defense Ministry officials.

A mystery that pursues the truth behind deaths after a PKO mission amid conflicting testimony.

Kō, who works security at an adult-entertainment business in Shinjuku's Kabukichō district, is ordered to bring back Yuko, a girl who fled with the shop's money. Fleeing their pursuers, the two hide in a seaside housing complex, but past trauma and threats from the underworld deny them peace.

A hard-boiled novel about two women fleeing Tokyo's underworld.

In the early Meiji era, Takayuki Okui, a master of iaijutsu with a prosthetic left leg, wanders in pursuit of the man who killed his friend. Learning that this enemy lies behind a series of murders, Okui closes in on the truth.

A historical mystery in which a master swordsman with a prosthetic leg pursues his friend's killer and the truth behind serial murders.

University student Satoru Amazaki waits for his runaway sister to return when an unknown old woman appears at his home. His sister is later found dead, consumed by insects and with her blood turned yellow. The same phenomenon has been found at a religious organization's facility, leading to an investigation into the unknown insects and their infection.

A strange body consumed by insects, its blood turned yellow.

In Tokyo on the eve of the Pacific War, junior naval officer Ushioda and the sharp-minded Major Tokai of a special Imperial Navy intelligence unit take on a counterespionage mission. Suspecting that secrets of the Pearl Harbor attack have leaked, they engage in a battle of wits with American, British, and Soviet agents.

A spy suspense novel in which a special naval unit and foreign intelligence agents clash in Tokyo on the eve of the Pacific War.

After his beloved daughter is kidnapped, Okada follows her trail and realizes how little he knew about her friends and the troubles she faced. Confronted with threats that impose penalties on the hostage, he moves closer to the truth behind the case.

His beloved daughter has been kidnapped.

A mystery about crime and human relationships surrounding elder care. Questions of caregiving, isolation, and ethics intersect with criminal acts.

A social mystery that questions isolation and ethics in elder care.

Takakura, a former detective turned criminal psychologist, is asked to analyze an unsolved family-disappearance case. Troubled by the unsettling behavior of Nishino, the neighbor beside the home he shares with his wife, he finds the two disturbing situations leading into a deeper darkness.

A psychological suspense novel in which an unsettling neighbor and an unsolved family disappearance intersect.

Kinsaku Kogane, a small-money lender in Nakasu, Fukuoka, has lost much of his former drive, yet cannot ignore a girl pursued by a criminal gang. This hard-boiled mystery follows him and his companions as they take on an opponent unlikely to be beaten, amid the human drama of an entertainment district and the language of Hakata.

A hard-boiled mystery in which a down-and-out lender in Nakasu joins his friends to face a dangerous enemy and save a girl.

After a man enters a private middle school and carries out a random attack, the perpetrator and victims seem clear. Yet the police repeatedly reconstruct the classroom where it happened, uncovering an unexpected truth.

A full-length mystery that investigates the truth behind a random attack in a middle-school classroom.

In a rain-soaked port district, fourteen men and women are found frozen to death in a refrigerated container. What appears to be a mass suicide involving sleeping pills draws female mobile-investigation detective Kuroha into a case shaped by unimaginable malice.

Fourteen men and women were found frozen to death in a refrigerated container on reclaimed land.

A panic mystery set aboard an aircraft, in which people facing a crisis search for the truth behind the incident and a way to survive.

A panic mystery in which people aboard an aircraft in crisis seek the truth and a way to survive.

At a lakeside in the highlands, auto mechanic Tsutomu Daidōji lives in seclusion with the younger Natsu and their dog, Kate. After Natsu dies in an accident, his quiet life and hidden past begin to unravel.

A full-length mystery set on a highland lake, where one man's past collides with loss.

A traditional mystery in which a curse with a religious background becomes entangled with secrets from the past.

A traditional mystery where a curse and secrets from the past intersect.

A fugitive suspense novel in which child prostitution, drugs, and gunfire intersect. Pursuit and mystery unfold in the dangerous night world surrounding a girl named Alice.

A night-time story of child prostitution, drugs, and gunfire.

A historical mystery set at Osaka Castle during the celebration of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's son Hiroi's first birthday. Maeda Gen'i, Ishida Mitsunari, Kimura Shigenari, and Ishikawa Goemon become entangled in a plot surrounding an attempt on the Taiko's life and a struggle for power.

A celebration for the Taiko's son Hiroi's first birthday was held at Osaka Castle.

A full-length mystery about a confrontation between a criminal organization plotting a corporate takeover and a consumer-finance company protecting its client. As strategy and violence collide, a man takes on a powerful enemy in a high-stakes reversal.

A full-length mystery about a struggle over a corporate takeover between a criminal organization and a consumer-finance company.

A middle-aged man and a five-year-old girl are stabbed in a city park, and the crime shakes the lives of the families left behind and the detective investigating it. The victim's father acts in search of the culprit while the mother withdraws into herself. This novel depicts people wounded, broken, and gradually rebuilding their lives.

A mystery that begins with a stabbing in a park and depicts the grief and recovery of those harmed by it.

A mystery novel about an incident in which a bomb is discovered aboard a jumbo jet.

A bomb was discovered aboard a jumbo jet.

Saya lost her family in a Palestinian refugee camp and was rescued by a Japanese person before growing up in Japan. Meanwhile, Marika, a female terrorist driven by revenge after the murder of her relatives, receives orders to travel to Japan. This international suspense novel brings conflicts surrounding the Middle East into collision on Japanese soil.

An international suspense novel in which the fates of two women from Palestine collide in Japan.

A long-form suspense novel that incorporates scientific motifs. It uses infectious disease and institutional problems to create a hard-edged tension.

Science and the case advance at the same pace.