The Human Leopard: From the casebook of Akechi Kogoro
by Edogawa Ranpo
“...a surrealist painting come to life...”
Green eyes glowing in the dark, half-man, half-beast, the human leopard stalks the jungle city. His bloodlust is insatiable, his cruelty immeasurable. No one is safe, not even the wife of Japan’s most famous sleuth.
First published in 1934 (Japanese title 人間豹, Ningen-Hyō) this is the eighth full-length novel to feature the private detective Akechi Kogoro.
Order Now
Mob Justice
by Ōtsubo Sunao
Considered one of the earliest examples of Japanese hardboiled fiction “Mob Justice” (死刑 or リンチ) is a brutal tale of honour, betrayal and revenge. It won the Mystery Writers of Japan Short Story Award in 1950.
Written by former police forensics officer Ōtsubo Sunao, the novella takes place in the violent world of the yakuza and revolves around the theft of a golden Buddha. Described by the author as a “ruffian story” it depicts a generation of young men with nothing left to believe in after Japan’s defeat in the Second World War except maybe the criminal code.
Order Now
The Coincidental Murders
by Sakaguchi Ango
In the summer of 1947 a group of bohemians gather at their wealthy friend’s villa in the mountains to escape the city heat. Sparks fly, daggers are drawn, and the bodies soon pile up. But are the murders connected, or purely coincidental?
Sakaguchi Ango’s outrageous whodunnit (original title: Furenzoku Satsujin Jiken, 不連続殺人事件) won the Mystery Writers of Japan Award in 1949, the year after Seishi Yokomizo took the prize for ‘Honjin Satsujin Jiken’ (The Honjin Murders).
Order Now
Demon City / Magic City
by Muramatsu Shōfu
When the Japanese writer Muramatsu Shōfu visited Shanghai in the spring of 1923 he found a city of stark contrasts. There was the glamour and modernity of its nightclubs and European architecture, the vice and sedition of its brothels and gambling dens.
He named his bestselling travelogue “魔都” (Mato), Japanese for “Demon City”. In Chinese, “魔都” translates as “Magic City”, which remains a popular nickname for the metropolis to this day.
Order Now
The Demon of the Lonely Isle
by Edogawa Ranpo
Circus freaks. Transgressive desires. Murder and exploitation. 'The Demon of the Lonely Isle' is a fever-dream of betrayal and revenge, a gothic adventure story that along with Ranpo's 'Strange Tale of Panorama Island', inspired the 1969 cult Japanese film 'Horrors of Malformed Men'.
Order Now
Japanese Gothic: Four twisted tales from Japan's master of the macabre
by Edogawa Ranpo
Born as Hirai Tarō, Edogawa Ranpo (1894-1965) was an influential author and critic known for his tales of the mysterious and macabre. This is a collection of four of his darkest and most deviant short stories: ‘The Idol’ (人でなしの恋 , 1926); ‘Pomegranate’ (石榴 , 1934); ‘The Hand’ (指 , 1960); and ‘The Devouring Insects’ (虫 , 1929).
Order Now
The Lipless Man: From the casebook of Akechi Kogoro
by Edogawa Ranpo
The creature’s face was unforgettable. Vacant eyes, a hollowed-out nose, and a red snarling maw. For the young heiress, who catches her first glimpse of this lipless monster through a steamy bathhouse window, its appearance signals the start of her own voyage into the depths of hell.
First published in 1930 this is the fifth full-length Akechi Kogoro novel.
Order Now
The Conjurer: From the casebook of Akechi Kogoro
by Edogawa Ranpo
A mournful flute plays in the dead of night; its dreadful lament, a harbinger of chaos and destruction. The Conjurer must be close at hand. But why is this maniacal killer intent on terrorising a law-abiding family of wealthy jewellers?
First published between 1930 and 1931, this is the fourth full-length novel to feature the private detective Akechi Kogoro.
Order Now
The Hunter of the Grotesque: From the casebook of Akechi Kogoro
by Edogawa Ranpo
A nightmarish tale of deception, depravity and death, in which no one can be trusted. A fantastical game of cat and mouse played out on the streets of an other-worldly pre-war Tokyo.
First published in 1930, this is the third full-length novel to feature the private detective Akechi Kogoro.
Order Now
The Spider Man: From the casebook of Akechi Kogoro
by Edogawa Ranpo
A dream-like Tokyo is in the grip of a brutal predator. A sadistic killer who turns his victims into works of art; then leaves letters behind taunting his pursuers. The police are clueless. The brilliant criminologist on his trail is always one step behind. Can anyone stop this phantom before he completes his hellish masterpiece?
First published in 1929, this is the second full-length novel to feature the private detective Akechi Kogoro.
Order Now