Tokyo Zodiac

The holder of the #1 literary award in Japan – the "Japanese Detective Fiction".
Shortlist of the "Edogawa Rampo" award
Several tens of millions of books sold in Asia alone.

Japan, 1936. An eccentric artist, living with his six daughters, stepdaughters, and nieces, was found dead in a room locked from the inside. His diaries, dedicated to alchemy and astrology, contained a detailed plan for the murder of each of them. To take the lives of several to give life to one, but perfect – the owner of the strongest qualities of all zodiac signs. And soon after, the plan was fulfilled: body parts of these women were found hidden all over Japan.
By 1979, the Tokyo Zodiac murders had stirred the nation for decades, yet remained unsolved. Fate predictor, astrologer, and great detective Kiyoshi Mitarai and his illustrator friend must solve the mystery of this impossible crime within a week. You have all the necessary keys, but will you find the answer before they do?

"God of Mysteries" – this is what Shimada Soji is called in Japan. He created the honkaku-detective – a new genre so popular in the Land of the Rising Sun. A detective in which the reader is offered an honest intellectual game: to solve the case before the main character does.
Soji was the first to combine European classics with Japanese exoticism, rationalism with mysticism. His great detective is not just a person of sharp mind and brilliant analytical abilities, like Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, and Nero Wolfe, but also an astrologer and fate predictor.
Soji's novel is a "must read" for every self-respecting Japonophile – it is literally soaked in interesting information about the history, culture, and geography of Japan in the pre-war period.

"As far as I know, this is the strangest crime ever committed. Absolutely impossible; nothing like this has probably ever happened not only in Japan but in the whole world. It was documented with utmost care – all records and protocols remain, seemingly all the keys are at hand. Yet the mystery still inexplicably eludes comprehension. Before providing an answer to it, this book gives readers the opportunity to figure out the solution for themselves, having all the necessary information for that." – Kazumi Isioka, friend and associate of Kiyoshi Mitarai – fate predictor, astrologer, and great detective.
"The great Soji Shimada literally invented an entire subgenre of 'logical puzzle'." – The Guardian
"Ingeniously and thrillingly exotic." – Japan Times