Enhancements you chose aren't available for this seller. Details

${cardName} not available for the seller you chose

${cardName} unavailable for quantities greater than ${maxQuantity}.

Ships from

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Returns

FREE 30-day refund/replacement

Payment

Secure transaction

Add a gift receipt for easy returns

Image Unavailable

Image not available for
Color:

To view this video download Flash Player

Follow the author

Seishi Yokomizo

Follow

The Inugami Curse (Detective Kindaichi Mysteries) Paperback – August 25, 2020

by Seishi Yokomizo (Author), Yumiko Yamakazi (Translator)

Part of: Detective Kindaichi Mysteries (6 books)

See all formats and editions

Savings Get 3 for the price of 2 Shop items

Purchase options and add-ons

A fiendish classic murder mystery, from one of Japan's greatest crime writers, featuring the country's best-loved detective

In 1940s Japan, the wealthy head of the Inugami clan dies, and his family eagerly await the reading of the will. But no sooner are its strange details revealed than a series of bizarre, gruesome murders begins. Detective Kindaichi must unravel the clan's terrible secrets of forbidden liaisons, monstrous cruelty, and hidden identities to find the murderer, and lift the curse wreaking its bloody revenge on the Inugamis.

The Inugami Curse is a fiendish, intricately plotted classic mystery from a giant of Japanese crime writing, starring the legendary detective Kosuke Kindaichi.

Yokomizo is perhaps the most popular and feted crime writer in his country’s history. His richly atmospheric classic mysteries are a treat for any fan of Golden Age whodunits, taking the reader all over post-war Japan, from remote mountain villages to pirate-plagued islands and the bustling streets of Tokyo. Yokomizo loved to craft ingenious puzzle plots, inspired by the greats of British and American crime, such as John Dickson Carr or Agatha Christie, while his detective, Kosuke Kindaichi, is everything a reader could want from a sleuth: brilliant, eccentric, charming, and unassuming enough to be fatally underestimated by many a murderer. . .

From the Publisher

	The Honjin Murders	The Inugami Curse	The Village of Eight Graves	Death on Gokumon Island	The Devil's Flute Murders

Description	"A classic locked-room murder mystery — exactly what I asked for." — New York Times Book Review	"The diabolically twisted plotting is top-notch." — New York Times Book Review	"A satisfying solution. Fans of gothic-tinged fair play will be enthralled." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)	"A pinch of John Dickson Carr and a dash of Agatha Christie." — Sarah Weinman, The New York Times	One of Yokomizo’s most clever guessing games, in which everyone has something to hide…

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The diabolically twisted plotting is top-notch." -- The New York Times Book Review

"[A] stellar whodunit. . . Yokomizo creates a palpable sense of menace throughout with grim foreshadowing of the carnage to come. The solution is a perfect match for the baffling puzzle. Fair-play fans will hope for more translations of this master storyteller." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

‘Japan's Agatha Christie . . . It’s an absolute pleasure to see his work translated at last in these beautifully produced English editions.’ — The Sunday Times

'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.' — The Spectator

'One of Yokomizo's best-loved detective tales -- Kindaichi must solve a slowly growing string of gruesome murders all connected to the mighty Inugami Clan, and uncover the deeply hidden secrets of the clan along the way.' -- Metropolis Japan

‘2020 may be the year of Seishi Yokomizo . . . Both [The Honjin Murders and The Inugami Curse are] set in the late 1930s/early 1940s, they promise to be atmospheric, exciting and knotty whodunits. The covers alone are enough to get any fan of the genre salivating.’ — Japan Times

'The master of Japanese crime.' — Tuttolibri

About the Author

Seishi Yokomizo (1902-81) was one of Japan's most famous and best-loved mystery writers. He was born in Kobe and spent his childhood reading detective stories, before beginning to write stories of his own, the first of which was published in 1921. He went on to become an extremely prolific and popular author, best known for his Kosuke Kindaichi series, which ran to 77 books, many of which were adapted for stage and television in Japan. The Inugami Curse is one of Kindaichi's most famous mysteries and has twice been adapted for film in Japan.

The Tale Begins
In February 194_, Sahei Inugami—one of the leading businessmen
of the Shinshu region, the founder of the Inugami
Group, and the so-called Silk King of Japan—died at his
lakeside villa in Nasu at the venerable age of eighty-one.
After his death, the rags-to-riches tale of this self-made
man, already related over several decades in various newspaper
and magazine articles, was published by the Inugami
Foundation in its most detailed version to date.
According to this book, The Life of Sahei Inugami, Sahei
was orphaned at a young age and drifted to the Lake Nasu
region when he was seventeen. He had no idea where he
had been born, who his parents were, or even whether his
unusual surname, literally “dog god,” had been inherited
from his ancestors or conferred by someone with a fertile
imagination.
Most men embellish their family trees when they become
rich or famous, but Sahei Inugami made no attempt to do
so. “We’re all born without a stitch on our backs” was his
constant declaration to those around him. “Until I turned
seventeen, I was like a pauper, drifting from place to place,”
he would say without hesitation. “It was only when I found
my way to Nasu, and Mr. Nonomiya took me in, that fortune
finally smiled on me.”
Daini Nonomiya was the priest of Nasu Shrine, a Shinto
complex that graced the shores of Lake Nasu. Sahei felt
he owed him a lifelong debt. So etched in his mind was
Daini’s generosity that the usually bold and arrogant Sahei
would always sit up straight in humble respect whenever
Nonomiya’s name was mentioned. Yet, while his unchanging
gratitude and devotion to the priest’s family were certainly
commendable, Sahei failed to realize that everything—even
gratitude—has a limit that should not be exceeded, and
that his excessive gratitude toward the Nonomiya family
would embroil his own kin in a series of bloody murders
after his death. Let it be a lesson to us all that even good
intentions can lead to great tragedy if not executed with
the utmost care.
When the two men first met, young Sahei was, as he later
recounted, an indigent drifter. One day, he lay exhausted
under the raised floor of the worship hall of Nasu Shrine. It
was late autumn and impossible to live without heat in this
bitterly cold lakeside region, but Sahei was dressed only in
the flimsiest rags, tied around him by a rope, and he had
eaten hardly anything for three days. Starved and freezing,
he knew he was dying. In fact, if Daini had found him any
later, Sahei probably would have died there like a dog.
Astounded to discover a young pauper beneath the floorboards
of the worship hall, Daini carried him back to his
house so his wife, Haruyo, could tend to him. And thus began
the unusual relationship between the two men. According
to The Life of Sahei Inugami, Daini was forty-two at that time,
while Haruyo was a young woman of twenty-two. Sahei would
later say that she was as kind-hearted as a saint and as lovely
as an angel.
Sahei had a naturally sturdy constitution, and thanks
to the couple’s generous ministrations, he soon recovered
completely. Daini, however, did not wish to see him go and,
learning of Sahei’s wretched circumstances, urged him to
stay. Because Sahei, too, was loath to leave the warm nest
he had found, he continued to live with the priest of Nasu
Shrine and his wife, not quite a freeloader but not quite a
servant. Realizing that Sahei had never spent a day of his
life in school and that he was totally illiterate, Daini took
him under his wing and educated him diligently, as a father
would a son.
Why did Daini so lavish his attentions on Sahei? True, he
may have perceived the future that Sahei’s sharp intelligence
promised, but there is said to have been another, darker
reason, not mentioned even in The Life of Sahei Inugami:
Sahei was an extraordinarily handsome young man. He was
radiantly handsome and would retain traces of that attractiveness
even in his declining years. Because of this youthful
radiance, Daini was drawn to Sahei. People whispered of a
homosexual relationship between them and pointed out
that Haruyo, as softhearted and understanding as she was,
left Daini a little more than a year after Sahei’s arrival and
returned to her parents’ home for a time. Daini, as rumor
had it, was so infatuated with Sahei that he completely
ignored her.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Pushkin Vertigo
Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 25, 2020
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Print length ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1782275037
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1782275039
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.06 x 0.83 x 7.82 inches
Part of series ‏ : ‎ Detective Kindaichi Mysteries
Best Sellers Rank: #100,808 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #126 in International Mystery & Crime (Books)
- #812 in Science Fiction Crime & Mystery
- #1,586 in Amateur Sleuths

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Seishi Yokomizo

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read book recommendations and more.

Image Unavailable

Follow the author

The Inugami Curse (Detective Kindaichi Mysteries) Paperback – August 25, 2020

Purchase options and add-ons

Frequently purchased items with fast delivery

From the Publisher

Editorial Reviews

Review

About the Author

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Product details

Videos

About the author

Seishi Yokomizo