Murder in the House of Omari - Paperback

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by Taku Ashibe (Author), Bryan Karetnyk (Translator)

Use your powers of logic and deduction to solve this classic honkaku puzzler--the Japanese tradition of detective fiction--in this delicious twisty murder mystery!

In Osaka, dark secrets haunt a wealthy merchant family throughout the first half of the 20th century . . .

In 1906, the young heir to the Omari family business climbs to the top of a Panorama and vanishes.

In 1914, a fight between two mysterious figures on a bridge tragically ends with one falling to their death.

In 1943, as war rages on, the once illustrious family has fallen. Both potential heirs have been drafted into war, and a string of strange and violent happenings has beset the house of Omari.

Combining the classic honkaku mystery and Golden Age crime writing with the trappings of historical fiction, it's easy to see why Murder in the House of Ōmari is an award-winning sensation in Japan! Set in Semba (modern-day Osaka), this gripping murder mystery twists and turns with dark secrets, red herrings, and the turbulent history of Japan in the early 20th century.

Author Biography

Born in 1958 in Osaka, Taku Ashibe graduated from the faculty of law at Dōshisha University, after which he began a career in journalism, holding various posts at the Yomiuri Shimbun's Osaka office. In 1986 he received an honourable mention at the 2nd Fantasy Literature Newcomers Award, and in 1990 he won the inaugural Ayukawa Prize for his debut novel A Thirteen-Hand Murder-Comedy. He became a full-time writer in 1994. A member of Japan's Honkaku Mystery Writers' Club, he is the author of over two dozen novels and many short-story collections.

Bryan Karetnyk is a translator of Japanese and Russian literature. His recent translations for Pushkin Press include Seishi Yokomizo's The Village of Eight Graves, Futaro Yamada's The Meiji Guillotine Murders and Ryunosuke Akutagawa's Murder in the Age of Enlightenment.

Number of Pages: 288

Dimensions: 0.9 x 7.7 x 5 IN

Publication Date: July 29, 2025