The Noh Mask Murder

Can you solve the puzzle of the Noh Mask Murder?Death and madness have haunted the Chizui family for years. Now a strange figure has been seen wandering their mansion at night, wearing a sinister Noh mask that is said to bear a centuries-old curse.Budding crime writer and sleuth Akimitsu Takagi receives a desperate plea for help from the head of the family but arrives too late to find the man dead in a locked room, with the mask at his feet. Takagi begins to investigate, but it seems the curse of the mask is not finished with the Chizuis yet...From one of Japan's most renowned mystery writers-who appears in the novel as a detective!-The Noh Mask Murder is an ingeniously constructed masterpiece with a breathtaking ending.

Autorentext
AKIMITSU TAKAGI was born in Japan in 1920 and went on to work as an aeronautical engineer until the end of the Second World War. He later decided to become a mystery writer on the recommendation of a fortune teller. He went on to become one of the country's most popular crime authors, winning the prestigious Mystery Writers Club Award. The Tattoo Murder was Takagi's debut and is considered one of the great classic Japanese whodunits. It was first published in 1948 but has never been published in the UK until now.

Klappentext

"A wickedly plotted mystery with a metafictional twist that feels far fresher than those of more contemporary versions with the same idea" -- The New York Times A bewildering locked-room murder occurs as an amateur crime writer investigates strange events in the Chizui mansion in this prizewinning classic Japanese mystery The 1st book in English from Akimitsu Takagi since his "Clever, kinky, and highly entertaining" The Tattoo Murder Case (Washington Post) This ingeniously constructed masterpiece, written by one of Japan's most celebrated crime writers and translated into English for the first time, is perfect for locked-room mystery fans who can't resist a breathtaking conclusion. In the Chizui family mansion, a haunting presence casts a shadow over its residents. By night, an eerie figure, clad in a sinister Hannya mask is seen roaming around the house. An amateur murder mystery writer, Akimitsu Takagi, is sent to investigate -- but his investigation takes a harrowing turn as tragedy strikes the Chizui family. Within the confines of a locked study, the head of the family is found dead, with only an ominous Hannya mask lying on the floor by his side and the lingering scent of jasmine in the air as clues to his mysterious murder. As Takagi delves deeper into the perplexing case, he discovers a tangled web of secrets and grudges. Can he discover the link between the family and the curse of the Hannya mask? Who was the person who called the undertaker and asked for three coffins on the night of the murder? And do those three coffins mean the curse of the Hannya mask is about to strike again? The Noh Mask Murder's legendary ending offers locked-room mystery fans the perfect coda to an ingenously constructed mystery.