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.

"A wickedly plotted mystery with a metafictional twist that feels far fresher than those of more contemporary versions with the same idea... The author has many more surprises in store, even as he plays ruthlessly fair with the reader" - The New York Times

"'Taut, well-constructed, with two narrative viewpoints interestingly different, this is an impressive read'" - The Critic

"Japanese crime-writing legend and innovator of the form, Takagi, lends contemporary thought to traditional Golden Age tropes to superb effect... Reflects the distinct and elegant storytelling of Japan and riffs on the locked room mystery" - Crime Time

"A playful, meta-narrative puzzle that will delight fans of the classic locked-room subgenre, but which also digs beneath the surface mystery to explore the "collective derangement" that can affect an entire family - or, for that matter, an entire nation" - Irish Tiimes

"The resolution is quite ingeniously turned... there's a good deal of enjoyable cleverness here" - The Complete Review

"Like a Japanese version of Agatha Christie... There are ingenious twists... I can see why this is crowned as a classic masterpiece in Japan... The final chapter and ending in particular are so breath-taking and exquisite I read it a couple times" - Mitsy Reads

"Has all the hallmarks of a Japanese noir, with its devious locked-door scenario, the shadowy presence of illegal tattooists, their obsessive clients and a creepily intense professor, who's hoping to add another skin to his collection... A tale that fizzes with intrigue and ingenuity" - Daily Mail

"This lurid mystery provides a fascinating portrait of wartorn Tokyo" - The Times Crime Club, Pick of the Week

"Intricate, fantastic and utterly absorbing. More please . . . Calculated to outdo John Dickson Carr in both ghoulishness and ingenuity" - Kirkus Reviews

"An ingenious whodunnit" - Daily Mail

"Like voyeurs, we follow Takagi down the charred streets of bombed-out Tokyo to scenes of fastidiously executed decadence" - New York Times

"An engaging journey into a Tokyo ravaged by war and its criminal underworld... Crackles with the energy that made Takagi one of Japan's most popular crime authors" - Financial Times

"Agatha Christie was the queen of the locked room mystery - but now we have the opportunity to enjoy The Tattoo Murder... Originally published in 1948, Takagi's mystery transcends time... As the evenings draw in, this mystery will keep the cold at bay." - Independent

"A delightful, different book, not only because of its unusual setting and premise, but because Takagi is a powerful plotter and constructor of fascinating, complex characters" - The A.V. Club

"The extensive and nuanced portrayal of Japanese subcultures makes The Tattoo Murder an absorbing and satisfying read" - Business Post