Pathway to Japanese Literature
Discover Japan's stories—across time, across language.
← Back
Tragedy at St. Alexei MonasteryAuthor: Oguri Mushitarō
| Original Title | 聖アレキセイ寺院の惨劇 |
|---|---|
| Author | 小栗 虫太郎 |
| Genre | Detective & Mystery |
| Author Type | Male Author |
| Summary | In the shadowed outskirts of Tokyo stands St. Alexei Church, a decaying relic of White Russian exile and forgotten grandeur. Once a sanctuary for émigrés fleeing revolution, its halls now echo with desolation, guarded only by the miserly caretaker Lazarev and his enigmatic daughters, Zinaida and Iriya. But when Lazarev is found murdered in the bell tower, his throat pierced with ritualistic precision, the church’s cursed legacy resurfaces. Renowned lawyer Hōsui Rintarō and Prosecutor Hasekura are drawn into a labyrinth of secrets: cryptic bell tolls that defy mechanical logic, a dwarf acrobat with dubious loyalties, and whispers of political conspiracies buried in the snow-laden grounds. As sleet obscures footprints and spectral footsteps haunt the tower, tensions mount between fanatical faith and cold reason. Zinaida, a former Carmelite nun shrouded in ascetic mystique, becomes an unlikely focal point—her past entwined with icons and vanished grandeur. Yet every clue unravels deeper enigmas: locked rooms, inverted chimes, and a dagger hurled into the night. Beneath the dome’s icy cross, salvation and damnation collide, leaving Hōsui to untangle whether the killer walks among the living or the echoes of the dead. |
← Return to List← Return to TOP