Pathway to Japanese Literature

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The Hall of Dreams Murder CaseAuthor: Oguri Mushitarō

Original Title	夢殿殺人事件
Author	小栗虫太郎
Genre	Detective & Mystery
Author Type	Male Author
Summary	In a secluded Buddhist nunnery shrouded in midsummer heat, a macabre spectacle unfolds: the self-proclaimed miracle worker Suima Koji lies mutilated in a locked chamber, his wounds etched with cryptic Sanskrit symbols. Beside him rests a strangled nun, her throat marked by unearthly indentations. Golden petals litter the scene as if scattered by divine hands, while echoes of celestial music linger—a tableau straddling sacred ritual and grotesque violence. \nDetective Hōsui Rintarō confronts a labyrinth of contradictions: blood vanishes without trace; peacock-like footprints materialize on sunbaked floors; esoteric mandalas whisper of vampiric secrets. The austere Jakko-an convent—a bastion of esoteric Buddhism led by the imperious Abbess Bantoku—harbors zealots and skeptics alike, each entangled in a web of fanatical devotion and hidden motives. As Hōsui dissects hallucinatory visions and physiological enigmas, he navigates a razor’s edge between reason and mysticism. Could a bodhisattva’s wrath manifest through human hands, or does the truth lie in the warped psyche of those craving miracles? Shadows of trauma, hysteria, and ancient sorcery converge in this feverish puzzle where every clue blasphemes against logic—and salvation demands unraveling a blood-soaked mandala of deception.