Pathway to Japanese Literature

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Death of a Bestselling AuthorAuthor: Nomura Kodō

Original Title	流行作家の死
Author	野村胡堂
Genre	Detective & Mystery
Author Type	Male Author
Summary	In a bustling Tokyo newsroom, veteran editor Chigusa Jūjirō and tenacious reporter Hayasaka Isamu receive an anonymous tip: celebrated novelist Oguri Keizaburō has died by suicide. The call—placed from a public phone by a child’s voice—sends them racing against deadlines and doubt. Oguri’s body lies in a locked study, doors bolted from within, his face eerily serene. Cyanide lingers on his lips, yet no trace of poison remains in the sealed room. Suspicions clash with official verdicts as alibis unravel: Oguri’s estranged wife, consumed by bitterness, and his glamorous confidante Tachibana Hideko, a sharp-tongued writer with secrets of her own. Chigusa’s journalistic instincts roar—why would a famously vain optimist choose death? Why target Isamu, not Oguri’s old friend, for the scoop? As whispers of staged suicides and hidden keys surface, the duo navigates a labyrinth of lies where every alibi glints with deception. Behind silk kimonos and ink-stained manuscripts, truth festers—and someone’s playing a lethal game.