Physically confronting your abusive superior might be cool and satisfying when it happens in a drama, but, as Kazuo Sugishita is learning, it's less cool when you're sitting at home afterwards, terrified to learn how you'll be punished when you return to work the next day. The sentence he faces sounds surprisingly lenient - just a temporary reassignment to the company's entertainment department while things blow over. But he changes his mind when he gets the specifics: Kazuo has been assigned as manager-in-training (read "servant") to Shiro Hoshizono, the "Star Watcher": A pompous, showoff-y, completely insufferable talent with no actual talents except using his sickeningly sweet words and foreign model looks to seduce lonely middle... more>> aged women into paying for the privilege of hearing him speak.

The day after his new assignment, Kazuo and Hoshizono leave for Saitama Prefecture, where Hoshizono has been recruited to become an image character for a campground in the mountains, alongside a group of other colorful characters, including a romance novelist with the looks of Cleopatra but the personality of someone's grandpa and a UFO obsessed conspiracy theorist.

But the morning after their arrival, their host is found strangled to death in his lodge, the road back is buried in an avalanche, and... you can probably see where this is going.

Turns out, despite how he comes across normally, Hoshizono is actually a genius detective!

The novel features a unique chapter naming scheme where each chapter is titled as a three to four sentence summary of its own contents, focused upon what information about the case is discovered and what evidence appears, for ease of reference.

A nominee for the 50th annual Mystery Writers Association of Japan Award, long story category. <<less

Two short novels, including the title story and Black Fairy Tale, plus a bonus short story. Summer is a simple story of a nine-year-old girl... more>> who dies while on summer vacation. While her youthful killers try to hide her body, she tells us the story—from the POV of her dead body—of the boys' attempt to get away with mu*der. Black Fairy Tale is classic J-horror: a young girl loses an eye in an accident, but receives a transplant. Now she can see again, but what she sees out of her new left eye is the experiences and memories of its previous owner. Its previous deceased owner. <<less

He doesn’t necessarily seem mu*derous, according to others. He’s very popular, and attracts much affection. But to me, he is the most despicable person in... more>> the world. He forced me into an extremely inconvenient situation. To regain my reputation, I can only make him disappear. If only he would vanish without a trace, I will be able to live a truly calming life <<less

In the winter of three years ago, the first locked room mu*der in Japanese history was committed.... more>>

All of the evidence pointed to the defendant. It was certain they were guilty. And yet, they were found innocent and released. Why? Because the crime scene was a perfect locked room no one from the police or the prosecutor's office could solve.

"Since the room was locked, it was impossible for the defendant to have committed the mu*der. It's no different than if they had a perfect alibi." That was the argument of the defense, and that was the argument the judge sided with.

The ruling sent a ripple throughout Japanese society. No matter how suspicious you were or how much evidence you left behind, as long as you managed to create a locked room that no one could solve, you were immune from prosecution. With the common anti-mystery fiction talking point "there's no reason anyone would ever actually commit a locked room mu*der" completely overturned, the rate of locked room mu*ders in Japan skyrocketed.

When the police proved unable to deal with the surge of locked room crime, the Ministry of Justice published an official categorization of all known locked room tricks as an investigative aid. When that proved insufficient, Division Zero of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, a police division dedicated solely to solving locked rooms, was created. When that still proved insufficient, locked room detectives, private investigators specializing in locked rooms, were officially licensed by the state and authorized to participate in police investigations. Calling a locked room appraiser, someone specializing in searching buildings for secret passages, is now a common first step in criminal investigations.

On the other side of the spectrum, locked room agents, assassins and crime planners specializing in locked room mu*ders, have become some of the most notorious criminals in Japanese history, and even a cult worshiping the scenes of locked rooms as a way to purify the souls of the deceased has made rapid inroads into Japan.

The protagonist, Kasumi Kuzushiro, is an introverted, somewhat cynical high school student who loves mysteries. Kasumi often finds himself dragged along on bizarre journeys by his flighty childhood friend, Yozuki Asahina. Due to their staggeringly bad luck, these trips often leave them in the wrong place at the wrong time to be caught up in locked room mysteries. Fortunately, another of Kasumi's childhood friends, Shitsuri Mitsumura, is the greatest locked room expert in the world, and can always discover the truth.

Hm? How did a high school girl become the greatest locked room expert in the world?

It's simple.

She's...

Volume 1 was the grand prize winner of the 2022 This Mystery Is Amazing! awards. <<less

He Chuan Zhou had the same dream again. In that dream, a youngster would stand in front of everyone's questioning and doubts and said with a high-spirited yet arrogant voice : I will become a policeman !
She felt that this freak was lame, unlike herself, who just wanted to make money.... more>>

Fifteen years have passed, and everything that was supposed to grow had grown.

When they reunited after a long time, he was sitting in the car, a glass window separating them, wearing a suit and leather shoes, holding an unlit cigarette in his mouth, as if gritting his teeth, but his eyes slightly glanced outside, speaking arrogantly and provocatively: "Hey, Captain He. "

The so-called fate tricks people probably means that even though I have not changed my original intention, I still embarked on a completely different path from my dream. <<less

A mu*der mystery novel.

(No harem, no tricks, no invincibility, no system, no brainless, no satisfying literature. Enter at your own risk.)... more>>

When I thought it was just an ordinary day, I found myself trapped in a place of doom.

When I thought all I needed to do was participate in death games to escape, I discovered that everyone was awakening supernatural powers.

When I thought this place was a "land of gods," everything was heading towards annihilation... <<less

A grieving soul is filled with mysteries, traumas, scares, and horrors. A compilation of short stories told from the perspective of those souls, unhinged, as they quench their thirst for blood. Beware as the stories might haunt you, even in your sleep. ... more>>

A book containing multiple short stories with disturbing themes and topics. Written by Malaysian writers, with various styles of story-telling and narration. It’s sure to get the readers fascinated with each writer’s weirdly-build world of imagination. <<less

"Today is the Coming-of-Age Ceremony.
I will now kill the participants."... more>>

Hanami Mitsui, a 19-year-old girl, will be attending the Coming-of-Age Ceremony that day.
She attended the Coming-of-Age Ceremony wearing a kimono, just like the rest of her classmates.
However, her goal is to kill her classmates. <<less

I am a swindler. ... more>>

On the gambling table, I am a master of deception.

However, I want to use my experience to tell you a simple truth - stay away from gambling.

Because in gambling, nine out of ten times it's a scam, and ten out of ten times you will lose! <<less

The once wealthy and powerful Ryuuzen clan has been all but destroyed. Their misfortune began in 1960, when a majority of the family was wiped out when their vacation villa was buried under a landslide. However, search and rescue teams discovered something even more shocking: A majority of the bodies they discovered showed obvious signs of having been mu*dered before the landslide.... more>>

As though it were a trigger, what came to be known as "The Curse of the Ryuuzen Clan" spread throughout the descendants of the family's only survivor. By mu*der, by su*cide, by accident... it seemed none who held the name "Ryuuzen" could live to see the age of 35, and now, the family has been reduced to a single woman, lying in a hospital bed, days away from death.

Kamo Touma was once just another of the endless parade of sleazy tabloid journalists looking to exploit a prominent family's tragedy to sell magazines, but Ryuuzen Rena's kindness melted his frozen heart, driving him to quit his old job and become an investigative journalist specializing in overturning cases of false arrest. Eventually, he and Rena were married, but now, the curse threatens to steal away their happiness.

Kamo prays for a miracle, and his prayers are answered by the Hourglass of Miracles, an artifact spoken of in rumors and urban legends, said to grant one wish to anyone who obtains it.

"Meister Hora", a guide for those who obtain the hourglass, tells Kamo there is only one way to break the curse and save Rena: He must travel back in time to the year 1960 and catch the culprit of the original Ryuuzen Family massacre.

Who was the culprit of the mu*ders that took place almost 60 years ago? Why did they steal away the lives of the Ryuuzen clan? What is the true nature of the "Curse of the Ryuuzen Clan?" And perhaps most mysteriously of all... What is Meister Hora's goal in all this?

Winner of the 29th annual Ayukawa Tetsuya Award. <<less

A newlywed couple are mu*dered in their bridal chamber on their wedding night leads to open fighting between Ouyang and Sima Manors. Amazing Constable Shen Ying personally takes on the case.... more>>

A gold hairpin holds the key to finally exposing the truth of this mu*der case…

The Bloody Bridal Chamber is Book #4 of Hong Kong author Ximen Ding’s Amazing Hawk Constables wuxia mystery series. <<less

Dreams will come true someday.... more>>

A Girl meets a Sinner, whom she asks to take her life. <<less

“Love is a prayer. I pray. I wish for the people I love to all be happy. I wish for all of them to fulfill their wishes. I wish for everyone to live somewhere warm, cool, or whatever they find comfortable, and be surrounded by their loved ones. I want absolute bliss to pour on them like heavy rain. I love every single person in the world.”... more>>

A set of love stories digging into the essence of love and stories. <<less

When I suddenly came to my senses, there was a dead body in front of me.

One day, a "Reality Rift" occurred in the holy city of Akiba!
The invasion of interdimensional people, space-time pirates, and science gangs was about to begin!... more>>

And then a beautiful superheroine stood up to the crisis in Akihabara.
An epic tale of superheroines in Akihabara, the sacred land of Otaku.

The 114th episode of this Young Adult fiction is "The Reason She Wears Fishnet Tights ". Now then, during a popular magic show in Akihabara, a magician disappears and is found dead.

As the magic industry's grudges, a suspicious ex-boyfriend, an even more suspicious magic designers emerge, the Otaku's desire for fame comes to the surface in a hilarious way... <<less

Zhou Jibo's world shatters when betrayal strikes from the least expected quarter—his fiancée, Zheng Xunqin. ... more>>

Drugged and robbed of his cultivation ability by Zheng, a member of the allied Zheng family, Zhou finds himself crippled in a realm where martial prowess rules all.

Reborn in a mysterious new world after a tragic end in modern times, he discovers he's not just any youth, but one blessed with an Earth Spirit bone root, a marker of potential greatness now tragically marred.

As he silently endures the agonizing theft of his bone root, a sudden twist of fate awakens the ""Universal Attribute Point System"" within him, presenting a Newbie Gift Bag that promises unimaginable power. <<less

Yun Ling, on the eve of his sixteenth birthday, faces mixed feelings from his younger sisters, Yun Wei and Yun Chu, about the upcoming test to determine his cultivation talent—a critical milestone in this world where martial prowess can define one's destiny. ... more>>

Despite their teasing and doubts, Yun Ling harbors a secret determination fueled by a tragic past. He's not originally from Blue Star but a transmigrator who lost his parents at a young age and witnessed his father's mu*der—a powerful martial artist and vice master of the Golden Wind Martial Club. Adopted by Yun Jinglin, Yun Ling has lived with a burning desire for revenge against his father's killer, now a grandmaster level martial cultivator.

On Blue Star, a planet transformed by disaster thirty years ago that unleashed ferocious beasts and dark demonic energy, humans discovered the power of vitality, giving rise to superhuman warriors and a new era of martial cultivation.

Will he possess the cultivation talent needed to pursue his quest for revenge and protect those he cares for in a world where ferocious beasts and martial might reign supreme? <<less

After a red meteor slashed through the heavens, human progress ground to a halt. ... more>>

Since that momentous day, humanity lost its ability to create rockets, nuclear weapons, airplanes, cars...

The towering pyramid of civilization, meticulously built from the achievements of modern science, crumbled into dust.

Yet, the catastrophe didn't stop there. The grey realm, following the arrival of the red meteor, like a ghostly reflection behind a mirror, dragged the civilized world bit by bit into the abyss of disorder.

In this new age, a human life was no more significant than a speck of dust, yet amidst the ruins, humanity's spirit shone as brightly as the stars.

Amid the crumbling edifice, observers could see a figure—an actor—defiantly standing on the wreckage of civilization, his red cloak as vivid as blood, his expressions flickering between laughter and tears. Behind him, the curtain of the era gently parted. With arms wide open, he whispered to all who would listen— "Let the show begin." <<less

There exist in this world a set of six daggers that carry a terrible curse: the ability to inflict a death beyond time. Those under the daggers' curse shall reincarnate without end, never able to know happiness and always drawn to die once more by the dagger. This is the story of "Raine" and "Marie", two souls bound by the daggers' curse to kill one another, over and over again.... more>>

France, 1243. Lapis Lazuli Castle is the name of an insignificant relay fort nestled away in a forest east of Carcassonne. Its ruler, Count Geoffroy, and his only daughter, Marie, are both believed to be insane. The root cause of their shared madness is the mysterious disappearance of Geoffroy's wife three years ago, which caused Geoffroy to grow detached from humanity and cast Marie into a deep depression. After three years of wandering in a state halfway to nonexistence, Marie works up the nerve to ask her chief bodyguard, Sir Raine, to investigate her mother's death, confiding that on the night of her mother's disappearance, she had witnessed something impossible. However, her investigation only prompts a new tragedy.

The French-German border, 1916. As World War I rages on, Raine and Marie's latest reincarnations live the life of a sub-lieutenant in the French army and a medic with the Red Cross, respectively. The two lovers are reunited at the site of the Battle of Verdun, but no sooner have they met then Raine finds himself faced with a barrage of impossible circumstances. An enemy soldier's head suddenly vanishes, right before his eyes. One of his subordinates reports the same thing happening to an ally. Four more headless bodies vanish from a flooded bunker in the minute he looks away. These baffling events are a prelude to the return of their old tragedy.

Northern Hokkaido, 1989. Kimiyo, age eighteen, is already dying, an inoperable tumor in her hypothalamus leaving her with less than a year to live. Refusing to despair in the face of her tragic circumstances, she spends her remaining days with her friends at "The Library at the End of the World", a private library so called due to its isolated nature. One day, a man named Kito approaches her out of the blue, regaling her with a story about a set of cursed daggers, knights in the 13th century, and the two of them being cursed, fated lovers. Naturally, Kimiyo is intensely skeptical, but the events that come next don't require her to believe in them.

Arriving at the scene of these three tragedies is Snowy, an enigmatic figure of indeterminate gender who claims to be "a detective charged with managing the world's chaos". <<less

An exclusive opportunity! Travel back seven days with eight strangers.... more>>

I don’t care about what they’re here for; I just want to win the lottery and escape poverty!

What? What did you say?

That guy, he’s in trouble… <<less

The youth, a seminary student, one day saw a prostitute with a tattoo of a blue flower on her arm in a back alley. From... more>> that day on, his happiness was shattered. <<less

“If it means suffering, I don’t need to be loved.”... more>>

An explosive journey of the Meta Detective Tsukumojuuku’s soul threading its way on the dance floor scourged by the trumpets sounded by God/Seiryouin Ryuusui, the maestro to serial mitate mu*ders based on Genesis and Revelation to John from the Bible. <<less

After waking up, Li Teng appears high in the sky. ... more>>

"Perched on top of a stone pillar that reaches into the clouds, how am I to get down?"

"How did I get up here?"

"Help!"

Unfortunately, not only would help not arrive, but this would also be the start of an endless nightmare!

Follow Li Teng's nightmarish adventure as he tries to survive on a 1,000-meter stone pillar, with only a bed and his wits!

"Extreme weather phenomena? Bring it on!"

"My abductors want me to participate in gruesome films in which 1 in 8 people have to die? I shall emerge victorious!"

"Want me to die? Not so easy!" <<less