Description:
When a body wrapped in a blue plastic tarp and tied up with twine is discovered by the bushes near a quiet suburban Tokyo neighborhood, Lieutenant Reiko Himekawa and her squad take the case. The victim was slaughtered brutally--his wounds are bizarre, and no one can figure out the "what" or the "why" of this crime.
At age twenty-nine, Reiko Himekawa of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police's Homicide Division is young to have been made lieutenant, particularly because she lacks any kind of political or family connections. Despite barriers created by age, gender, and lack of connections, she is mentally tough, oblivious to danger, and has an impressive ability to solve crimes.
Reiko makes a discovery that leads the police to uncover eleven other bodies, all wrapped in the same sort of plastic. Few of the bodies are identifiable, but the ones that are have no connection to each other. The only possible clue is a long-shot lead to a website spoken only in whispers on the Internet, something on the dark web known as Strawberry Night.
But while Reiko is hunting the killer, the killer is hunting her ... and she may very well have been marked as the next victim.
Brief description:
Tetsuya Honda is one of Japan's bestselling authors with the ongoing crime series featuring Reiko Himekawa, a homicide detective with the Tokyo Metropolitan Police. The series has sold roughly four million copies in Japan and is the basis for two television miniseries, a television special, and a major theatrical motion picture. Honda lives in Tokyo.
Review Quotes:
"Bestselling Japanese author Honda's engrossing US debut...Evocative prose, a complex plot, and richly developed characters distinguish this inventive police procedural. Honda writes elegantly about violence and compassionately about its victims, seamlessly incorporating origin stories for both Reiko and her quarry that add texture, heft, and verisimilitude."
-- "Publishers Weekly"