Murder in the House of Omari

Winner of the Mystery Writers of Japan Award and the Honkaku Mystery Prize.

Osaka, 1943. The Second World War rages, and American bombers rain down death upon Japan. The once prosperous Omari household, now ruined by the terrible conflict, is struck by a succession of ghastly murders.

Young trainee doctor and budding sleuth Natsuko is desperate to help her old friend, Mineko Omari, to solve the mystery and bring an end to the gruesome deaths tearing the family apart. To do so, the pair will have to delve into the Omari clan's past, where a dark and deadly secret has been festering for decades...

Use your powers of logic and deduction to solve this classic honkaku puzzler—the Japanese tradition of detective fiction—in this delicious twisty murder mystery!

In Osaka, dark secrets haunt a wealthy merchant family throughout the first half of the 20th century . . .

In 1906, the young heir to the Omari family business climbs to the top of a Panorama and vanishes.

In 1914, a fight between two mysterious figures on a bridge tragically ends with one falling to their death.

In 1943, as war rages on, the once illustrious family has fallen. Both potential heirs have been drafted into war, and a string of strange and violent happenings has beset the house of Omari.

Combining the classic honkaku mystery and Golden Age crime writing with the trappings of historical fiction, it’s easy to see why Murder in the House of Omari is an award-winning sensation in Japan! Set in Semba (modern-day Osaka), this gripping murder mystery twists and turns with dark secrets, red herrings, and the turbulent history of Japan in the early 20th century.

• | Author: Taku Ashibe
• | Publisher: Pushkin Press
• | Publication Date: May 08, 2025
• | Number of Pages:
• | Language: eng
• | Binding: Paperback / softback
• | ISBN-13: 9781805335214
• | ISBN-10: 1805335219