The Devil’s Flute Murders - Seishi Yokomizo

The Devil’s Flute Murders by Seishi Yokomizo, translated by Jim Rion / ISBN 9781782278849 / 348-page paperback published in 2023 by Pushkin Vertigo

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“Yokomizo at his absolute best... From the ominous opening through the brilliant final reveal, [he] ably blends suspense and fair-play detection... A classic of the genre.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

An ingenious classic locked-room murder mystery about the feuding family of a composer that’s perfect for fans of Lucy Foley, Ruth Ware, and Anthony Horowitz

This standalone novel features the scruffy sleuth Kosuke Kindaichi—the most famous Japanese detective—created by one of Japan's greatest crime writers: Seishi Yokomizo, the “Japanese Agatha Christie”

Locked room mysteries are hot again, and this classic from the golden age of crime presents a mind-bending Japanese mystery from the great Seishi Yokomizo, whose fictional detective Kosuke Kindaichi is a pop culture phenomenon akin to Sherlock Holmes.

This time the beloved scruffy sleuth Kosuke Kindaichi investigates a series of gruesome murders within the feuding family of a brooding, troubled composer, whose most famous work chills the blood of all who hear it.

Readers will be totally engrossed by one of Yokomizo’s most clever guessing games, in which everyone has something to hide…

Seishi Yokomizo (1902-81) was one of Japan's most famous and best-loved mystery writers. He was born in Kobe and spent his childhood reading detective stories, before beginning to write stories of his own, the first of which was published in 1921. He went on to become an extremely prolific and popular author, best known for his Kosuke Kindaichi series, which ran to 77 books, many of which were adapted for stage and television in Japan. The Inugami Curse is one of Kindaichi's most famous mysteries and has twice been adapted for film in Japan.