Tokyo Zodiac Murder is Sojie Shimada’s debut novel which quickly became a bestseller and was nominated for the prestigious Edogawa Rampo Prize for the best Japanese crime novels.
The plot starts with a note from a man who claims to be a possessed artist fantasizing about creating an ideal woman – Azoth. It would consist of 6 different parts of women, appropriately assigned to the signs of the zodiac and to the planets. Then the murderer presents the readers a detailed plan of the crimes and even gives clues about the places of burials and the location of the mystical Azoth. Of course, murders take place, but … the author of the note dies before they happen.
For 40 years, the mystery of the zodiacal murders remains unsolved, though countless amateur detectives regularly make pilgrimages to Azoth’s alleged resting place and constantly harass the families involved in the investigation. Among those interested in this case is the illustrator Kazumi Ishioka, who along with his friend, astrologer Kiyoshi Mitarai (you may remember him from Murder in the Crooked House) decides to attempt solving the case. In fact, Kiyoshi gives himself a time limit of just a week to find a criminal.
Tokyo Zodiac Murders is the perfect book for those who like to feel like they can take part in the investigation and try to guess the murderer. As a message from the author himself reminds the readers – they have all the clues to solve the mystery, but will they, like Kiyoshi Mitarai, prove to be smarter than the Japanese police?
