The Silent Dead

March 28, 2016
Bestselling Japanese author Honda’s engrossing U.S. debut introduces Lt. Reiko Himekawa, a 29-year-old homicide detective with the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department who frequently contends with misogyny and age discrimination from the public and her peers. Reiko and her fellow officers investigate the gruesome murder of a man found wrapped in a tarp, bound with cord, and dumped in the bushes near a park on the outskirts of town. The case is at a standstill until Reiko follows a hunch that leads to the discovery of 10 additional tarped-and-tied corpses. Efforts to link the victims and catch their killer take Reiko and her team from the seedy back alleys of Tokyo to the darkest corners of the deep Web. 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.

Starred review from May 1, 2016

Reiko Himekawa, a 29-year-old police lieutenant in the Tokyo Metro Police Homicide Unit, takes on a strange case when a body, carefully wrapped in plastic, is discovered near a local park pond. The victim was tortured before he was brutally murdered. Gathering clues, Reiko concludes that the killer has embarked on a crime spree. The discovery of more corpses expands her investigation. Inspired to become a police officer after she was attacked as a teenager in the park, Reiko has vowed to prove her worth and her skills to her peers. As she pursues the case relentlessly, exploring a cult Internet phenomenon called Strawberry Night, it soon becomes clear that she is being hunted. VERDICT Making its U.S. debut, this Japanese best seller is finely tuned, with extreme twists and surprises. Honda has created a powerful protagonist in Lt. Himekawa, who will leave readers wanting more. This fun summer escapade will be savored by mystery and suspense readers.--Ron Samul, New London, CT

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2016
This is the opening novelonly now translated into Englishin a long-running series that is a megahit in Japan (four million copies sold, adapted for two TV miniseries, a TV special, and a major motion picture). Everything about the book is outsized. The heroine, 29-year-old Lieutenant Reiko Himekawa, a squad leader in Tokyo's Metropolitan Police's Homicide Division, is a force of nature, having shot from obscurity to a top position in the city's normally clout-driven department, seemingly on the basis of her energy and detective skills alone. The mystery here is also big. The discovery of one body wrapped in tarpaulin and twine in a Tokyo suburb is soon followed by 11 more bodies wrapped the same way and with no discernible connection to each other. The action is nonstop, pausing only occasionally for disquisitions on forensic science. The novel may prove a strange brew for readers used to more introspective crime narratives, but the glimpse it provides into doing things another way is enticing on its own, and the mystery itself delivers a fun, wild ride.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)