In post-war Tokyo, a patrolling policeman makes a gruesome discovery: the body of a woman, lying in a hole with a dead black cat by her side. The woman's face is disfigured beyond recognition, and the Café's black cat seems alive! Legendary sleuth Kosuke Kindaichi investigates a past shrouded in secrecy and yet, nothing at the Cafe is as it seems.

Tokyo, 1947. The Pink Labyrinth is one of the bomb-scarred city's most shady neighbourhoods. There, in the dead of night a patrolling policeman catches a young Buddhist monk digging in the back yard of The Black Cat Cafe, a notorious brothel. In the shallow grave at his feet lie the dead body of a woman, her face disfigured beyond recognition, and the corpse of a black cat. Who is the murdered woman, and how was she connected to the infamous establishment? And where did the dead cat come from, given that the cafe's feline mascot seems to be alive and well? The brilliant sleuth Kosuke Kindaichi investigates, but as he draws closer to the truth, he finds himself in grave danger...

Autorentext
Seishi Yokomizo (1902-81) was one of Japan's most famous and beloved mystery writers, best known for creating the legendary detective Kosuke Kindaichi, who featured in more than 70 stories, many of which were adapted for stage and television in Japan. The Honjin Murders, the first Kosuke Kindaichi novel, is regarded as one of Japan's great mystery novels and won the inaugural Mystery Writers of Japan Award in 1948. The Inugami Curse, The Village of Eight Graves, Death on Gokumon Island, The Devil's Flute Murders, The Little Sparrow Murders, Murder at the Black Cat Cafe and She Walks at Night are also available or forthcoming from Pushkin Vertigo.

Klappentext

FROM ONE OF JAPAN'S GREATEST CRIME WRITERS--THE AUTHOR OF THE HONJIN MURDERS Nothing at The Black Cat Café is as it seems. . . In order to solve this sensational stand-alone murder mystery, scruffy detective Kosuke Kindaichi will have to untangle a complex web of love, jealousy, and betrayal In post-war Tokyo, still recovering from the devastating wartime bombing raids, a patrolling policeman passing The Black Cat Café makes a gruesome discovery: the body of a woman, lying in a hastily dug hole, with a dead black cat by her side. The woman's face is disfigured beyond recognition, and the café's black cat seems alive and well, so where did the two corpses come from, and why were they buried in the café's garden? As the legendary scruffy sleuth Kosuke Kindaichi investigates, he realizes the café's enigmatic madam, Oshima, has a past shrouded in secrecy, and what exactly is her relationship with the owner, Itoshima? Murder at the Black Cat Café is the latest instalment in the Kosuke Kindaichi mysteries--the classic series that made Seishi Yokomizo Japan's greatest and best-loved crime writer of all time. This edition also includes a bonus story, 'The Well Wheel Creaks'.