In 1989, Alice Arisugawa made his literary debut with Moonlight Game: The Tragedy of Y '88, an Ellery Queen-inspired story about dying messages left in a closed circle. This would mark the beginning of a 36 year and counting career straddling many series, dozens of individual works, and dozens of literary awards, as well as likely the single most influence any non-Kyoto U. graduate has ever had on the genre, with Arisugawa sitting on the judging or selection committees of dozens of different literary awards over the years, regularly collaborating with doyen of shin-honkaku mystery Yukito Ayatsuji, and, most importantly, being the founder and first president of the Honkaku Mystery Writers Club of Japan.
Naturally, such a career is worthy of celebration.
In November of 2024, on Arisugawa's 35th anniversary of being a professional author, a group of seven younger writers all got together and faced the same challenge: write an original mystery story using characters, settings, and concepts of Arisugawa's creation.
Those seven authors were:
Yugo Aosaki: Hailed as the Ellery Queen of the 21st century, most of Aosaki's output is available in English in some form via adaptation. See the J-drama Knockin' on Locked Door, the other J-drama Blue Box Briefing, the anime and manga Undead Girl Murder Farce, and the manga Gaslight Stray Dog Detectives. Ironically, the works that aren't yet available are his best-regarded, the Tenma Urazome series and the multi-award winning Glico With Landmines.
Michi Ichiho: Primarily a romance novelist with experience writing BL. No, she didn't write Himura/Alice slash fic. Don't worry/I'm sorry (check appropriate). Author of Yes, No, or Maybe? and the Naoki Prize-winning Tsumidemic.
Kyoya Origami: London-born lawyer-turned-author, responsible for the source novel of The Memory Eraser, which was adapted into a feature film.
Tomoyuki Shirai: Notoriously fucked-up-in-the-brain genius writer, his The People's Church Murder Case is as good a mystery as it is bad in taste.
Haruo Yuki: A child of legit cultists, he found mystery fiction a comfort when the dissonance of his family's worldview strained his mind. The Ark was widely praised and won many awards, and is scheduled for official English release February 2026.
Tatsumi Atsukawa: The first ever recipient of the new talent mystery novelist's award Kappa Two, of the three books in his Murder Quartet quadrilogy yet released, all three have placed in the This Mystery is Amazing! rankings.
Masahiro Imamura: I could tell you that his debut was an immediate, chart-smashing overnight sensation. Or I could just inform you that his first two books, Death Among the Undead and Death Within the Evil Eye, have official English translations and let you judge for yourself.
If that cast list doesn't sell you on the book, nothing will. So, without further ado...
Or read online below:
Rope, Cable, Cord - Yugo Aosaki
Enclosed in Clothes - Michi Ichiho
The Ghost Story Dedicated to Hideo Himura - Kyoya Origami
Black Mirror - Tomoyuki Shirai
The Man Who Read (And Disliked) Alice Arisugawa - Haruo Yuki
The Panic of Mountain Monk Jizō - Tatsumi Atsukawa
The Molded Corpse Speaks - Masahiro Imamura