The Master Key Paperback by Masako Togawa

Product Details

• Publisher: Pushkin Vertigo (2021-11-23)
• Language: English
• Paperback: 192 pages
• ISBN-13: 9781782277729
• Item Weight: 170.1 grams
• Dimensions: 7.79 x 5.07 x 0.48 cm

The prize-winning debut mystery from one of Japan's best-loved crime writers

The K Apartments for Ladies are occupied by over one hundred unmarried women, once young and lively, now grown and old—and in some cases, evil.

Their residence conceals a secret connecting the unsolved 1951 kidnapping of four-year-old George Kraft to the clandestine burial of a child's body in the basement bath-house. So, when news comes that the building must be moved to make way for a road-building project, more than one tenant waits with apprehension for the grisly revelation that will follow. Then the master key is lost, stolen and re-stolen—and suddenly no-one feels safe.

Fiendish intrigue, double identity and an ingenious plot make this a thriller worthy of comparison with the work of P.D. James.

About the Author

Masako Togawa (1931-2016) was one of Japan's foremost writers of crime fiction. Born in Tokyo, she worked as a cabaret performer before beginning to write crime fiction backstage, during her breaks. Her debut thriller The Master Key won Japan's prestigious Edgowa Rampo Prize, and Togawa went on to become a hugely successful author, while continuing to lead a colourful parallel life as a singer, actress, feminist, nightclub owner and gay icon.