Born in 1948 in Hiroshima prefecture, Soji Shimada has been dubbed the 'God of Mystery' by international audiences. A novelist, essayist and short-story writer, he made his literary debut in 1981 with The Tokyo Zodiac Murders, which was shortlisted for the Edogawa Rampo Prize. Blending classical detective fiction with grisly violence and elements of the occult, he has gone on to publish several highly acclaimed series of mystery fiction. He is the author of 100+ works in total. In 2009 Shimada received the prestigious Japan Mystery Literature Award in recognition of his life's work.
An inventive, page-turning comic-thriller... not only intellectually rewarding but also a hell of a lot of fun. -- The Japan Times Praise for The Tokyo Zodiac Murders The great Soji Shimada virtually invented the 'logic problem' sub-genre. - Guardian, Top 10 Locked Room Mysteries (No. 2) Ignites the mind -- Huffington Post If you like your crime stories to be bloody and bizarre, then this may be one for you... the solution is one of the most original that I've ever read -- Anthony Horowitz