Abstract

N is a collection of six mystery short stories which follow the lives of people in a small, coastal Japanese city. Incorporating multiple perspectives and timelines, the collection reveals interconnected storylines when read as a whole. A science teacher who borrows the help of a dog to learn more about her student. A high school student who tries to uncover the meaning behind a parrot’s words. A retired English teacher who discovers the true murderer of a young girl. A woman whose life is saved by a mysterious intruder. A nurse who regains hope after working in Dublin. A policewoman who works with a pet detective to solve a murder. Readers can decide the order in which the stories are read, creating a unique reading experience and possibly different endings.

Author’s Information

Mystery and science-fiction writer Michio Tsuzuki (1929-2003) inspired Shusuke Michio’s penname (and surely the protagonist’s name in the current work!). The author, born in 1975, won a prize for his short fiction in 2002 before gaining particular attention with the Horror and Suspense Special Prize for his novel Se no me [Eyes in the Back] in 2004. Himawari no sakanai natsu [The Summer the Sunflowers didn’t Bloom] was his breakthrough novel in 2005. Among a prolific output for which he has received numerous awards, some of his most famous novels apart from the present work are Karasu no oya-yubi [Crow’s Thumb] (2008) and Tsuki to kani [Moon and Crab] (2011), which won him the Naoki Prize. None of his works is yet to be published in English