Abstract

The recycling store "Kasasagi" is bustling with activity today. There is the logical store manager, Kasasagi, Higure, who always takes in items that cannot be sold, and Nami, a junior high school student who frequents the store. The three are faced with four incidents that color the four seasons. Whenever Kasasagi, with "Murphy's Law" in hand, starts to play the role of detective, the story always gets complicated... A heartwarming series of mysteries.

Author’s Information

Shūsuke Michio (1975–) takes his pen name from the mystery writer Michio Tsuzuki, one of his idols. Michio first became interested in reading in high school, when he was inspired by the works of Yasunari Kawabata and Osamu Dazai. He began writing short-shorts in college and continued producing fiction after graduation in his time away from work. His first break as an author came when he received the Horror and Suspense Special Prize for Se no me (Eyes in the Back) in 2004; the following year he quit his job to write full-time. In 2009 his novel Karasu no oyayubi (By Rule of Crow’s Thumb) earned the Mystery Writers of Japan Award in addition to a Naoki Prize nomination; in a testament to the consistently high quality of his work, he was nominated for the biannual prize four more times on his way to winning it in 2011 with Tsuki to kani (Moon and Crab). Other honors include the 2010 Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize for Kōbai no hana (Flowers of Light), a collection of linked short stories. With his knack for easily crossing over genres such as horror and the mystery, Michio is a promising hitmaker among the new generation of writers. Other titles include the story collection Oni no ashioto (The Demon’s Footfalls), and the novels Kyūtai no hebi (The Swollen Snake) and Tōmei kamereon (The Invisible Chameleon).