The Silent Dead: A Mystery - Hardcover

"Meet my latest girl crush: Reiko Himekawa, the Tokyo homicide squad leader introduced in Tetsuya Honda's THE SILENT DEAD. With her grit, backstory, and intuition, there's no wonder that the series is a sensation in Japan. English-language readers, hang on for an exciting ride through Japanese police politics and Tokyo's darkest street corners. Prime Suspect fans will have a new heroine to root for." --Naomi Hirahara, Edgar Award-winning author of Sayonara Slam

"Honda gives us a remarkable character in Reiko Himekawa, and then gives her a remarkable crime to solve. This book will leave a mark on you." --Jeff Somers, author of The Electric Church

"Enthralling, fast paced, and intricately plotted, The Silent Dead, which introduces Reiko Himekawa, a female Lieutenant in Tokyo's Metropolitan police, kept me turning the pages and illuminated a dark corner of Japanese society." --Cara Black, New York Times bestselling author of the Aimee Leduc series

When a body wrapped in a blue plastic tarp and tied up with twine is discovered near the bushes near a quiet suburban Tokyo neighborhood, Lt. Reiko Himekawa and her squad take the case. The victim was slaughtered brutally---his wounds are bizarre, and no one can figure out the "what" or the "why" of this crime.

At age twenty-nine, Reiko Himekawa of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police's Homicide Division is young to have been made lieutenant, particularly because she lacks any kind of political or family connections. Despite barriers created by age, gender, and lack of connections, she is mentally tough, oblivious to danger, and has an impressive ability to solve crimes.

Reiko makes a discovery that leads the police to uncover eleven other bodies, all wrapped in the same sort of plastic. Few of the bodies are identifiable, but the ones that are have no connection to each other. The only possible clue is a long shot lead to a website spoken only in whispers on the Internet, something on the dark web known as "Strawberry Night."

But while she is hunting the killer, the killer is hunting her... and she may very well have been marked as the next victim.