When the body of Saga Atsushi, Japan’s preeminent connoisseur of ukiyo-e (woodblock prints), is pulled from the ocean off the coast of Tohoku, having apparently committed suicide, the shocked Japanese art world turns out to mourn his death. Among them is Ryohei, an up-and-coming young ukiyo-e scholar and research assistant to Saga’s colleague-turned-rival, Professor Nishijima. But a chance encounter with an old friend makes Ryohei wonder if there might be more to Saga’s death than meets the eye…

Katsuhiko Takahashi is an award-winning Japanese novelist whose accolades include the Edogawa Rampo Prize for “Sharaku satsujin jiken” (The Case of the Sharaku Murders), the Yoshikawa Eiji Prize for New Writers for “Soumon dani” (The Soumon Valley), the Naoki Prize for “Akai kioku” (The Scarlet Memories) and the Yoshikawa Eiji Prize for Literature for “Ka en” (Flaming Rancour). He has also written works in a wide range of genres including action romance, historical fiction, horror and mystery.

Ian MacDonald is a prize-winning translator. He holds a PhD in Japanese from Stanford University and specializes in Edo-period art and literature.