NATIONAL JAPAN BEST SELLER.NOVEL READ BY EVERY 80TH RESIDENT OF THE Rising Sun.Brilliant combination of honkaku-detective and mystical thriller.Permeated with mysticism , esotericism and Japanese folklore, this is one of the most unusual novels in the history of the world detective. An exorcist bookseller and a writer face an absolutely incomprehensible crime.1952, Tokyo. Strange and ominous events fall upon the old family of Kuondzi doctors, who own a private gynecological clinic. Rumors are spreading around the city that the youngest daughter of the family has been carrying a child for 20 months and cannot be resolved from the burden in any way ... And her husband Makio disappeared from the locked room without a trace. It is also rumored that several newborn babies have disappeared from the clinic in recent years. And as punishment for their crimes, the Kuonji family is cursed and their youngest daughter becomes pregnant with a baby demon. Writer-journalist Tatsumi Sekiguchi persuades his friend, the owner of a used book store, to take up this business. The bookseller is an ommyōji sorcerer who is proficient in the technique of expelling evil spirits and removing possessions. And he is also convinced that there is nothing strange in the world ...NOVEL TRANSLATED FROM JAPANESE“This is a completely new type of detective story in which the misled human brain creates a mystery” . – Soji Shimada“…Natsuhiko Kyogoku's debut novel had an impact on the world of honkaku detectives that can hardly be overestimated – it shook everyone like a whirlwind. The idea of “seeing the invisible in the familiar world around us became a landmark for modern honkaku, changing the genre from the inside.” – Kiyoshi Kasai, Writer and Literary Critic“Weaving together the intrigue and passion for Japanese folklore, especially the supernatural and the paranormal, this text gives rise to a new form of Japanese fiction.” – PopCultureShockAlthough witches no longer roam the forests of modern Japan that Kyogoku writes about, the minds that created them have certainly not disappeared. This novel is a fascinating reminder of how far we have come from that, and that the true progress to be made is to know ourselves.” – Words Without Borders“Kyogoku… regards supernatural phenomena as the product of the ideas that rule society and the limitations of human knowledge. In other words, ghosts exist because we think they exist.” – Japan Today“One of the most unusual detective stories I have ever seen. The classic honkaku-style plot is filled to the brim with traditional Japanese mysticism and is adorned with a unique pair of detectives, a true find of the author. Imagine Sherlock Holmes exorcising demons and Watson as the devil's advocate…” – Vladimir Khoros, executive editor of the novel