FICTION

The Master Key

Pushkin. Mar. 2018. 192p. tr. from Japanese by Simon Grove. ISBN 9781782273639. pap. $13.95; ebk. ISBN 9781782273868. M
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OrangeReviewStarWelcome to Tokyo's K Apartments for Ladies, a building filled with stories, mystery, and secrets. This threaded and complicated novel brings to life some of the most suspect residents, whose lives have become entangled over the years. There are tales of a stolen violin, a missing child, mysterious lovers, a strange religious cult, and one master key to open every room in the apartment house. Togawa's woven account is fascinating and complex as the master key moves among the hands of victims, assailants, dark shadows, and desperate characters. And just when you think you have a suspect in mind, a new door opens. Then it is decided that the building will be moved a few feet for the construction of a highway and all its secrets unravel.
VERDICT Originally published in 1962, this debut novel, which won Japan's Edogawa Rampo Prize, is a brilliant, suspenseful, and classic mystery that will leave readers wondering who really lives next door.
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