Original title:
可燃物
Original language:
Japanese
Publication info:
Bungeishunju
25 July 2023
280 pages in Japanese
Genre:
Crime
Rights handled by New River:
Foreign rights excl. Asia
Rights sold:
China (auction)
Korea (D&C MEDIA Co., Ltd.)
Russia (AST)
Taiwan (Sharp Point Press)
Thailand (Book Time Co., Ltd.)
Combustible Substances
by Honobu Yonezawa
The bestselling winner of three significant awards in the annual rankings of Japanese mystery novels: the This Mystery is Amazing Prize; the Shukan Bunshun Best 10 Mysteries Prize; and the I Want to Read Mystery Prize.
Set in the mountainous prefecture of Gunma, Combustible Substances follows Inspector Katsura of the 1st Investigation Division of Gunma Prefectural Police, who handles only the most serious of crimes. Hardworking and discerning, Katsura runs his own team within the police division and uses his acute powers of observation to solve the five confounding cases that comprise the book.
In Katsura, Yonezawa has created a detective with an intensity of intellect reminiscent of Higashino’s Detective Galileo, or even Simenon’s Maigret. Meanwhile his wider cast of characters are often drawn from Japan’s growing 'precariat,' giving the book a poignancy and a gritty social realism that brings to mind the likes of Out by Natsuo Kirino.
About the author
Honobu Yonezawa (1978-) is one of Japan’s best-known authors. He debuted in 2001 with The Niece of Time which won a Kadokawa School Novel Prize. The Broken Keel won the Mystery Writers of Japan Award, while Man-Gan won the Yamamoto Shugoro Prize in 2014. Man-Gan was also selected as No. 1 in I want to Read Mystery and This Mystery is Amazing, making it the first-ever mystery to win the ‘triple crown’. Yonezawa went on to repeat this feat with Kings and Circuses the next year. In 2021, Arioka Citadel Case won the Futaro Yamada Award, as well as the prestigious Naoki Prize and four awards in the annual rankings of Japanese mystery novels.