The K Apartments for Ladies in Tokyo conceals a sinister past and secrets behind each door. The lives of the residents are interwoven around a strange event - the moving of the entire building four meters to enlarge the roadway. Hydraulic jacks have raised the foundations and for one half-hour, the residents must stay behind their doors.
Who are the women woven into this mystery? A woman leaving the building is accidentally killed in the intersection, and at the hospital, they find she is a man. A pale faced resident with long black hair wanders the hallways, an enigma to the building. An art teacher lives in squalor as a hoarder, sleeping in a closet and scavenging garbage. A front desk receptionist catnaps with one eye open.
A woman invites a cult leader to do seances in the building, encouraging residents to join the sect. A recluse never leaves her apartment, preparing a meal each day for a lover who will never return. A retired teacher writes a letter to each of her students, one of whom had a child kidnapped and they never contacted the police. A woman whose gas oven 'accidentally' leaked. The wife of a distinguished Professor revising his posthumous manuscript for publication. A concert violinist tutors children, her middle finger rigid with phantom pains since she stole a priceless violin.
Most important, the woman who kidnapped a child and buried his body in the excavated basement. Everyone's secrets are about to be exposed when the protected Master Key, which opens every door in the building, is tampered with.
Someone has switched it. Someone else has copied it. Someone else has stolen it.
Togawa is a master writer, and you can't go wrong with her novels. This fascinating read balances all the characters very well. As with other Japanese mysteries of the time, this brings in a last minute twist, by a character on the periphery. It explains the mystery fully, but is a cheat to the reader who doesn't have the chance to deduce it for themselves. Recommended.
Masako Togawa was an actress, feminist, nightclub singer, music educator, and lesbian icon. This debut novel, based on the building she grew up in with her mother, won the prestigious Edogawa Rampo Prize by the Mystery Writers of Japan. She wrote more than 30 novels and is one of the most popular mystery writers in Japan.
This and her other titles are widely available in print, eBook, and audio.
1962 / Tradeback / 192 pages
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