The Silent Dead

Bestselling Japanese author Honda’s engrossing U.S. debut introduces Lt. Reiko Himekawa, a 29-year-old homicide detective with the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department who frequently contends with misogyny and age discrimination from the public and her peers. Reiko and her fellow officers investigate the gruesome murder of a man found wrapped in a tarp, bound with cord, and dumped in the bushes near a park on the outskirts of town. The case is at a standstill until Reiko follows a hunch that leads to the discovery of 10 additional tarped-and-tied corpses. Efforts to link the victims and catch their killer take Reiko and her team from the seedy back alleys of Tokyo to the darkest corners of the deep Web. Evocative prose, a complex plot, and richly developed characters distinguish this inventive police procedural. Honda writes elegantly about violence and compassionately about its victims, seamlessly incorporating origin stories for both Reiko and her quarry that add texture, heft, and verisimilitude. (May)