Looking for a New Year mystery book? Murder at Mount Fuji by Shizuko Natsuki is a rediscovered Japanese crime classic. It revolves around a New Year celebration at a lavish mansion which turns lethal when the family patriarch is brutally slain.
The plot
When American student Jane Prescott is invited to spend the holidays with her classmate Chiyo, she jumps at the chance to see in the new year at a luxurious mansion at the foot of Mount Fuji. Chiyo belongs to one of Japan’s wealthiest families, the heiress to a pharmaceutical empire headed up by Yohei ‘Grandpa’ Wada.
With the whole Wada family gathered and snow falling outside, the festivities are in full swing. That is, until Chiyo bursts into the room – covered in blood, holding a knife, and screaming that she has stabbed her grandfather to death.
Stunned, the family closes ranks to protect one of its own – but Jane alone has more questions than answers. Could her sweet, timid friend really be capable of such violence? Did any other member of the Wada clan stand to gain everything with the patriarch’s death? And if so, could the real murderer still be in their midst?
A CLASSIC MYSTERY FROM JAPAN’S QUEEN OF CRIME
Murder at Mount Fuji is available from
Waterstones at https://tidd.ly/3RaCIY8
Amazon at https://amzn.to/3KyeE1K
City Adventurers Solve the Murder Bookshop at https://uk.bookshop.org/a/3668/9781529155105