Nocturne of Remembrance

Move over, garden-variety anti-heroes, and make way for a villain-hero, darker than the darkest knight: a lawyer with a faulty conscience graces us with his unsolicited presence.

Not only does Mikoshiba have no qualms about taking on guilty-as-hell clients provided they can pay his exorbitant fees, but his own past seems mired in inexpiable sin. Yet the cynical attorney, whose legal acumen, at least, is impeccable, mysteriously seeks to defend a thirtysomething woman with limited means and below-average looks who has murdered her deadbeat husband. A sordid case if there ever was one, it makes veteran prosecutor Misaki wonder what the bastard is really after.

What unfolds is one of the best courtroom dramas ever to come out of Japan.

Shichiri Nakayama, born in 1961, worked at a company until a fateful meeting with a favorite novelist at a book event rekindled—at the ripe age of forty-five—his youthful dreams of becoming a writer. He made his debut in 2010 with the award-winning Goodbye, Debussy. Proving a born storyteller, with his prolific and versatile output he has established himself as a late-blooming giant straddling the mystery field. He lives in Gifu Prefecture, has an office in Tokyo, and is rumored to sleep only an hour a day. Nocturne of Remembrance is his first work to appear in English.