★ The second book in Keigo Higashino’s “The White Swan and the Bat” series! The series has sold over 1.5 million copies.
★ Topped major Japanese bestseller lists (Tohan, Nikkyo) immediately upon release, becoming #1 on the monthly general fiction chart. The traditional Chinese edition, launched in December 2025, sold over 100,000 copies in its first month.
★ Detective Godai returns to uncover the 40‑year‑old secrets behind the arson murder of a Tokyo assemblyman and his former‑actress wife.
★ A mystery about love, sacrifice, and existence – can a person who has lived as if they never existed still feel fulfilled?
★ Rights sold: Simplified Chinese, Korean, Traditional Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, Italian! More languages in discussion~

“It’s like chasing a ghost.”

A fire breaks out in an upscale residential area of Tokyo.
In the burned‑down house, the bodies of a Tokyo assemblyman and his wife – a former actress – are discovered.
Initially treated as a suicide, the case suddenly turns into a murder investigation.
Detective Godai of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police’s First Investigative Division joins forces with local detective Yamao.
What happened to this once‑glamorous couple? Behind this inexplicable murder lies a hidden past spanning decades.

“Everyone had a youth.
The victims, the criminals, and even the detectives.”

“I am the one who killed the Fujiis. My motive is simple. They deceived the public and committed unforgivable acts again and again, so I punished them. You could even call it divine retribution.”

Keigo Higashino
Born in Osaka in 1958. Graduated from the Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Osaka Prefecture University. Made his debut in 1985 by winning the 31st Edogawa Rampo Prize for “After School.” Won the 52nd Mystery Writers of Japan Award for “Naoko” (1999); the 134th Naoki Prize and 6th Honkaku Mystery Award for “The Devotion of Suspect X” (2006); the 7th Chuo Koron Prize for Literature for “Miracles of the Namiya General Store” (2012); the 26th Shibata Renzaburo Prize for “Fantasia” (2013); the 48th Yoshikawa Eiji Prize for Literature for “When the Prayer Curtain Falls” (2014); the 1st Noma Publishing Culture Award (2019); and the 70th Kikuchi Kan Prize (2023). In recognition of his numerous outstanding works, he was awarded the Medal with Purple Ribbon in 2023. He has written many bestselling novels.