【Bookseller Reviews】
"A page-turning apartment suspense featuring a cast of characters you'd never want to live near! The dark, lingering unease stays with you long after the last page."
— Munooka Atsuko, Kinokuniya Fukuoka

"Sent chills down my spine. I never thought I could find myself sympathizing with such shocking absurdities, but the story pulls you in and numbs your senses."
— Yamanaka Mari, Junkudo Shiga-Kusatsu

"Many of us have wished someone would just disappear. The three women tossed about by fate are painfully relatable in ways that make you uncomfortable."
— Ishibashi Makoto, Kumazono Shoten Kokoro Nagaoka

"The thrill of seeing the story from the criminals' perspective, combined with the mounting tension, kept me on edge until the very end—and I couldn't stop reading!"
— Suzuki Chiharu, CHIENOWA BASE

★ Went into reprint immediately upon release! The latest apartment-set suspense thriller from Somei Tamehito, author of Shoutai and Warui Natsu.
★ Somei debuted by winning the 37th Yokomizo Seishi Mystery Award for Warui Natsu. Both Shoutai and Warui Natsu have been adapted into films and TV dramas.
★ Affairs, psychological abuse, domestic violence... In a building with a perfect safety record, you'll find a group of neighbors you would never want to get involved with. A bookseller asks: "Am I a demon for feeling sympathetic to these characters?"
★ Three women living in the same building, each trapped in her own nightmare. The perspective of the perpetrators offers a uniquely unsettling reading experience. Booksellers call it "a gripping page-turner" and "a true all-nighter."

From Somei Tamehito, the author of Shoutai and Warui Natsu, comes a chilling suspense thriller set within the walls of a single apartment building.
"Belldemure Itabashi"—a building that has never seen a single accident or dispute in its history. A 7-minute walk from the station. Reasonable rent. The residents all seem perfectly happy... until you look closer. Affairs. Gaslighting. Child abuse. A building you'd never want to live in, yet somehow impossible to look away from.
A suspense thriller filled with shocking twists that will keep you questioning your own sense of right and wrong. Something might be happening right now, in the room next to yours.

Residents of Belldemure Itabashi:
Room 203 – RIN KOSEKI – A nursery teacher considering moving in with her long-distance boyfriend.
Room 303 – HARUKA MANO – Lives with her husband, young daughter, and son. She is currently pregnant with her third child.
Room 305 – A YOUNG MAN – Drives an illegally modified car with deafening exhaust noise, causing a nuisance to the entire neighborhood.
Room 403 – NATSUKO KISHIMOTO – Lives with her lawyer husband. She is now facing the prospect of her mother-in-law moving in.
Room 101 – HIROSHI NAKAMUTA – The building's owner and superintendent. He prides himself on never having had a single problem in the building.

SOMEI Tamehito
Born in Chiba Prefecture in 1983. After working as a stage and musical producer, he made his literary debut in 2017 when Warui Natsu (Bad Summer) won the 37th Yokomizo Seishi Mystery Award for Excellence. His novel Shoutai (True Identity) was adapted into both a television drama and a film, while Warui Natsu also received a film adaptation, generating widespread buzz and strong sales. His other works include Seigi no Muko, Wadatsumi, Kuroi Ito, Kabukichou Lullaby, Hikikomori Kazoku, and Mizuizurai.