Mystery - Page 193

On a rainy day almost a month ago, Kumo Shirasagi disappeared without a trace. In hopes of finding her, a group of six classmates convenes to search the Bird Forest, an abandoned amusement park on a remote hill in the countryside. Among these students is Gin Kurobe, a boy whose reasons for coming are as mysterious as his habit of muttering under his breath. The group's search takes them to the foreboding structure looming over the park known as the Birdcage Castle. In an instant, they are knocked unconscious—and when they awaken, they find metal collars around their necks, each connected to another person. The game they unwittingly entered is simple: they cannot turn back from any chosen path, and they must always move in pairs. The punishment for breaking either of these rules is certain death. With their lives on the line, Gin and his classmates must ascend through the bloody castle, battling the mind games thrown at them while searching for Kumo.

The Suzunari detective club, comprised of three high school students - Suzaku Tachibana, Kouhei Hiba, and Soutaro Tsubaki - and their feline companion, Boo-chan, is an all-male group due to Boo-chan's stringent female membership criteria. However, Suzaku's intuition found their perfect female member in the form of Aoi Kaidou. Although Aoi appeared serious and unsmiling, she passed Boo-chan's tests and joined the team. Together, they solve mysteries on their school campus. Volume five features "Itsumademo Issho ni" and volume nine presents "Anata wo Shiritakute" as additional stories.

This work is set in the Showa era during the mid-1960s and early '70s. Yukinojo, the protagonist, was abandoned on the grounds of a Tokyo temple soon after his birth. He meets and marries Asahi, the daughter of an Aomori apple farmer, and after being adopted into her family, moves to the deep, snow-covered apple country of northern Japan. Far from the social turmoil of the period, Yukinojo lives a quiet family life that warms his heart and fills the void of never having known his parents. But one winter everything changes when he brings his wife, who has fallen ill, a forbidden apple. Reviving a rite that should have died out some 60 years earlier, Asahi becomes the consort of a local deity known as Obosuna-sama. Delicately yet boldly, with richly expressive touches, this continuing series depicts villagers who hold fast to the traditional customs they have inherited, and the natural environment of a bygone Japan.

Traveling in-between the world of the living and the twilight world of the dead, Akamushi, the shaman, priest, demon-hunter, or specifically, the Red Spider Exorcist, is one that’ll never refuse a request for help from lost souls falling prey to evil spirits and demons of the underworld. With the strength and regeneration powers of a giant spider, and the ability to command his swarm of arachnids to his will, he combats the malevolent supernatural and is a force to be reckoned with. When career woman Megumi is suddenly pursued and attacked by the unholy demons of the afterlife, she seeks the help from the phlegmatic shaman to eradicate the infestation of unholy beasts seeking to take her soul and turn her into a vindictive minion. But as it seems, these demons are more than persistent—everywhere Megumi tries to hide, they follow. With Megumi’s cry for help, is this more than what Akamushi can handle—as he too collapses to the will of their malicious powers? But why are these creatures of twilight after her? What does she know, or doesn’t know, that’ll unravel the truths about her true self and everyone around her? And what of Akamushi—can he use his unique shamanic spider-like powers to cast out and purify himself from the demon scourge?

Temperamental Detective Kurose Nozomi is renowned for his ability to uncover infidelity. Presently, he's focused on investigating the Skyward Hotel and closely monitoring the interactions between Nakata, a congressman, and the hotel's well-known concierge, Shiraishi Ritsu. Kurose, who is famous for never refusing a request, begins to question if Shiraishi has overstepped the mark. However, can the friendly concierge, who openly takes pride in his accommodating demeanor, really be capable of misconduct?

時は高度経済成長期の北海道。貧困の底にあった少年・影山博人が成長し、やがて釧路の夜の支配者へ……俊傑・もんでんあきこ×『ホテルローヤル』で第149回直木賞を受賞した作家・桜木紫乃の最強・盟友タッグが満を持して放つ、只ならぬ傑作にして超問題作、ついに解禁。

A family drives into the countryside to pick some apples, when, to their horror, they discover that the fruits have human faces... Originally published in the January 1998 issue of Suspense & Horror.

Caio was born incredibly lucky. But in a world where gambling can "break you", even he will discover that playing with a tiger has a price...

It's exhausting to live as a human, so I hope I become a cat instead. Then one day, my wish was granted?

The torso of a headless, limbless body is found half-buried by a riverbank. It belonged to middle-aged mother Yaeko Miyagawa, and after an investigation and trial, her daughter Hikari eventually confesses to her murder. For many years, Hikari had been subjected to physical and emotional abuse by her mother, revolving around her failure to make it into a top medical school and become a doctor. Even after nine years of futile applications and entrance exams, Yaeko refused to free her daughter from this virtual prison. What led to the fatal stabbing that ended Yaeko's life? This series, based on a true story, will explore Hikari Miyagawa's experiences up to her greatest tragedy—and what happened to her afterward.

"Who stole my husband?"

The clue to a missing person's case is hidden behind a child who is both beautiful and sinister. Note: Chapter count includes a prologue