Yukiko Mari 真梨 幸子

Yukiko Mari (1964–) was born in Miyazaki Prefecture, and graduated from Tama Art College with a degree in film. She made her literary debut in 2005 by winning the Mephisto Award for her novel Kochūshō (Sparganosis). When the paperback edition of her novel Satsujinki Fujiko no shōdō (The Urges of Serial Killer Fujiko) appeared in 2011, it catapulted into the ranks of bestsellers with cumulative sales of over half a million copies. She subsequently produced the sequel Intabyū in seru: Satsujinki Fujiko no shinjitsu (Interview in Cell: The True Tale of Serial Killer Fujiko). Her other titles include Onna tomodachi (Girlfriends), Yon-maru-ichi-ni gōshitsu (Room Four-Oh-One-Two), and Ōmu-rō no sangeki (Tragedy at Parrot Pavilion). Because her stories feature numerous grisly and grotesque episodes and delve into the darker sides of human desire and instincts in ways that often leave readers with a feeling of disgust, she has earned the nickname of “Queen of Iyamisu (roughly, ‘eww mysteries’).”