Ishioka is a mystery writer. One day a woman asks him to travel with her to Okayama Prefecture to exorcise an evil spirit. Disembarking at a gloomy train station, they journey deep into the mountains to a strange hotel, the Ryugatei. There Ishioka comes face to face with a horrifying series of murders. What are the “sin of the village” and the “fate” about which the villagers are whispering? In the deep dark of midnight, the ghost of the murderer in a legendary (true) case appears before him . . . How did he execute the “Thirty Murders”? An astonishing masterpiece by Soji Shimada, who enjoys enormous popularity among readers throughout Asia.