Introducing an iconic investigative duo–a hapless detective and his capable cat–in this must-read by one of Japan’s most beloved novelists of crime fiction. Detective Yoshitaro Katayama is afraid of many things: heights, dark spaces, blood and … women. When a young female student is found murdered, he’s given two choices–review the harrowing crime-scene photographs or head to Hagoromo Women’s College to investigate–and reluctantly opts for the latter. But the threat escalates with additional murders, and soon Katayama has a different surprise on his hands: a calico cat named Holmes, orphaned when the dean himself falls victim. Surely that’s the last thing Katayama needs. Until Holmes begins to display some uncanny investigative instincts of her own …
