{"product_id":"point-zero-9781913394936","title":"Point Zero","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\"A master crime writer...Seichō Matsumoto's thrillers dissect Japanese society.\"--\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times.\u003c\/i\u003e A beautifully written mystery novel that takes on the taboo of Japanese prostitution catering to GIs during the American post-war occupation.\u003c\/b\u003eTokyo 1958, Teiko marries Kenichi Uhara, ten years her senior, an advertising man recommended by an intermediary. After a four-day honeymoon, Kenichi vanishes. Teiko travels to the coastal and snow-bound city of Kanazawa, where Kenichi was last seen, to investigate his disappearance.\u003cp\u003eShe discovers he had been a police officer in Tokyo after the war, keeping watch over \u003ci\u003epan pan\u003c\/i\u003e girls, Japanese prostitutes catering to GIs. Some of these women have created a new life in Kanazawa and may have taken extreme measures to hide their past.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Do you aspire to be a connoisseur of the best international crime fiction? If so, Seicho Matsumoto's \u003ci\u003ePoint Zero\u003c\/i\u003e should be on your bedside table. Become acquainted with a crime master.\" \u003ci\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Author and the Translator\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eSeichō Matsumoto\u003c\/b\u003e (1909-1982) was Japan's most successful mystery writer. His first detective novel, \u003ci\u003ePoints and Lines\u003c\/i\u003e, sold over a million copies in Japan. \u003ci\u003eVessel of Sand\u003c\/i\u003e, published in English as \u003ci\u003eInspector Imanishi Investigates\u003c\/i\u003e in1989, sold over four million copies and became a movie box-office hit. Bitter Lemon published his novel \u003ci\u003eA Quiet Place\u003c\/i\u003e in 2016. \u003cb\u003eLouise Heal Kawai\u003c\/b\u003e comes from Manchester. She has spent the past twenty years Japan and currently lives in Yokohama. Her translations include Daido Tamaki's \u003cem\u003eMilk\u003c\/em\u003e, Tendo Shoko's best-selling autobiography \u003cem\u003eYakuza Moon\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003e, and for Bitter Lemon, Matsumoto's A Quiet Place.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Bitter Lemon Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50599738540306,"sku":"9781913394936","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_8a7ba905-e73e-4410-85ce-f5c184f2d304.jpg?v=1732204515","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/point-zero-9781913394936","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}