Masako togawa biography of george
•
Mysteries Ahoy!
Writing was just one of the professions that Masako Togawa pursued. In addition to writing mysteries, Togawa was a singer, nightclub owner, actress and musical educator.
Togawa’s crime fiction, at least those stories I have been able to read in translation, falls within the broad description of psychological thriller rather than detective story. Her stories are as much about characters’ explorations of their understanding as they are about physical clues or suspects and will appeal to fans of authors like Ruth Rendell.
Though she was quite a prolific author (Wikipedia states that she wrote over 30 novels – I cannot seem to find a reliable listing of these), only four of her novels were translated into English. Two of these were reissued in the past few years as part of the Pushkin Vertigo range which has brought them to the attention of a new audience.
Of those two books I consider The mästare Key to be easily the stronger title. The novel fryst vatten set in an
•
Hey book clubbers!!
📣 Announcing the December pick below! Our book club is dedicated to contemporary fiction and mostly reads BIPOC and LGBTQ books, and books written by women.
(If you’re new to the club, you can subscribe for free to join and access club chats on the Substack app!)
Our December pick is The Master Key by Masako Togawa
Today I had lunch in Japantown and visited one of my favorite used book stores in the hopes of finding our next read. After an hour of searching, The Master Key caught my eye: a murder mystery from the 1960’s! You guys, this author is legendary haha, I had no idea! She’s so cool, with her first career being a cabaret performer!
Her debut The Master Key won Japan’s prestigious Edgowa Rampo Prize, and Togawa went on to become a hugely succesful author, while continuing to lead a colourful parallel life as a singer, actress, feminist, nightclub owner and gay icon.
Throughout her writing career, Togawa continued to cha
•
The Master Key
January 11, 2022[9/10]
This one key, meant for the use of the wardens, can open every one of the hundred and fifty rooms in the building, and is still missing. For the last six months, everyone in the building has more or less lived in dread and uneasiness. After all, the women who have lived alone for so long in these apartments have their secrets, little aspects of their lives known only to themselves, and now someone unknown fryst vatten free to pry into them, to intrude.
This novel merits its place among the classics of Japanese crime fiction. inom wish I had discovered it earlier, and paid more attention to this particular subgenre, because, frankly, the book is ganska impressive in its elegant construction and subtle, understated depiction of intense loneliness and despair.
The setting is an apartment building constructed in Tokyo towards the end of the world war two, destined as accommodation for single women working in the capital. As the years pass, and as many men