Korean crime fiction is something of a rarity, so this translation by Chi-Young Kim is a find. It is 1944, and a mixture of criminals, anti-war activists and Korean partisans are being held in Fukuoka Prison, a Japanese POW camp. The guards have a particularly brutal reputation, and when Sugiyama Dozan, one of the most feared officers, is found tortured and hanged, a young soldier called Watanabe is told to investigate the crime.
At the centre of this fictional mystery is real life prisoner-poet Yun Dong-ju, as Watanabe uncovers some uncomfortable truths about the dead warder and his relationships with both inmates and staff at Fukuoka. You can read more about this book in our Reviews section.
