The Silence of Sin

A NOVEL—2024 JUN’YUTI WATANABE AWARD WINNER.

For fans of Kanae Minato.

Can you unravel a case if reality itself turns out to be only a fragment of a gigantic illusion?

An atmospheric detective story about memory, guilt, and searching for a solution from where no one expects it.

In a rainy Japanese town where nothing ever happens, a boy Ryo is abducted by unknown people. Three years later he suddenly returns—but since then he hasn’t said a word about where he was all that time. His relatives, right after the incredible return, shut themselves away and refused to cooperate with the police. The investigation ended in nothing. But everything changes years later when a journalist Monden, accidentally drawn into this long-broken silence, decides to dig for the truth…

He interviews former detectives, analyzes meager evidence, and tries to make contact with Ryo’s family. And little by little he realizes the abduction is only the tip of the iceberg. His search turns into an unpredictable game with the past, filled with lies hidden behind good intentions and family comfort. Lies so pervasive that every conversation seems to Monden like part of a huge puzzle—and the journalist can no longer tell where the truth ends and fiction begins. Someone must be found who will be the first to surface from the depths of silence…