In August 1997, after eight people, all non-Japanese, have been brutally murdered in Tokyo, the decision is taken to establish an international team to find the perpetrator of the "Fish Murders". From the experiences of the seven investigators and criminologists emerges an account of the relationship between Japanese and foreigners attempting to integrate into Japanese society.
The novel describes a society on the brink. The "economic bubble" in Japan has just burst. The banks have caved in. Mobile communication is not there yet. Recent disasters have not happened yet.
This pre-Fukushima, pre-Covid novel is an ode to pre-disaster Japan; nostalgic to those who knew Japan in the 1980ies and early 1990ies and informative to those who try to imagine that dynamic era when anything seemed possible, and then everything collapsed.
The Fish Murders, by Suzanne Visser, PAPERBACK
Suzanne Visser LLM (1957) began her writing career in the Netherlands. She published through several good publishing houses such as Atlas, Leopold and Bert Bakker.
Her novel De Vismoorden; The Fish Murders, was translated into French, German, and Spanish. Clear Mind Press has now published this successful book in English. Jonathan Smith did the translation.
Visser has lived in Australia since 2000. She now writes in English. The Fish Murders is the first novel we published.
The Elephant's Tooth is a work of non-fiction. Both books came out at about the same time. Visser is a versatile and productive writer.
Her latest book is Hundred Fifty Four Sonnets.