Lunatic Retriever

Haruka Yoshida is a published novelist, despite not yet being out of college. Whether it’s cause or effect, she’s also cold, arrogant, and widely disliked by others.

So when she’s found dead of carbon monoxide inhalation in a storeroom sealed shut from the inside with tape, a charcoal grill at her feet, the circumstances aren’t enough to convince everyone that such a strong-willed girl would ever commit su*cide – or that nobody would have the desire to mu*der her.

A group of four friends – cool genius Nozomu Kubo, energetic, flighty gyaru Runa Ohashi, American football player Yuto Hirano, and our narrator, Keisuke Noguchi – take it upon themselves to investigate Yoshida’s death. But should four students on the verge of adulthood really be wasting time with detective games? Can they find the truth? And even if they do, will it bring them any closure?

Winner of the 2024 Mysteries! Newcomer Award