Masquerade Hotel

Author Keigo Higashino · Publisher Hyeondae Munhak · Published 2012-07-31 · ISBN 9788972756125

About the Book

■ A witty new character born from the hands of a master!

A new character, Nitta Kosuke, who follows Professor Yukawa and Detective Kaga!
Nitta Kosuke, an inspector with the Metropolitan Police Department, is a hot-blooded elite investigator in his mid-thirties. He was the first to decipher the code left by the culprit and, in recognition of his efforts, was assigned to the hotel front desk. Thanks to his overflowing confidence, he is sometimes mistaken for being arrogant, but he possesses a strong sense of professionalism, to the extent of saying, "I'd rather let a villain escape than fail to achieve something."
Detective Nitta's greatest charm is that he is a developing character. To the meticulous hotelier Yamagishi Naomi, he initially appeared as a rude and arrogant detective. However, as the story progresses, that preconception gradually crumbles. After initially stating that customer service is only for hotel staff, he soon straightens his back and walks and talks like a true hotelier, lest the hotel's reputation be tarnished. Furthermore, it is impressive how he realizes his own mistake and appreciates the true value of a fellow detective whom he had initially dismissed as a washed-up cop. His unique tenacity and persistence, which enable him to finally solve the case after several trials and errors, offer a charm different from Professor Yukawa's genius or Detective Kaga's humanity.

Yamagishi Naomi, a beautiful hotelier with a delicate and warm charm, strong on the inside and gentle on the outside
Yamagishi Naomi, who is in charge of training Detective Nitta as a hotelier, is a character who fully embodies pride in her hotel work and professional spirit. As a promising female hotelier, she earns the complete trust of her superiors through her impeccable handling of every task. As you follow her, who firmly believes that "even if a hotelier sees a guest's true face, they must respect that mask," you can't help but exclaim, "Ah! So this is what a hotel is like, and this is what hoteliers do!" Moreover, she is a wonderful woman who is gentle on the outside but strong on the inside, capable of softly embracing and leading an arrogant and self-centered man. By the time you close the last page, you'll likely want to visit the hotel where she works, if it existed.

Detective Nose, who looks unremarkable but actually has an enormous network!
Nose is a detective who was part of the same team as Nitta in the investigation headquarters formed immediately after the incident, and he is a somewhat mysterious character. Nitta is initially annoyed by Nose, who follows him to the hotel where he is undercover and acts friendly, saying, "You and I are a team." However, he soon deeply realizes how much he had underestimated him. In short, Nose is a twist character. The thrill of the seemingly clumsy middle-aged detective providing crucial hints for the investigation makes one anticipate another story to unfold with Nitta. Considering the number of comments on bookstore bulletin boards expressing anticipation for a series starring Nose, it's clear he is an unprecedentedly interesting character.

Excerpt from the book

Naomi took a deep breath as she watched him button his shirt with a sulky face.
"Your posture is not good. Fix that first. And your walk too."
"Ah, I'm sorry, but I've walked like this since I was born. This way, alternating my right leg and left leg."
"You need training. Please come out to the hallway." Naomi started to move towards the door. But realizing Nitta wasn't following, she stopped and turned around. "What's wrong?"
Nitta scratched his head and approached.
"Yamagishi, was it? I think you're misunderstanding something."
"What am I misunderstanding?"
"I came to this hotel to prevent a murder, not to receive hotelier training."
- Page 25

"That lady was wearing white gloves, on both hands."
"Yes, I saw it too. What about it?"
"In my experience, visually impaired people rarely wear gloves. For them, touch is as valuable a source of information as hearing. Gloves, which hinder the sensation of touch, are just cumbersome. Moreover, visually impaired people always have to consider situations where they might accidentally touch something wet. If gloves get damp, they don't dry well and feel uncomfortable."
Naomi blinked repeatedly at the detective's explanation. What he said made sense. But, she continued, "Perhaps that guest has some circumstances. Like covering up scars or bruises on her hands."
"Of course, that's a possibility. I haven't concluded that it's strange. It just bothered me a bit. As a detective, my job is to suspect things."
- Page 106

"The next incident occurred on October 10th. The location was a building construction site near Senju Shinbashi. The murdered person was a middle-aged woman, and a paper with numbers written on it was found inside her clothes. To be precise, they weren't handwritten but individual letters cut out from magazines and newspapers. Those numbers are on the third and fourth lines here." Nitta's fingertip moved slightly downwards.
45.648055
149.850829
At this point, Nitta looked up and grinned.
"So, do you understand what these numbers mean?"
- Page 150

Table of Contents

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