Taku Ashibe

Taku Ashibe (芦辺 拓) is a Japanese mystery writer. He is a member of the Honkaku Mystery Writers Club of Japan and one of the representative writers of the new traditionalist movement in Japanese mystery writing.

Works in English translation

 * Novel
 * Murder in the Red Chamber (original title: Kōrōmu no Satsujin), trans. Tyran C. Grillo (Kurodahan Press, 2012)


 * Short story
 * "The Horror in the Kabuki Theatre" (original title: "Gohei Gekijō: Kabuki no Kuni Cthulhu Taiji"), trans. Sheryl Hogg (Lairs of the Hidden Gods 2: Inverted Kingdom, Kurodahan Press, 2005)
 * "The Mummy and the Unicorn" (original title: "Miira to Unikōru"), trans. Nancy H. Ross (Strokes of Brush and Blade: Tales of the Samurai, Kurodahan Press, 2019)
 * "The Dashing Joker" (original title: "Shikku-suru Jōkā"), trans. Yuko Shimada (Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, September/October, 2020)

Awards and nominations

 * 1990 – Ayukawa Tetsuya Award for New Mystery Writers: Satsujin Kigeki no Jūsan-nin (Thirteen in a Murder Comedy)
 * 2002 – Nominee for Honkaku Mystery Award for Best Fiction: Guran Ginyōru Jō (The Castle of Grand Guignol)
 * 2005 – Nominee for Honkaku Mystery Award for Best Fiction: Murder in the Red Chamber
 * 2009 – Nominee for Honkaku Mystery Award for Best Fiction: Saiban'in Hōtei (The Lay Judge Court)
 * 2011 – Nominee for Honkaku Mystery Award for Best Fiction: Kisōkyū Satsujin Jiken
 * 2013 – Nominee for Honkaku Mystery Award for Best Fiction: Suchīmu Opera (Steam Opera)
 * 2018 – Drunkard Bookseller's Award for: Kitan o Uru mise (The Shop that Sells Strange Tales)
 * 2022 – Mystery Writers of Japan Award and Honkaku Mystery Award for Best Fiction: Ōmarike Satsujin Jiken (The Ōmari Family Murder Case)

Detective Shunsaku Morie series

 * Novels
 * Satsujin Kigeki no Jūsan-nin (殺人喜劇の13人), 1990
 * Rekishi Kaidō Satsujin Jiken (歴史街道殺人事件), 1995
 * Toki no Yūkai (時の誘拐), 1996
 * Rosuto Wārudo no Satsujin (地底獣国の殺人), 1997
 * Jūsanbanme no Baishin'in (十三番目の陪審員), 1998
 * Fushigi no Kuni no Aribai (不思議の国のアリバイ), 1999
 * Kaijin Tai Meitantei (怪人対名探偵), 2000
 * Wadokei no Yakata no Satsujin (和時計の館の殺人), 2000
 * Toki no Misshitsu (時の密室), 2001
 * Guran Ginyōru Jō (グラン・ギニョール城), 2001
 * Sen'ichiya no Yakata no Satsujin (千一夜の館の殺人), 2006
 * Kanojora wa Yuki no Meikyū ni (彼女らは雪の迷宮に), 2008
 * Kisōkyū Satsujin Jiken (綺想宮殺人事件), 2010
 * Shichi-nin no Tantei no Tame no Jiken (七人の探偵のための事件), 2011
 * Purinsesu ni Sasageru Misshitsu (大公女殿下に捧げる密室), 2012
 * Toki no Shintei (時の審廷), 2013
 * Ijigen no Yakata no Satsujin (異次元の館の殺人), 2014
 * Daburu misuteri Gekkin-Tei no Satsujin / Non-shiriaru Kirā (ダブル・ミステリ　月琴亭の殺人 / ノンシリアル・キラー), 2016
 * Tsuruya Nanboku no Satsujin (鶴屋南北の殺人), 2020
 * Short story collections
 * Tantei Sengen: Morie Shunsaku no Jikenbo (探偵宣言 森江春策の事件簿), 1998
 * Sekishibyō no Yakata no Satsujin (赤死病の館の殺人), 2001
 * Sanbyaku-nen no Nazo-Bako (三百年の謎匣), 2005
 * Shōnen wa Tantei o Yumemiru: Morie Shunsaku Kuronikuru (少年は探偵を夢見る 森江春策クロニクル), 2006
 * Saiban'in Hōtei (裁判員法廷), 2008
 * Morie Shunsaku no Sainan (森江春策の災難), 2022

Modern City series

 * Satsujin Kigeki no Modan Shitī (殺人喜劇のモダン・シティ), 1994 – Novel
 * Shōjo Tantei wa Teito o Kakeru (少女探偵は帝都を駆ける), 2009 – Short story collection

Jichikei tokuso series

 * Shitai no Samenai Uchi ni (死体の冷めないうちに), 1998 – Short story collection
 * Metoroporisu ni Shi no Wana o (メトロポリスに死の罠を), 2002 – Novel

Standalone mystery novels

 * Hose Keibu Saidai no Bōken (保瀬警部最大の冒険), 1994
 * Setsudan Toshi (切断都市), 2004
 * Kōrōmu no Satsujin (紅楼夢の殺人), 2004 (Murder in the Red Chamber, Kurodahan Press, 2012)
 * Suchīmu Opera [Steam Opera] (スチームオペラ), 2012
 * Ōmarike Satsujin Jiken (大鞠家殺人事件), 2021
 * Ōedo Kigan Jō (大江戸奇巌城), 2023

Short story collections

 * Mentantei Z: Fukanō Suiri (名探偵Z 不可能推理), 2002
 * Koroshi wa Erekiteru: Donsai Sensei Jikenchō (殺しはエレキテル 曇斎先生事件帳), 2003
 * Gohei Gekijō: Karakuri-Dōrō (五瓶劇場 からくり灯籠), 2007
 * Keisei Denki Jō (けいせい伝奇城)
 * Gohei no Chikara Nazo no Fūjime (五瓶力謎緘)
 * Hana no Miyako Sharaku no Sugao (花都写楽貌)
 * Kabuki no Kuni Cthulhu Taiji (戯場国邪神封陣) (The Horror in the Kabuki Theatre)
 * Meitantei Hakurankai: Shinsetsu Rupan (Lupin) Tai Hōmuzu (Holmes) (名探偵博覧会 真説ルパン対ホームズ), 2000
 * Meitantei Hakurankai 2: Akechi Kogorō Tai Kindaichi Kōsuke (名探偵博覧会II 明智小五郎対金田一耕助), 2002
 * Tantei to Kaijin no Iru Hoteru (探偵と怪人のいるホテル), 2006
 * Meikyū Panoramakan (迷宮パノラマ館), 2007
 * Ōgon Mugen Jō Satsujin Jiken (黄金夢幻城殺人事件), 2011
 * Kindaichi Kōsuke VS Akechi Kogorō (金田一耕助VS明智小五郎), 2013
 * Kitan o Uru Mise (奇譚を売る店), 2013
 * Gakufu to Tabisururu Otoko (楽譜と旅する男), 2017
 * Teito Tantei Taisen (帝都探偵大戦), 2017
 * Ojisan no Toranku Gentō Shōgekijō (おじさんのトランク 幻燈小劇場), 2019
 * Meitantei Sōtōjō: Ashibe Taku to Jūsan no Nazo (名探偵総登場 芦辺拓と13の謎), 2020
 * Meitantei wa Dareda (名探偵は誰だ), 2022

Juvenile mystery novels

 * Neo Detective Boys series
 * Yōki Jō no Himitsu (妖奇城の秘密), 2004
 * Densō Kaijin (電送怪人), 2005
 * Nazo no Jiorama Ōkoku (謎のジオラマ王国), 2005
 * Gesshoku Hime no Kisu (月蝕姫のキス), 2008
 * Sukūru Gāru Ekusupuresu 38 [School Girl Express 38] (スクールガール・エクスプレス38), 2012
 * Furiyagi Supika to Ma no Yōkan Jiken (降矢木すぴかと魔の洋館事件), 2015

Historical fiction

 * Min Shin Shippūroku: Yume, Tei Seikō Senki (明清疾風録 夢・鄭成功戦記)
 * Vol.1, 1995
 * Vol.2, 1996
 * Vol.3, 1997
 * Shin Nito Monogatari (新・二都物語), 2018