The Inugami Curse

The Inugami Curse is a 1951 Japanese mystery novel by Seishi Yokomizo. It is part of the Kosuke Kindaichi series, which began with the 1946 novel The Honjin Murders. The Inugami Curse was first published in English as The Inugami Clan by ICG Muse in 2003; this same translation was used for Stone Bridge Press's 2007 edition and Pushkin Vertigo's 2020 edition.

The Inugami Curse has been adapted twice for Japanese cinema, in 1976 as The Inugami Family and again in 2006 as The Inugamis. Both films were directed by Kon Ichikawa.

Plot
Private detective Kosuke Kindaichi is summoned to a remote part of Japan by one of the attorneys of a rich businessman who has recently died. The attorney is distraught because he believes that the dead man's will is sure to set off a ferocious battle amongst his heirs, most of whom hate each other. Almost immediately after Kindaichi's arrival the lawyer is murdered, and the detective soon finds himself enmeshed in the family's history of bitterness and deceit as more bodies begin to pile up.