The Makoto Murders

by Richard Jerram

A pitch-black, Dexter-like thriller from the winner of the 2024 Crime Writers' Association's Debut Dagger, in which a Tokyo paparazzo commits murders in order to generate the photos his magazine's readership ghoulishly demands. A razor-sharp skewering of our darkest fantasies and obsession with true crime for fans of Bella Mackie's How to Kill Your Family and Oyinkan Braithwaite's My Sister, The Serial Killer.

A pitch-black, Dexter-like thriller from the winner of the 2024 Crime Writers' Association's Debut Dagger, in which a Tokyo paparazzo commits murders in order to generate the photos his magazine's readership ghoulishly demands. A razor-sharp skewering of our darkest fantasies and obsession with true crime for fans of Bella Mackie's How to Kill Your Family and Oyinkan Braithwaite's My Sister, The Serial Killer.

Ken Kato is a half-British, half-Japanese photojournalist working for a low-brow weekly magazine in Tokyo. He achieved fame with a photograph of a boy who drowned in the tsunami that hit Japan in 2011, who he could have saved had he not been more concerned with finding the right light and composition for his shot.

Four years later, he has failed to repeat that success and, facing irrelevancy (and, worse, redundancy), he decides to turn serial killer to generate his own attention-grabbing pictures – for which he's inevitably always first on the scene. His magazine then publishes the pictures, causing a sensation in a society where murder is almost unheard of, and tripling its sales figures.

Hoping to impress his colleague Hayashi's estranged wife Makoto, who he is stalking after a short affair (though she clearly sees things differently), Kato murders only men and women with the same name as her. Inevitably the police are suspicious, but can find no evidence as he is meticulous in his planning and execution. Kato's editor is also suspicious, but is willing to ignore the evidence in front of him as sales boom.

A pitch-dark satire on where ambition will take us, as well as our ghoulish obsession with true crime and our fascination with morally repellent serial killers (especially if they're good-looking and charismatic), The Makoto Murders asks plenty of uncomfortable questions of the reader while never forgetting it's first and foremost a page-turning thriller.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery

Kindle Edition

Expected publication July 21, 2026

Reviews

[The Illustrated Villain · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a bound proof copy of The Makoto Murders by Richard Jerram via Titan Books.

A stunning Tokyo Noir brimming with stylish satire and ruthless ambition. We follow former famous photojournalist Ken Kato hit desperate lows to claw back up to fame by fabricating his own Serial Killer, staging murders and guess who conveniently just so happens to be first on the scene to get the best shots? Yes, our cunning, devious and desperate Ken.

The pace is as slick as our main man’s wit and charm and at its core is a great message about our macabre obsessions with true crime and serial killers.

Ken’s character development and ego-driven moral compass is really fleshed out with haunting regrets and questionable, calculated choices. Although a sociopath and murderer …I kinda liked him! I just won’t ask him to be my tour guide around Tokyo.

I hope Richard Jerram writes more ventures for Ken as I loved his writing style, pace and plot!

The Makoto Murders publishes on 7th July and is definitely one to pre-order if you like your crime fiction dark, sharp and slick.

[Steve Bewley · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Makoto Murders by Richard Jerram

Rating : 4.5⭐
Format : eBook 💻
Released : 21st July 2026
Pages : I don't know, I read this on my Kindle
Duration : 5 days

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The Makoto Murders is a Japanese Noir book set in the world of photography and magazines, Ken Kato a British-Japenese photographer for the Hikari magazine famed for his picture of a younger boy drifting out to sea after the 2011 Tsunami is looking to recapture the success after 4 lean years has left him facing irrelevancy

After a breakdown of his marriage and a brief affair with his work colleagues ex wife Makoto leaves him feeling discouraged and empty.

So as any every right minded person would he goes out to create his own crime scene and artistically photo the prone bodies, and get this he goes out to murder Makotos yeah totally normal behaviour.

This is a darky thematic novel that borders on obsession, progression and dark fantasies and asks uncomfortable questions

Ken is a awful awful person, he is mean, he is selfish and not to mention the murders, a pretty bad egg all round.

I found this book intriguing and was darkly rich, the characters jumped off the screen and were fully fleshed and though the murders were dark they were well thought out and entertaining and came across as a Japanese Dexter episode (I've never seen Dexter)

All in all I enjoyed this book immensely and would recommend this to anyone who is after a dark story

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This is due to be released 2nd of June, if this interests you then add it to you want to read list

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Thank you to Netgalley & The Publisher for the Advanced Review Copy of this book, though I am grateful for the ARC the words above are my own

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You can find more reviews on my blog here : https://bookshelf018.wordpress.com/

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[Bookworm Denz · Rating 4 out of 5]

[ARC REVIEW 📖]

The Makoto Murders
Author : Richard Jerram

For starters, if you are a fan of Dexter the American crime television series, you would probably love the protagonist of this book, Ken Kato, a half-British, half-Japanese who lives a double life as a photojournalist & a serial killer in order to achieve his ambition, as well as to impress a colleague's wife who he has been stalking after a short affair (though she clearly sees things differently).

What can I say? This book is one hell of a roller coaster ride. It's crazy how all these eerie mass murder events started from an obsession to get that picture-perfect scope of a crime scene for a mere weekly magazine publisher to always stay on top.

Can't believe how cleanly & thoroughly executed the crime scenes were as if Mr. Kato's thoughts are like Dexter's! I finished this in one sitting, a thriller quick read full of dark, graphic & unsettling thematic scenes & fantasies. The protagonist is the epitome of Dexter, the Japanese version!

Thank you Netgalley & Titan Books for the opportunity to read! 🥹🫶

4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

P.S.
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[Jomilojuluvstoreadbooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story has a really interesting plot. I mean, it's about a photographer who becomes a serial killer just to take photos to save his career and for attention. He targets people who share the same name as a woman he once had an affair with, not to add that he’s completely obsessed with her.

But the main character was too hard to like. I usually don’t mind flawed or even unpleasant characters, but this one was too much for me. It made the book difficult to enjoy. And the ending? I honestly didn’t get it at all. What was that?

This is the first thriller I’ve read where I truly hated the main character. The story is very dark and disturbing, at times it feels outright sick. It definitely made me uncomfortable, and for once, I found myself actually hoping the main character would be caught.

That said, I really liked the author’s writing style. It’s the one thing that stood out for me.

If you’re okay with very dark and unsettling stories, this might work for you.

Thanks to NetGalley and Titan Books for the e-copy of The Makoto Murders in exchange for a review.

[Hikari · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meet Ken Kato, a completely delusional photographer who wants to be thought of as a great auteur but instead works for a sleazy cheap weekly gossip paper. He's also got zero conscience and made his big break photographing a boy being swept out to sea - the photo was more important than saving the boy's life... Unfortunately, since then, he's had no further recognition so decides to create some by murdering people then "artfully" photographing the aftermath, justifying the murders as mere collateral damage in the furtherance of his career. Then there's the stalking of a woman he's got a crush on (and a complete refusal to recognise boundaries). In short, Ken is a truly awful himan. And yet, the story is oddly compelling as you cheer on someone, anyone, to see through the facade and stop Ken. It reminded me of the film Nightcrawler in which the "hero" is similarly willing to break the rules in order to further his career.

A very dark tale but still worth reading. There's a big twist at the end. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[J P · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a brilliant, twisted, noirish thriller. There are shades of Pop.1280 by Jim Thompson, which is high praise indeed. Psychopaths Anonymous by Will Carver has a similarly warped and murderous protagonist.

The book takes us into the mind of a Tokyo based tabloid magazine photographer, Ken Kato. He is clever but self-absorbed. Misanthropic but caustically funny. Observant but totally lacking empathy. He is also a delusional killer plagued by nightmares and self-destructive tendencies and as the novel progresses, we witness his rising status at work alongside the collapse and emptiness of his broader life and wonder when and how justice and the police will catch up with him.

Tightly plotted with rising tension, this is also a rich character study. You may not like Kato. You might feel bad for occasionally laughing alongside him. He is interesting, surprising, vice ridden, uncomfortable company. Hanging out with him may not be good for your health, but you'll enjoy the book anyway.

Click, click.

Thanks to NetGalley and Titan for the ARC.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

What will you do to get ahead? To succeed? To keep a job? To get an award?

What about obsession? Have you ever wanted someone to love you? What will you be willing to do to get their attention? To “earn” their love?

This is a twisted novel. Just straight up sick and twisted. Kato is… well, I don’t know how to describe him. His descriptions of victims, innocent people that could be harmed, and people in general. It’s just pure insanity.

This is a fun, but man, it is twisted. Sit back and enjoy.

I received this ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an unbiased review.

[BlaireReadsTheThings · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley for the digital ARC of this title.

Ken has discovered what it's like to live in the limelight. His murky morals led him to receive a massive photojournalism award and the praise of the community. Now that his spark has faded a bit and he feels his job may be in jeopardy, he feels the urge to bring it back. His plan is a bit.... unconventional....but there's now way this won't work. Unless he's caught .....

I did like this book a great deal. To be honest, I had no clue how it would end. There were several different directions the story could have gone in. I will be keeping an eye out for this author.

[Sarah Mclennan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very sharp, a bit twisted, and has that morally grey energy I’m always drawn to.

Following a main character like this was honestly so interesting. It felt uncomfortable at times in a good way, like you’re not meant to fully settle into the story. I love books that lean into that and make you sit in the mess of it all.

The whole thing felt intense and slightly chaotic, but in a way that kept me hooked the entire time. If you like darker thrillers with a bit of an edge and characters you probably shouldn’t root for but do anyway, this is such a good one.

[Venneh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun little serial murder novel about a paparazzi photographer in Japan who ends up committing a series of murders for job security, and how he goes about trying to keep his tracks covered. Our main is a bit of a self centered dick, but it's fascinating to watch him commit to how far he's willing to go with this, and his clever tricks to stay ahead of the police. A dark, funny read for your summer.