Murder at the End of the World

Murder at the End of the World #1

by Akane Araki, Jesse Kirkwood (Translator)

The world's turned into a lawless free-for-all and you're worried about driving without a licence? An asteroid is hurtling towards Earth and the human race has just over two months to live. But twenty-three-year-old Haru, stargazer and chronic worrier, is still trying to pass her driving test. Then she finds a body in the boot of her car: a woman, stabbed and tortured. There's a murderer on the loose. And it turns out that Haru's driving instructor is an ex-cop with a manic devotion to justice. So, despite the small matter of an impending apocalypse, the pair team up to catch the culprit, no matter where it takes them. After all, the world's not quite over yet...

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Japan, Mystery Thriller, Science Fiction, Japanese Literature

336 pages, Paperback

First published August 24, 2022

Reviews

[Queralt✨]

Murder at the End of the World follows Haru, still trying to get her driver license amidst an apocalypse, after she finds a dead body and decides to team up with her driver instructor (an ex policeman) to look for the murderer. Imagine a low-budget road trip movie, drop it into an apocalyptic setting, throw in a whodunit and lots of cheesy writing and ta-dah you’ve got this book.

Despite being a fast read with simple, accessible language, this one took me way longer than it should have. It felt like 99% fluff and 1% plot twists, populated by flat characters that somehow managed to talk too much and say nothing at the dame time. It’s the kind of book that leans hard on the element of surprise to keep you hooked but I just didn’t care enough about the characters to be invested in the twists themselves. I’d say the narration was okay and moved the story forward or gave clues about what we would find out, but the story was mostly dialogue heavy… and the dialogue was just fluff. Before a decision was made, all the characters had to say something insubstantial about it, and that often dragged the plot for a few pages. Besides this, I will admit I found the book nonsensical at times, and I never understood the character’s motivations behind wasting their last days getting a driver license or pursuing a killer.

It also ended up darker than I expected, dealing heavily with suicide and touching on violence at points. I would have probably enjoyed that it was darker, but all the padding and unnecessary dialogue ruined the tension and atmosphere the book could have had. It was all just very whatever.

*ARC received for free, this hasn’t impacted my rating.

[Kandace]

A meteor is set to soon collide with Earth, with only 3 months left until impact. Panic has set across the globe and people are fleeing Japan (and Asia in general), but 23-year-old Haru has stayed put to complete her goal: get her drivers license. Haru and her ex-cop turned driving instructor Isagawa open the trunk of the practice car one morning, only to find the corpse of a murder victim in the trunk. Duty-bound to solve the case, the unlikely duo set off to find the killer... while more bodies pop up across the area. More questions arise. Can they solve the case?

4.5/5 stars. Such a good read!! I quite enjoyed this story. I will say it didn't fully pull me in until about halfway through, but the writing was so great, I was compelled to finish. This story went so many ways with the red herrings, I was not expecting it to end the way it did!

[Siwabhorn Anothaisintawee]

หากรู้ว่าอีกสองเดือนโลกจะล่มสลายจะทำอย่างไร

หลายคนคงเลือกที่จะใช้ชีวิตอยู่กับครอบครัวและคนรัก หรืออพยพหนีไปให้ไกลที่สุด บางคนสิ้นหวังถึงกับเลือกจบชีวิตตัวเองก่อนจะถึงวันสิ้นโลก

สำหรับฮารุจังกลับเลือกที่จะไปเรียนขับรถ

เพราะเธอมีเจตจำนงก่อนตายว่าจะต้องเดินทางจากดาไซฟุไปทำตามความฝันที่คุมาโมโตะให้ได้

วันหนึ่งขณะที่ฮารุกับอิซากาวะ อดีตตำรวจที่ผันตัวมาเป็นครูสอบขับรถ กำลังจะออกไปฝึกขับรถบนทางด่วน พวกเธอก็พบศพหญิงปริศนาที่ดูยังไงก็รู้ว่าถูกฆาตกรรมอยู่ท้ายรถ

ระหว่างที่สืบหาว่าผู้ตายคือใครพวกเธอก็ได้ข้อมูลเพิ่มว่ามีผู้พบศพถูกทำร้ายคล้ายหญิงนิรนามอีกสองศพ คาดว่าผู้ร้ายจะเป็นคนเดียวกัน ทำให้คดีนี้เข้าข่ายคดีฆาตกรรมต่อเนื่อง

เลือดตำรวจมันพลุ่งพล่าน อิซากาวะจึงกระเตงฮารุออกไปสืบสวนคดีนี้ไปถึงอิโตะชิมะ จนได้พบกับสองพี่น้องฆาตกรที่หลบหนีออกจากคุกขณะที่มีเหตุชุลมุน

ด้วยความถูกชะตาทั้งหมดจึงชวนกันออกไปตามล่าผู้ร้ายด้วยกัน 😅

ระหว่างที่ฮารุเข้าไปเอาเสบียงที่บ้านเธอก็พบว่าคนที่อยู่ในบ้านร่วมกับเธอไม่ใช่เซโงะ น้องชายของเธอ แต่กลับเป็นเด็กหญิงแปลกหน้าที่ชื่อนานาโกะ

ส่วนเซโงะกลับหายตัวไปอย่างไร้ร่องรอย

ถึงโลกจะแตก แต่พวกเขาก็ไม่ละลดความพยายามที่จะตามหาน้องชาย และจับตัวฆาตกรต่อเนื่องให้ได้

จนเรื่องราวสาวถึงคนร้ายตัวจริงที่ไม่น่าจะเป็นไปได้

โอ้ววววว สนุกมว๊ากกกก

ดำเนินเรื่องไว ปมเรื่องสนุกชวนลุ้นชวนติดตามจนใช้เวลาอ่านแป๊บเดียวก็จบแล้ว

เราชอบความมุทะลุดุดันของอิซากาวะ อดีตตำรวจที่มีดีทั้งสติปัญญาและกำลัง แต่ก็ไม่ได้เก่งเวอร์จนเกินไป

ตัวละครทุกตัวมีมิติ อาจจะไม่ลึกมาก แต่ก็ทำให้ยอมรับเหตุผลของการกระทำในหลายๆ ฉากได้

อ่านจบแล้วก็มั่นใจว่าคนที่ได้อ่านจะต้องชอบเหมือนเราแน่ๆ

Goodreads ให้ 4 เราให้ 5

[Bonnie E.]

Very apocalyptic, very grim, and what else would one expect with a large meteor hurtling towards Earth, threatening to wipe out human existence and all other lifeforms, with about sixty-six days before impact in Japan. Most of the population has fled the country, if not the entire Asian continent, although no one is expected to live for long anywhere on Earth in the aftermath. The roads are littered with car crashes from all the panic, the countryside is filled with bodies from “dying wild” (suicides committed outdoors in nature), and there’s a serial murderer on the loose.

Not exactly light reading.

But the main characters are interesting, the murder mystery is intriguing (though there is a “duh, the world is ending so what’s the point” feeling that lurks throughout), and the finale is as it should be.

[Shannon Miz]

This started off slow and I wasn’t sure I’d keep going. But not too long into it, it had found its footing and I was invested. Haru is basically existing, going to her driving lessons as the world prepares to end around her. An asteroid is going to kill everyone, there’s nothing that can be done, and even though people are fleeing, Haru has nowhere to go and no way to get there- plus those guys probably aren’t going to live either.

Funny enough, her driving instructor keeps showing up too. They just drive around the abandoned town, until one day, they find a body in the trunk of the car. Even though the world is ending, and the police can’t be bothered, Haru and Isawgawa just can’t let the murderer get away with it, so off they search for clues. This is where things really start to pick up, because they meet more folks, and start to piece together what is happening. It’s entertaining if not completely groundbreaking, and I enjoyed trying to figure out the clues along with Haru and Isawgawa. I probably would have liked a bit more focus on the end times, and Haru and Isawgawa could have been fleshed out a bit more, but overall it was a fun adventure, and after the case started, I was definitely invested.

[Ek Guevara]

เคยอ่านนิยายแนวนี้มา 2 เรื่อง ว่าด้วยดาวเคราะห์น้อยกำลังจะชนโลกแล้วเกิดเหตุฆาตกรรมขึ้น (ผมสืบคดีฆาตกรรมในวันสิ้นโลก และซีรีย์ The last policeman) ตัวละครเอกในแต่ละเรื่องเลยต้องออกสืบสวนด้วยตัวเอง เรื่องมันจึงทำให้เกิดคำถามว่าโลกกำลังจะล่มสลายอยู่แล้ว แล้วทำไมคนพวกนี้ถึงยังทำอะไรแบบนี้กันอยู่ ร่วมกับความสิ้นหวังที่ค่อย ๆ เพิ่มขึ้น โดยมีพล็อตหลักว่าด้วยการสืบคดี สำหรับเรื่องนี้ขมวดปมคลายปมได้ดี อ่านสนุกและทำให้เรามีความรู้สึกร่วมได้ดีมาก ไม่ผิดหวัง

[Norshafarina Faharuddin]

Interesting read ~ An asteroid is hurtling towards Earth, giving humanity just two months to live.

Yet, two unlikely companions; Haru - determined to pass her driving test and a retired police inspector turned instructor - Isagawa, team up to solve a murder case.

Another intriguing pick for my #WomenInTranslation month.

Will share my full review later

[Bethany T]

The premise of this book hooked me from the start. Haru, a 23-year-old who never passed her driver's test, decides to complete driving school while a world-ending asteroid is two months away from Earth. While humanity has been reduced to chaos and tragedy, Haru's driving instructor, Isagawa, still feels the need to seek justice for those wronged and steps up to investigate when they find a murder victim in the trunk of a driving school car.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this. Would it be a murder mystery with an apocalypse as the backdrop? Or would the apocalypse take the front seat while the mystery was just a small plot point? However, this novel managed to balance both, sating my curiosity regarding the mystery and crushing my heart as the characters faced their bleak future.

I liked that this book started off so bleak, with Haru essentially being alone, with only her meetings with Isagawa while her brother, Seigo, was isolated in his room but never communicating with her. However, as the investigation proceeded and the end of the world was ever nearer, more wonderful characters were encountered. It provided some light in the darkness.

Verdict
This had me at the edge of my seat and tearing up at the end. The final line was just perfect.

[Emily]

Thank you to Netgalley and Pushkin Vertigo for providing a copy of this novel!

I really enjoyed this book! It almost feels like a "mystery for the literary fiction reader." I wouldn't really call this book fast paced or a thriller. As a mentioned, it really felt a lot more like literary fiction for the first... maybe 2/3rd of the book? I might even go so far as to say the first 75% of the book. The mystery was happening the whole time and the main characters, Haru and Isagawa, were actively trying to solve the case. However, it never felt like some high-stakes thriller or anything. I don't really know why either. My best guess is because of the narrator. Haru isn't a detective and isn't really interested in being a detective. She just kind of agrees to help Isagawa because "why not?" I'm sure if this book had been through ex-cop Isagawa's perspective, it would've been a lot more intense and thrilling. The story really grew on me by the end and I found myself getting quite attached to the characters. There were actually quite a few scenes at the end that made me tear up.
I don't read a lot of mystery novels, but I feel like mystery fans probably won't like this one. The mystery itself might have been the plot, but the focus was more on the character's relationships and regrets and whatnot.

[Frankkie]

This book snuck up on me, and by that I mean right from the beginning. I went in mostly blind, and right from the jump I was asking what the hell is going on. Haru is a perfect example of an unreliable narrator because, for a lot of the book, I barely even regarded her. She seemed to be along for the ride, barely registering what was happening around her and more concerned with getting back to her mostly empty home. I’m glad I misjudged her and her role in the whole ordeal.

I loved the strange, almost-apocalyptic cast of characters Haru meets once she finally decides to leave her house. They’re weird and off-putting and heartwarming, too. Some of the reveals may be predictable, but it’s more fun if you pretend they aren’t. Knowing the world is going to end in a few short weeks only adds to the tension and urgency of finding the killer. And Araki has no problem bringing the gore. It’s a surprisingly enjoyable combination of tender found-family dynamics and the brutality of a deranged serial killer.

A very fun read, and I’m glad it was finally translated.

I was gifted an advanced copy of the translated book from the publisher.

[Diane]

I loved the The Last Policeman trilogy so when I read the review that mentioned this book reminded them of those books, I immediately got the audiobook from Hoopla. While this book isn't quite as good, it's a very good read/listen. With a meteor on its way to destroy earth in three months, hitting Japan first, all bets seem to be off for law and order. Haru has decided to continue her driving lessons and get her license. Her driving instructor is an ex-cop who still believes in justice. When they discover a body in the trunk of the car, they decide they will find out who killed her. As more bodies start to pile up, they are more determined to find the culprit and bring them to justice.

[Sibil]

RTC

[Eryn]

首先，请大家别因为这个丑得人神共愤的封面错过优秀的作品😂 本作是新生代推理作家荒木茜的出道作，并凭此获得江户川乱步奖，是目前该奖项史上最年轻得主（23岁）。这是一本中等偏上的推理，但它是一部非常优秀的小说。

前半部分是比较经典的推理小说，采用了“福尔摩斯+华生”的双主角模式和叙诡反转。伪解答的线索埋得不深，比较好猜，也为后续的反转做了铺垫。 后半段推理元素减弱，更像公路文，揭秘的高潮部分在动作戏上有逻辑漏洞。

本作采用女本位叙事，几乎所有重要角色都是女性，性格多样，有善有恶，也有灰色地带，塑造得很立体。没有男凝的作品令人耳目一新，读感极佳。

读完之后深刻地感到故事的核心其实是跟自己和解。在末世，人难免会产生“反正就要死了，一切还有什么意义”的疑问。故事的开始两位主角都有未解的心结，而结尾她们都找到了某种答案，坦然地拥抱了撞击地球的小行星，迎接末日的到来。老师的那句“长寿和幸福是两码事”才是本文的核心。生命的价值不在于长度，而在于如何面对和接纳自己。

最后感叹一下本作背后的故事。这部小说是荒木茜在通勤路上用手机创作然后传入电脑完成的，也是获奖之后才告诉家人自己在写作。期待她以后的作品。

[Elizabeth Routhier]

Fun! Def a darker theme but laced with humor which I appreciated

[Aor]

คอนเซปต์น่าสนใจและบรรยากาศที่ตึงเครียดในโลกที่กำลังเผชิญจุดจบ ผู้เขียนสามารถดำเนินเรื่องได้กระชับพอเหมาะ ไม่น่าเบื่อหรือเอื่อยเฉื่อยจนเกินไป และมีจุดหักมุมที่ชวนให้ติดตามตลอดทั้งเล่ม

เนื้อหาค่อย ๆ เปิดเผยปริศนาและแรงจูงใจของตัวละครได้อย่างมีชั้นเชิง ทำให้รู้สึกเหมือนกำลังต่อจิ๊กซอว์ท่ามกลางฉากหลังที่บีบคั้นและไร้ทางหนี ทั้งความลึกลับและบรรยากาศวันสิ้นโลกถูกถ่ายทอดออกมาได้อย่างกลมกล่อม

แต่มีจุดที่อาจรบกวนการอ่านและทำให้หักคะแนนคือ การเว้นวรรคที่ผิดพลาดเกือบตลอดทั้งเล่ม ทำให้จังหวะการอ่านสะดุดในหลาย ๆ ตอน ไม่แน่ใจว่าเป็นปัญหาเฉพาะเวอร์ชัน EPUB หรือว่าเวอร์ชันหนังสือเล่มพิมพ์ กับ PDF จะมีปัญหาเดียวกันมั้ย

[Lanie Brown]

The world is going to end in two months time, Telos an asteroid is hurtling towards Earth, Japan specifically ending most life on impact and any remaining life will be eventually be wiped out by the severe climate altering events. Haru and her brother are seemingly the only residents left in Fukuoka Prefecture, well them and Haru's eccentric driving instructor Isawgawa. Sure, yes, it is a little odd that Haru is trying to get her license by the end of the world, but she has a plan, a dream if you will that she needs her license for and Isagawa is just odd enough to go along with her plan. One morning the two women arrive at the driving school and prepare to have Haru take her last driving test, Haru chooses the car that makes the most sense to her (there being fifty completely unused) the one closest to the exit to the parking lot. However, when the women get in the car there is a distinct odor, one that they have become used to as people kill themselves in despair, the stench of death. Popping the trunk of the car they find a woman not just clearly murdered but tortured. Something about these pointless killing strikes both women as highly offensive and they decide that no one is getting away with murder, not while they're still alive.

Japanese murder mysteries are probably the only ones where when I see that the author or the book has one an award, specifically the Edogawa Rampo award I know that I am in for something special. This small test has yet to fail me as this was absolutely one of the best murder mysteries I've read all year, and I've read some truly exceptional ones.

Now, let's be honest there is not one thing that isn't just absurd about this book from the get-go. The world is ending, the MC is getting her license while she is contemplating the best way to get her father's corpse out of the house, as he has killed himself two days prior to the start of the book. Her younger brother is somehow still a shut in and there's this honestly just kinda weird older woman still willing to teach Haru how to drive. The fact that there is a serial killer on the loose is possibly one of the least absurd things about the whole book. That actually makes a bit of sense, I mean law and order simply doesn't exist any longer, people have fled Japan (ground zero) en masse, humans the world over are committing suicide instead of facing their impending doom, a serial killer? Par for the course. Getting a license? Why? Yet as the story went on it actually began to make perfect sense. Haru hasn't lost her mind, Isagawa is, well I mean yeah, she's still weird, but the two of them are simply existing in a world that has gone completely insane. That's just one of the things that made this enjoyable and I don't really feel like this is truly apparent until probably after I met several other characters doing the same thing. There were people just trying to survive, there were people choosing to die, and then there were the people who simply choose to continue to live. They accepted with that inevitable and while there were certainly changes that needed to be made in order to survive, they didn't forget their humanity in the process. That gave me quite a bit of hope for the world. We truly do need more people like these characters.

I am going to touch on the killer real quick, because I am not going to lie, they were very, very stupid. At no point did it ever cross the killer's mind that there was something far worse than just having the police catch him. They go on this long monologue during the final confrontation, they are arrogant so of course they need to explain why, and it's so clear that in a world that has devolved into a dystopian nightmare somehow the thought of prosecution is the only thing they were worried about. I am just saying given the circumstances I'd be more worried about getting caught by someone far meaner and far more unhinged than me to be honest. Like yes this is definitely arrogance but for me it was more just the sheer stupidity of the killer thinking they were the scariest thing out there during this time frame (especially since we know there was at least one prison break) is almost insulting. The ending I think really drives this point home too as well.

By the end of the book I realized though is what this was tackling was a conversation about crime and punishment, law and order, and to an extent when we lose our humanity. At one-point Haru and Isagawa discuss their views on crime and punishment. Isagawa, turns out to the be an ex-cop, one who quit due to the fact that she illegally arrested someone. Honestly, I normally would say that this is a spoiler but once you find out she's a cop there's no way she left on good terms. Anyway, Isagawa is explaining this and the fact that she still believed that she did the right thing, that because this man was a criminal, a drug dealer who would ruin countless lives, had ruined countless lives that he was not worthy of protection by the law. He had given up those rights; he was not even human anymore by her estimation. An eye for an eye. Haru, doesn't agree with her, not fully, here's the thing though Isagawa doesn't even agree with herself. She makes concessions for people; she sees where there are certain situations where a person may act in a manner that seems inhumane at first, but self-defense and/or extenuating circumstances come into play. It's an important conversation that I think that gets to the heart of the story. The world has fallen into absolute chaos and yet here are these two women discussing morals. Having a discussion that many of us have participated in while they track down a killer while the world is ending. I find it to be probably the most important conversation in the entire book. It's not the content of the conversation that matters (although that does too) it's just the simple fact that the conversation even takes place that makes it important. It's a reminder that in all of this mess, someone found time to debate something that makes us so very human.

As I said in the beginning, I knew this would be good when I saw that it was a Rampo winner, so I am not necessarily surprised by how much I enjoyed it, and yet I am a little bit. There are so many routes this could have gone in given what is happening in the world and yet Araki decided to make it a book that reaffirmed life and order, which gives me a bit of hope for the world.

As always thanks to Netgalley and Steerforth and Pushkin for the eArc!

[Richard Derus]

Rating: 4* of five

The Publisher Says: An unlikely duo embarks on a road trip to find a serial killer before the apocalypse in this prize-winning Japanese murder mystery.

Perfectly blends the dystopian humor of Zombieland and the thrills of My Sister the Serial Killer!

From Japan’s most exciting new crime writer Akane Araki, this thrillingly funny, high-concept murder mystery follows a young woman and her driving instructor as they face a compelling moral dilemma: should they work to stop a serial killer before the end of the world? A meteor is on a collision course with Earth. The entire human race has 3 months to live. Uncontrollable panic has set in across the globe, but 23-year-old Haru is still determined to finally get her driver’s license.

When Haru and her ex-cop driving instructor Isagawa open their car trunk one day to find the corpse of a murder victim inside, they feel duty-bound to investigate. Together, they set off on a road trip through the crumbling landscape around them to hunt for the killer. As more bodies start appearing, more questions surge. Why would a serial killer begin work three months before the end of the world? And does justice lose its meaning with humanity on the brink of extinction?

And it turns out that Haru's driving instructor is not just an ex-cop but one with a manic devotion to justice. So, despite the small matter of an impending apocalypse, the pair team up to catch the culprit, no matter where it takes them. After all, the world's not quite over yet...

Quirky, fast-paced, and packed full of surprising heart, Murder at the End of the World will delight fans of Stuart Turton’s audacious plots and the humorous, life-affirming bent of dystopian favorites like Zombieland and Shaun of the Dead.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.

My Review: I really liked The Last Policeman when it came out. I'm still salty that it never made it onto the screens of the world where I really felt it deserved to be. So I was all ready to be this book's fanboy.

I'm on record as not wanting to read about women being sexually abused and murdered for plot purposes. This story, led by an amateur sleuth who's female, does indeed have a woman abused and murdered in it, so why am I breaking my strong preference not to read that plot?

Because it's not the first death (that's her father's suicide), and it's not the glorified, prurient point of the victim's death, but is instead an indictment of a patriarchal system I found myself willing to spend my entertainment eyeblinks on this topic. It's a sleuthing excursion led by two women who found a shared compass in bringing justice to the victim. In spite of flaming death for the whole human race racing towards the planet.

That, mes vieux, is a moral compass. We're going to die. And that's still no reason not to bring justice to a terribly abused woman by making her abuser pay for his crime. Haru greets us, so to speak, by discovering her father has hanged himself; her response is to arrange his body respectfully and goes to finish her driving lessons. Her instructor Isagawa is a retired cop, determined like Haru to keep her world in balance and thus cope with the existential crisis of certain doom.

I'm quite taken by the nature of these end-is-nigh narratives; they add a weird frisson to the most quotidian conversations. Haru and Isagawa discover the horribly mutilated body of a young woman in the trunk of their randomly selected driver-training car, which would occasion much screaming and dialing of 911 if I happened to be there; the women are incensed, repulsed, but the police are not inclined to do anything as no one else is fussed about all the dead girls piling up around town...the world is ending, and Isagawa already knows the local police well so tells Haru this victim will receive no attention to speak of (nor would she ever have).

They discuss what to do. They really get into it. They have powerful feelings about it even as extinction faces them; ultimately they decide to investigate this murder for themselves. And it takes paragraphs (reported by Haru in first person) to do it. There is deeply important stuff at stake for Isagawa that might help her process her decisions leading up to her leaving the police in the first place. I'm all for redemption arcs.

Seriously y'all...there's a mutilated dead person in the trunk. These women stand there and talk. My hysterical, overemotional male self would be retching, screaming, generally freaking out at the top of my lungs as I speed-dialed the cops skatey-eight skabillion times to tell them to come get this corpse RIGHT NOW. Haru and Isagawa discuss, calmly, how to approach the process of identifying who killed her and why. While an asteroid's speeding towards Earth to end life as we know it. So, no...not ordinary circumstances, therefore not ordinary responses, and honestly the chats they're having would be fascinating no matter what but the existential stakes make them so deeply, touchingly human. These two very different people, Haru cheated out of a full life by the asteroid and Isagawa processing her much-closer end as a chance to do the right thing with her last actions on Earth, confront a serial killer...a thing I never want to do yet they're just doing it...and, in the least effective narrative choice made by Author Araki, that scumbag goes into the cliched villain monologue. More infuriatingly, Haru reveals she's known something central to the case, something coincidentally important, since the beginning. Fifth star sliding under the waves in 3...2...1....

I'm recommending this read to you because it is, for its structural flaws, a fascinating meditative tale. It delves into serious, interesting, well-thought-out moral discussions; it gives these two oddly assorted road-trippers ample scope to let their thoughts stew, serve them up, and discuss together and in company with odds-and-sods they collect along the road. It's often funny stuff, occasionally maudlin, usually prolix as anything.

As much as I really got annoyed I'm even more pleased that Haru and Isagawa brought me along with them as they maintained ma'at in extremis.

[Peter]

In Japan, a driving instructor and her adult student discover a dead body in the trunk of one of the training cars. Unfortunately, the police don't really have the resources to investigate it... after all, an asteroid is due to impact the Earth in a matter of months. A big enough asteroid that no one is expected to survive the impact, except perhaps those rich or connected enough to get into some kind of deep underground bunkers. Society is starting to wind down, people engaging in unfinished business... but these two women decide they're going to try and find the killer.

Disclaimer: I got a free advance copy of this book through NetGalley. I don't think it affected my review.

You know, if I had a nickel for every time I read a story involving people trying to solve a murder while an asteroid is months away from hitting Earth and killing everybody... well, I'd have two nickels, but still, it's weird that it's happened twice. The Last Policeman (and its sequels, successively closer to the impact date) have become some of my favorites, but there's nothing particularly proprietary about any individual idea, it's how you execute it that's important, and I was excited to read this particular spin on the same idea. I won't even compare them directly except to acknowledge that similarities exist.

My reaction to this book was somewhat mixed, with ups and down, although on balance I land firmly on the side of a positive feeling. Frankly, I loved the start... and I kinda loved the end too. The middle lost me a little... not in terms of what was going on in the plot, but just my enthusiasm. Unfortunately the middle is "the murder mystery" aspect. That is, once they started making revelations of what happened and why, it just didn't satisfy me as much as I was hoping. Not particularly bad, but just... I felt a little let down. Perhaps because it seemed a little too focused on 'twists' in the first place. Like, to me, a book set during society's slow collapse before a widely accepted end of the world is the perfect kind of book where you can violate norms and tropes of mysteries and police procedurals and have a killer essentially just being random, with no connection to anyone else. Heck, you can even have it being one where they don't actually solve the case and it's about just the journey, the process of trying to do the right thing and get justice when arguably, nothing matters anymore. Instead, the author throws up suspects connected to the main characters and dramatic revelations and even though the eventual resolution was reasonably good, and even some of the earlier twists made a good moment of shock that made me want to go back and rereread to look for clues, in general it just felt a little too... written. Like a murder mystery, but one where you can't just immerse into the story and forget you're reading one. And, beyond that... a few of the choices for what happened, unbeknownst to the characters, before the story really got going, felt like they were just missing what could have been more interesting story beats.

That said, I was really into just vibing with the two main characters, who I really liked following, and seeing the little glimpses of people just coping with a world that's come to the end of the line. And, I liked the particular grim optimism of the specific ending scene, even though I'm at least a month between reading and writing, it still sticks in my mind, which says something (at least, with my mind lately).

The book's not just set in Japan, it was written by a Japanese author in Japanese, and as such, this is a translation. Sometimes translations can read a bit stilted... really nobody's fault, it's just things that work in one language don't work in another, and translators often have to compromise between either rendering faithfully and feeling awkward at times in the new language, or flowing naturally to English readers but with some amount of invention to fill in the gaps. Having neither ability nor the access to read the original Japanese text, I can't actually speak to the level of faithfulness, but I'll say there were only a couple times that I felt that bit of jarring "oh right, this sentence is a bit awkward, I forgot it was a translation" sense that I get pretty often with translations, so... again, can't comment on how GOOD a translation it is, but I'll say it's at least pretty SMOOTH compared to others I've read, particularly from Japanese.

All in all, I'd probably put it at about 3.5 stars, but willing to round up to four stars, and well-worth checking out if it's the kind of premise that tickles you, as it did me.

[Madd]

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author and translator for this free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is exactly what I needed after finishing The Séance Garden. AKA an actually good murder mystery lmao.

The pros: The star of this book is the scenario. I don't mean the case, though I very much love the case, I mean the fact that the fucking world is ending. That's our backdrop. An asteroid is going to a hit in a couple months, and yet someone has decided to commit murder. It's absolutely fascinating. An incredible tone-setter, and it's prevalent in every aspect of the story, but it's not the focus of the story. "Doesn't matter that Telos is on it's way and we're all going to die, we have a murder to solve," is 1000% something Isagawa would say. I just can't get over it, I love it so much and it's so interesting. But moving away from it, I have to shout out our cast. It's a small group, but they're all so colorful and memorable. And of course the question always is "why did you stay in Japan and not kill yourself," and I love all the reasonings we get. I love how close this group becomes even in the depths of despair. While Isagawa is often a show-stealer - a phenomenal detective character btw, she ticks all my boxes - I love Haru as our main character. There's a sadness deep in her that we never quite look at, because she doesn't want to examine it, but it's always there, on the periphery. I love how stubborn she is, I love her morals, I love how complicated her feelings are. And I LOVE that she loves stars. You could've been an astronomer girl, I believe in you. Hikaru, Akihito, and Nanako are also wonderful, and Hanada and Ginjima and Eiko and Ichimura, just. Everybody! It paints such a wonderful picture of people trying to survive the end of the world (and spoiler alert, it's not Mad Max). Lastly, the murder. The most central piece of a murder mystery, it must be strong, and this one definitely is. It has a very natural evolution of getting more and more complicated, the conclusions Haru and Isagawa make are followable and even guessable (in a good way), even when their conclusions differ from one another. It was a realistic case that made a lot of sense and I found it super interesting!!!! I loved reading about it and figuring out what was going on!!

The cons: All that hype and I do have a few things to be picky about. I did predict the killer from VERY early on, because of something that we never really discuss in the book too much (but I don't think we needed to). I don't mind predicting things early, but I admittedly was less excited when we got the ultimate reveal that it was that person because... I had been figuring that for a while. It's too spoilery so I won't get into specifics, but there's also an aspect of the larger case (not the specific one we start with) that we learn near the very end that I just found kind of. Edgy. A little overkill. I don't know, it just didn't really fit for me. Last plot-related thing, around halfway through we have a reveal that Haru - you know, our 1st-person POV narrator - has known something for a while that she's been willfully hiding from us, the readers, who are effectively in her head. Which is something I hate in books of any kind, but especially mysteries and thrillers. It was just a little irritating. The only other gripe I had was that, on occasion, the narration would repeat information in a meaningless recap. To clarify, there are other times where information is repeated for a point, or as a useful reminder because it was a small detail or specific line of dialogue or so on. Other times it's like a "last week on" type recap of the case or other general information that we don't need repeated. I just found it a bit annoying.

Overall, loved it!!!! Fantastic!! Sad and fun!!

[Andrzej]

Finally feel like I can put my thoughts together for this one. This brief rant/review is split into two parts: translation and story. Akane Araki is not responsible for the former, however, obviously is for the latter. I will preface by saying that I do not intend to attack but merely to just propose my thoughts in a precise and honest manner.

Let us start with the good parts of the book. I loved the concept, and the idea of having the world's impending doom set the stage for what is a phenomenal premise, truly sold me. The characters, albeit flat at times, were a fresh breath compared to most fiction largely because they were honest to themselves and, therefore, to you. There was and is no lack of sincerity in those characters. Descriptions, from what we got, were mostly good and enhanced the novel's core experience. Overall, entertaining.

But then, why the three stars, one might say. And the answer is that I truly felt frustrated by the translation of this novel at times. Perhaps I am spoiled by the intricacies and depth that academic translations give us, especially with foreign or ancient material. Perhaps this translator truly just does a rush job and moves onto the next -- and maybe the head honchos are the reason they do that. Fact is, this translation did not sit well with me. The writing, from lines to individual moments and narrative sentences, felt juvenile at times. Felt toneless. Hollow, even. Simple sentences that offered no attempt to engage with what could potentially be the ideal reading of the original. I don't speak Japanese, don't get me wrong (even if I can read a very little amount) but I am hard pressed to believe that some of these sentences, abrupt and childish, are present in the original text. Some of characters seemed to not have conversations with each other but rather AT each other. Some of the lines were corny, beyond measure. Isagawa constantly saying "You really do have a heart of gold, *kid*," to a 23 year old woman was asinine and again, doesn't seem like something that would be written in the original. Having statements like "finally get that out of your system?" seemed like the type of stuff you'd see in dubbing of anime back in the early 2000s. I cannot say that all this translator's works are like this, but if so, then I am loathe to read anything of theirs again. Translation is a hard job and I applaud any who do it, yes. But this seemed more of a quick and dirty job just to get another Japanese novel onto Western shelves because they're really "big" right now. I wish to be wrong and maybe I am, but as of now, I have a sour taste in my mouth.

As for the story itself, one thing kept bothering me throughout my entire time reading this. One simple question: if I removed the meteor hurtling towards earth, would the story change in any meaningful way? Or would only semantics change? The sad part is that, upon finishing, I concluded that if you dropped this story in the middle of the contemporary era, with cars and flashing lights and fully working phones, nothing much about the overall story would change. Maybe a couple of scenes at best. Which is sad. This was a brilliant idea and worth exploring, the concept of morality during a time period when, really, seldom seems to matter anymore. But Araki didn't really deliver on that at all. Which is sad. My other issue is that the last ten percent of the book really does feel like a shonen anime. It was something of a bizarre tone shift, especially the final "fight" with the murderer. Nothing much to say beyond the fact that it made me laugh a bit and shake my head.

As for the very end... melancholic but unsatisfactory. Which, in honestly, is perhaps how I would describe my whole time with this book. Melancholic and unsatisfactory, despite some moments of brilliance between the disappointing parts.

[Dan]

My thanks to NetGalley and Steerforth & Pushkin for an advance copy of this novel set in the dying days of humanity where two women, one trying to learn something new, one trying to forget her past, come together to solve a murder and maybe find a bit of peace for themselves.

I never knew what a bucket list was, nor really understood the idea. That and the numerous books that have come out about things to do before one dies. Beers to drink, movies to watch, places to go, things to do. This to me is just life. Unless someone is keeping secrets, we all have a shelf life. We will all go sometime. In fact one can die going to a mall, a theater even a school, either through guns, people, shoddy workmanship, or even a rock falling from the sky. Life is ful of things we should be doing, we just don't want to think about the end. Until we have to. Say a giant rock that might destroy the earth. What would humanity do. Run and hide? Try something new? Maybe give into base instincts? Or even with the end close still try to do right, for family, strangers, and more importantly for ourselves. Murder at the End of the World is written by Akane Araki and translated from the Japanese by Jesse Kirkwood and tells of the last days of Earth, and two women who are determined to make a difference, to find a murderer, and try to make peace with the lives they have led.

A giant asteroid is approaching Earth, its destination the nation of Japan. People have fled the country looking for safe ground to survive what is to come, leaving an empty country with few remaining citizens. One of these is Haru. Haru's mother fled in the early days. Haru's father committed suicide like so many others, and Haru's brother has not left the house for years, after an school incident. Haru has plans though, and one of the them is to learn to drive. Haru's instructor is Isagawa, an older woman who Haru has come to like and trust. On a lesson day the two discover a body in the trunk of the instructor's car, a murder victim whose death was not easy. Haru learns the Isagawa was once an Inspector, fired for taking her job too seriously. Isagawa with Haru's help begins to investigate the muder, finding a chain of bodies that no one seems to care about. The more they learn the more Haru fears that these murders are tied to her in someway, that the secrets she is keeping might come out. And that the end of the world might not be coming fast enough.

A book with a lot of ideas, a bit of humor, but a lot of darkness. From forest roads full of bodies hanging from trees, corpses lying in living rooms, murders and more. Araki has a great sense of place, describing the end times in a way that is both real and unforgettable. There is a sense of remove here, but one that makes sense. Who gets their license at the end of the world. Why does a cop who loves justice hide at a driving school. Why would someone start killing when humanity is going to end anyway. Araki has a gift for characters, and a gift for letting these characters unfold. Our narrator might not be trustworthy, but neither are our investigators. The only ones telling the truth are a two brothers, one of which is a murderer. Araki has great pacing, keeping secrets, letting them slip slightly for careful readers.

The mystery is deep and complex, but the killer might be a bit apparant early, However this was such a well-written one does not care. A mystery, a found family story, and much more. All the trigger warnings too. I really enjoyed this and look forward to more by Akane Araki.

[Peter Fleming]

The beginning is bizarre. Haru takes another of her daily driving lessons with Isagawa, her instructor, the only instructor left working at the school. They are going to test Haru’s skill at hill breaking and head off to the countryside. Suddenly there is a body on the bonnet and Haru is startled, surely she hasn’t hit anyone. Isagawa confirms that the body fell from a tree and gets out to examine it in detail, almost forensically. Another suicide she confirms and then they notice a great many others. ‘Dying Wild’ is the way out for many of the despairing. Haru mentions that her father killed himself a couple of days ago in is on a tatami mat at home…

The next day Haru selects another of the school’s fifty cars to use that day, the easiest one to get out of the carpark. Noticing an odd smell, they open the boot to find a body. This hits Isagawa hardest; she is now a woman on a mission, as the reader comes to discover she was a former police inspector. Once reported to what remains of the police, they discover it is the third murder in two days and the police are not going to do anything about it. This spurs our two heroines to become serial killer hunters.
Tracking down a serial killer (or are there two) is the straightforward, whodunnit plot. What sets it apart is the beautifully contrived and imagined setting. The world is about to end, the social order is breaking down, but from the position of a society quite different to that of the West. What sounds dark and dour, as the occasional scene is, being more than balanced with the quirky and heartwarming. There are suicides but seen through the eyes of a culture that views the act in a different light to that of some religions. With no emergency services, it is left to Haru to manhandle the body of her father out of the house, sad, darkly funny and disrespectful, yet written perfectly, balancing pathos and empathy.

Haru’s younger brother Seigo lives in the rooms upstairs, much like a hikikomori, but he has his reason. He is a character who is never really in the story, but manages to cast a shadow over proceedings, playing an important role in the story arc.

The relationship between Haru and Isagawa, is the core of the story, as they embark on a female road trip and pick up stragglers on the way. Two very engaging women they are too, very different with a relationship that is like sisters as they each share insights into life. What they are doing may be crazy, however they intend to live the rest of their lives to the full, but rather than being hedonistic, doing the right thing and helping those who are left.

As with any road trip story the pleasure is in the journey and who you meet along the way. Here the author has full reign for developing odd situations packed with idiosyncratic people. Moving from funny one moment to touching the next, this is a sympathetic portrayal of those left behind and those who still care to do the right thing and help. Set against this is the killer, who is just trying to kill as many people as possible and get away with it.

Somehow finds joy in the impending apocalypse, combining a whodunnit with a life affirming road trip.

[Cathy]

Trigger warning: Suicide

I’m not sure Japanese crime fiction and I are ever going to be best friends but I enjoyed this more than I did Butter. The question of what you’d do if you knew the world was ending in two months time is an interesting premise. In fact, that element probably engaged me more than the actual mystery.

Others may have different priorities but Haru has decided she wants to pass her driving test. She’s already passed the theory test but just needs a few more lessons with her driving instructor Isagawa. Obviously, no-one’s really going to worry if she’s got a licence or not but she has a journey in mind that she’d like to be confident about making. All that gets derailed when she and Isagawa discover a body in the boot of the training car. It’s not a pretty sight either but Isagawa doesn’t seem fazed and Haru soon discovers why. Encouraged by Isagawa, they set out to try to discover the culprit because the police are either unable or unwilling to investigate. They’re in the process of packing up like everyone else.

I don’t think it’s giving too much away to say there is more than one murder. In fact there’s no scarcity of dead bodies because many people have decided to take their own lives rather than wait for the asteroid to do it. The fact there’s no-one around to deal with the bodies brings a distinctly ghoulish aspect to the book.

Initially, there seems to be no connection between the victims. Haru’s and Isagawa’s task is made more complicated by the fact water and power supplies have failed, and there’s no mobile phone coverage. In the course of their investigation, Haru and Isagawa encounter other individuals who have stayed behind in what is forecast to be the impact zone of the asteroid, scavenging supplies of food, water and fuel from empty shops and warehouses. A few of these join Haru and Isagawa in the hunt for the person behind the killing spree. One of the puzzles is what the motive could possibly be. When most people are going to die in a few months anyway, why kill them now? I did actually guess the identity of the killer about two thirds of the way through the book.

I can’t say I ever warmed to Isagawa, especially as we see a quite different side to her at some points.

The aspect of the story that interested me most was people’s differing responses to the approaching apocalypse. Some, if they can afford it, have fled to countries further away from the impact zone although even that is unlikely to protect them from the disastrous environmental effects that will follow the asteroid strike. Many have decided to spend their remaining time with loved ones. Others are putting their faith in underground shelters or rather fantastical escape schemes. Some, as we’ve already learned, have decided to take things into their own hands and commit suicide. But with no-one around to enforce the rule of law, perhaps it’s possible to get away with anything?

Murder at the End of the World is an entertaining, if rather macabre, murder mystery peppered with black humour.

[Sue]

In just over two months, a giant asteroid named Telos is due to hit the Earth. For those not wiped out by the impact in Japan, a miserable, lingering death awaits. Desperation has driven many to flee to parts of the world where they hope to survive the collision. Some have chosen suicide as a way out. Meanwhile, the rich plan to travel to space in a foolish attempt to wait out the apocalypse.

For those unable or unwilling to leave their homes, like twenty-three-year-old Haru, life continues in a strange new world order of lawlessness and dwindling resources. With her parents gone, and just herself and her reclusive younger brother Seigo at home, she decides the time is ripe for her to finally gain her driving qualifications before the end. Fortunately, when she arrives at the Dazaifu Driving School, there is a sole instructor on hand to teach her, the enigmatic Isagawa who has stayed behind for reasons of her own.

The two spend their days driving around virtually deserted Fukuoka. One morning, before the two set off on another driving lesson, they discover the brutally murdered body of a woman stashed in the boot of the training vehicle, and set off on quest for justice...

This delicious end-of-the-world adventure, meets whodunit crime-caper, meets female buddy-story is the brain child of debut author Akane Araki, and it explores a host of lovely themes about humanity tied up with a twisty murder mystery.

The absurd premise of a young woman deciding to learn to drive in the lead up to the apocalypse, negotiating debris strewn streets, and multiple corpses of suicide victims, spirals into a clever, many-layered story. What Haru does not know is that Isagawa is actually a former police detective, with a very particular set of skills, and strong sense of right and wrong. She persuades Haru to accompany her as they track down clues to find the killer and anxious Haru makes for a reluctant side-kick, with reasons of her own for searching out the guilty party.

Along the way, the pair encounter friends and enemies, and spend quite a lot of time hiding things from each other - including how they plan to deal with the murderer in a world which has no clear rules anymore. There are numerous likely suspects, especially given the intriguing sub-plot around high-school bullying and revenge, and it was a lot of dark-themed fun picking out the relevant clues from the slick trail of breadcrumbs that leads to a gripping, mountainside climax.

This book is rich in awkward relationship dynamics, and asks a lot of thought-provoking questions about how people might cope in an end of the world situation. The many examples of selfishness, crazed ambition, and exploitation, jockey nicely against duty, sacrifice, the kindness of strangers, and making restitution. It leaves you with a lot to ponder upon, as well as entertaining you with a cracking murder mystery in an imaginative dystopian setting. All praise to the translation by Jesse Kirkwood which kept me engaged from beginning to poignant end.

I look forward to more from Akane Araki!

[Jonathan Gallo]

Murder at the End of the World is a highly atmospheric, conceptually brilliant Japanese "honkaku" mystery that stands out for its high-stakes, apocalyptic backdrop. Set in Fukuoka, Japan, just two months before a massive, world-ending asteroid named "Telos" is scheduled to collide with Kumamoto, the novel explores a fascinating paradox: why investigate a homicide when the entire human race is about to be vaporized anyway?

The Strengths: A Grim, High-Stakes Premise and Sharp Leads The book's hook is exceptionally gripping. The story is narrated by Koharu (Haru), a quiet, guilt-ridden twenty-three-year-old who is determined to learn how to drive so she can witness the end of the world from ground zero in Kumamoto. While taking lessons at a deserted driving school, she and her eccentric, lopsided-grinning driving instructor—who is quickly revealed to be a former homicide detective named Isagawa—discover the brutally stabbed body of an unidentified woman stuffed into the boot of training car number twenty-eight. As Haru and Isagawa embark on a rogue, volunteer investigation
, they discover a string of similar teenage stabbings across Fukuoka. For fans of the grim, deeply psychological "iyomisu" subgenre of Japanese mystery—pioneered by masters like Kanae Minato—the first half of this novel is an absolute treat. It excels at building a slow-burn, suffocating atmosphere of adolescent cruelty, heavy sibling guilt, and the eerie, quiet decay of a ghost town where public order has completely collapsed. Haru and Isagawa make for a fantastic, deeply layered detective duo, and their banter as they navigate empty highways is both charming and poignant.

The Weaknesses: A Flawed Climax and a Disconnecting Villain Unfortunately, the novel's second half struggles to maintain its early promise. While the psychological groundwork is laid beautifully, the actual plot begins to unravel as the investigation broadens. The biggest flaw lies in the central villain and the lack of background character development. Rather than building a deeply personal, psychological confrontation, the novel introduces a series of convoluted, late-stage thriller elements that distract from the main mystery. The final reveal of the killer's identity and their motive ultimately lacks the emotional weight and intricate structure of a Kanae Minato masterpiece, ending the book on a somewhat anticlimactic note.

[Megan Meriwether]

Murder at the End of the World Review
🌍☄️🕵🏻‍♀️🚐🏔️🇯🇵🔪🩸

Wow! I’m completely speechless. This book was the first one in a long time that had me putting off chores just so I could keep reading. 😆 Every chance I got, I found myself picking it back up because I just had to know what happened next!

Going into this book, it’s important to know that it blends dark humor with an apocalyptic setting and touches of realism. Haru was both funny and relatable, representing the softer, more innocent side of humanity, while Isagawa embodied its harsher, more cynical side. The contrast between the two was beautifully done, and their dynamic kept me completely hooked from beginning to end.

One of my favorite aspects of the story was its exploration of morality. When the world is ending, do humanity’s morals and values still matter, or do we simply surrender to chaos and our darkest instincts? This question is woven throughout the novel as both Haru and Isagawa face impossible situations together and on their own. The book also explores themes of crime and punishment, leading to several thought-provoking conversations that added so much depth to the story.

I also loved watching Haru and Isagawa’s relationship develop, along with their interactions with the supporting cast. The mystery element was incredibly well done, with multiple twists that genuinely left my jaw on the floor. Even when the killer was finally revealed, I was completely shocked. The pacing was fantastic, making this one of those books that’s nearly impossible to put down!

Overall, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5! I would recommend this to anyone looking to step outside their usual genre and pick up something fast-paced, thought-provoking, and incredibly entertaining. It does contain graphic scenes, as well as discussions of death and suicide, so I’d recommend checking the content warnings if those topics are difficult for you.

I’ll absolutely be keeping an eye out for more of Akane Araki’s work because this was brilliantly executed! I could easily see this being adapted for the screen. 😉

Thank you to Steerforth Press, Pushkin Press/Pushkin Vertigo, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review!

[Vicky Brown]

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, the author and everyone else who allowed me an ARC copy of this to read.

What would you do if you knew the world would end in 6 months time? Our FMC decides the time is now or never to pass her driving test (for reasons that we are unaware of until the end of the book). Driving lessons soon turn into murder investigations however, when a body is found in the boot of the learner vehicle.

I think its important to point out for people that are unaware, that this is a book translated from its original publication language. As such the book is full of Japanese names (of people, places etc) I did find some of the pronunciations difficult and I would have liked to have had some sort of reference in the book to help with the correct way of saying them, however this didnt detract from the book in anyway.

The books begins quite light hearted, despite the end of the world subject matter, however we are quickly brought back to earth with descriptions of suicide (trigger warning) which continues throughout the story.

The story is a bit of a slower burn, with the tension building as you get deeper into the mystery. I definitely found the last third of the book more gripping as the pieces all start coming together. The first part I felt is more focused on character building the found family group of strangers that all get pulled into the mystery of the murders.

Overall I enjoyed the story, I found the book easy to read and it did keep me interested. I would have preferred there to be more chapters (the whole book is only 5 chapters) as this would have helped me when it was time to stop reading. As it was I sometimes had to go back a few paragraphs to get back into the flow of what was happening.

Without spoilers, I enjoyed the ending, not only the big reveal but also the last few pages and the ending of the story as a whole.

I have rated the book 3 stars and I would recommend to other readers who enjoy both an end of the world story and/or a murder mystery.

[Kimmy]

I want to thank NetGalley and Steerforth & Pushkin Publishing for letting me read and review this book early.

This book is like a more appropriate teenaged Studio Ghibli movie. Imagine the world is ending and you are 19 again. Specifically, Japan is the epicenter of a massive meteorite that will annihilate the whole human population. Many people are trying to run to the opposite end of the planet even though the scientists determine that won’t ensure survival. Our MC is left in her small town with her shut-in brother waiting for the world to end. With the final 10 or so people left in town, she decides to finish learning how to drive. Through dry humor and a bleak look at the world, our MC and her instructor happen upon a body in the trunk of a car. Unlike the other suicides all over the area, this was an death done by someone else.

While I would typically be more interested, I think it was the fact that the MC mentioned there were other serial killers going out and murdering people since the world was ending anyway. It made me question why I should care. Yes there is justice, and thats what the ex-detective-now-driving-instructor does, but is there any reason to go on? I think like the MC, we are just roped into the murder mystery by the driving instruction just being so focused with finding justice in the empty world. Maybe I yearned for more character depth, but the dry atmosphere and strictly investigation forward plot lead me to struggle with the book.

Ultimately, it was the incredibly strong mystery and story that led me to a 3 star rating. It was hard to connect with the driving instructor the entire time, as well we were made to think in the beginning of the story that Japan is empty. Except slowly we meet a large cast of characters and a fairly present government still in place. I think I might not be in the age group for the intended readers. Late teens, Early twenties is perfect. You are pensive, longing for a deeper meaning, and drooling for a little drama.

[fridge_brilliance]

This book reads a lot like an anime complete in 13 meandering episodes, linked together by a whodunit set in a pre-apocalyptic version of Fukuoka, Japan. At first I nearly typed soft postapocalytpica, because that's what the vibes are, actually, but in fact it has a pretty high body count despite being generally mellow in tone, and also the apocalypse hasn't yet happened. A meteorite straightforwardly named Telos is due for an impact in a few months, and by the time the book opens, the world population has already known for a few months that the civilization as they knew it was a hard deadline. There is a lot of despair, suicide, maraudering and fleeing that's in the background, but we meet the protagonist, Haru, as she continues to take driving lessons with her driving instructor, an ex-police officer. When they find a body in the trunk of one of the driving school cards, they set course - Haru with reluctance and confusion, her driving instructor with zeal - to find the murderer. As the plot develops, they meet some more refugees, some more examples of lives embodying societal and institutional failings that have nothing to do with end of the world, have some philosophical conversations well-suited in tone and pace to that one-cour soft postapocalyptic anime it really reads as, work through a significant amount of red herrings to get to the end.

I read it across a week or so, in what you can call episode-sized bites, and I liked the note it finished on. I am not sure I would call this highly original, and I haven't read that many Japanese whodunit novels to compare, but I liked it as something to broaden my reading palate. It's penned by a woman, features a cast of many different types of women both staying true to themselves and adapting to the changed world around them, and I like that in a book.

Thanks to Netgalley and Pushkin press for the access to arc. 3.5 stars.

[Desiree Glaze]

That you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book.

We first meet Haru, the female main character, when she is taking driving lessons. The irony? The Earth is expected to be decimated in 66 days when a meteor strikes Japan.

This book is rather heavy, which isn’t really surprising considering there’s an impending apocalypse. Much of Japan is a ghost town. A vast majority of the residents have fled in hopes of surviving away from the direct impact of the meteor. Cars and car parts litter the highways, a result of the chaos that ensued from the mass exodus of people. Running water, electricity, and public transportation are things of the past. Looting food is necessary for survival. Many forests and natural areas are now home to human remains as people take their own lives, choosing to “die wild” instead of being victims of the meteor.

On top of all that, there is a serial killer on the loose. Without much a police presence at all anymore, Haru and her driving instructor begin their own investigation. As with Haru learning to drive as the world is coming to an end, irony can also be found in trying to solve murders just months before the human race is expected to be wiped out anyhow.

For all of the ugly and all of the death and other horrible topics in this book, there are some beautiful things too. The theme of found family is prevalent throughout. Strangers (at first) come together in wonderful ways to help each other. Whether it’s sharing a selfie stick to help get cell phone service or giving food to another person who’s hungry, most of the people left behind simply want to survive and help others do the same however they can. The characters we meet have intriguing stories. They are interesting, flawed, kind, and guarded - and they are all brought together by a common bond and desire.

To find and stop the murderer at the end of the world.