A Struggle in the Dark and Other Writings

A valuable lump of platinum disappears from a workshop. A young detective suspects that the answer lies in an ordinary teapot—and leads the investigation toward a confrontation in the dark. Elsewhere, a doctor’s ghost story conceals a dangerous intervention in a marriage, while a cholera epidemic turns Tokyo into a feverish setting for murder and revenge.

This collection brings together three complete tales by Kosakai Fuboku and his essay on the pleasures of historical detective fiction. “A Struggle in the Dark” combines chemical ingenuity with a lively young sleuth; “A Stormy Night” moves from a ghost-story gathering to a disturbing domestic mystery; and “The Kiss of Death” joins bitter social satire to a macabre reversal. Between the stories, Fuboku considers why the settings of Edo and revolutionary Paris can make investigations so compelling.

A physician and pioneering Japanese mystery writer, Fuboku used scientific curiosity, grotesque imagery, and sardonic humor to test the certainty of explanations. This new English translation preserves the works’ period voices, with concise notes on names, dramatic quotations, historical references, and textual uncertainties. AI-assisted translation, prepared and edited by Valentin Sarić.