Sakaguchi Ango is a representative writer of Japanese "rogue" (decadent) literature and an avid fan of mystery novels. He understands mystery novels as an advanced form of entertainment and a competition game between authors and readers to compete in wisdom. This determines that the mystery novels he created have some common features: they emphasize puzzle solving, are literary, and highlight suspense in simple stories and complex human nature. Most of his works are novellas and short stories. This work is one of his masterpieces, published in 1954.
