"Astrology Murder Magic" Author: [Japan] Shimada Soji Publisher: New Star Publishing Original title: Astrology Murder

Shimada Soji is a Japanese mystery novelist. He was born on October 12, 1948 in Fukuyama, Hiroshima Prefecture. He made his debut in 1980 with "Astrology Murder Magic", and later published "Crime in the Slanted House", "Foreign Knight", "Fantasy, Heaven Movement", "Northern Yuzuru 2/3 Murder Case" and other works, all of which are known for their grand scenes and bizarre tricks. His works mainly include the two series of "Astrologer Detective Mitarai Kiyoshi" and "Hot-blooded Detective Yoshiki Takeshi". The cumulative sales of Mitarai Kiyoshi series works have reached nearly 6 million copies. His representative work "Astrology Murder Magic" has won the third place in the "Top 100 Mystery Novels" selected by Japan's "Weekly Bunshun" and the second place in the "Top Ten Locked Room Mysteries in the World" selected by the British "Guardian".

He has been constantly exploring and innovating in his career as a writer, and has always spared no effort in supporting newcomers. He has helped famous mystery writers such as Yukito Ayatsuji, Rontarou Hozuki, Akio Utano, Yasuhiko Nishizawa, and Yusuke Maya at the beginning of their debut. He has successively established the "Fukuyama Mystery Literature Newcomer Award" and the "Shimada Shoji Mystery Novel Award", which have become important positions for discovering new mystery writers.

In recent years, while busying himself with global exchanges and promotion activities for mystery literature, he has continued to write, and has published works such as "The Sea of ​​​​Star Cage", "The Clown on the Roof", and "The Torii Secret Room".