Fukuoka Prison, 1944. Beyond the prison walls, the war rages. Inside, a man is found brutally murdered.
Watanbe Yuichi, a young guard with a passion for reading, is ordered to investigate a murder. The victim, Sugiyama, also a guard, was feared and despised throughout the prison and inquiries have barely begun when a powerful inmate confesses. But Watanbe is unconvinced; and as he interrogates both the suspect and Yun Dong-ju, a talented Korean poet, he starts to realize that the fearsome guard was not all he appeared to be…
Korean author J.M. Lee makes his English-language debut this week with The Investigation, set in Japan’s notorious Fukuoka Prison during World War II. Translated by Chi-Young Kim, the novel imagines the prison experience of real-life Korean poet Yun Dong-ju against the backdrop of a murder case.
To celebrate the release of The Investigation, we’re giving away a copy to one lucky reader on Twitter! To enter the giveaway, follow @PasteBooks on Twitter and retweet this tweet by 5 p.m. on Saturday, August 15th (you must have a U.S. or Canadian address to enter). We’ll announce the winner on Saturday evening. Good luck!