Career
She started writing in her thirties. In youth she was an avid fan of mystery novels of Edogawa Ranpo, Maurice Leblanc, Agatha Christie, Keigo Higashino, Miyuki Miyabe and Yukito Ayatsuji. She has been described in Japan as "the queen of iyamisu." Iyamisu (eww mystery) is a subgenre of mystery fiction which deals with grisly episodes and the dark side of human nature.
Readers blurt out "eww" when they are reading iyamisu novels.
The term was created in 2006 by the mystery critic Aoi Shimotsuki. There has been an iyamisu boom in Japan since around 2012.
Kanae Minato, Mahokaru Numata and Yukiko Mari are regarded as representatives of the genre in Japan. The back cover blurb of the Japanese edition of Gone Girl, published in June 2013, was "One of the best iyamisu novels from overseas." The English edition of Minato"s Confessions, published in August 2014, was described by a critic as "the Gone Girl of Japan." Wall Street Journal selected Confessions as one of the 10 best mysteries of 2014. and nominations Japanese Japanese films Confessions (2010) Kita no Kanaria tachi (2012) (Based on her short story Niju nen go no Shukudai (二十年後の宿題)) The Snow White Murder Case (Shirayukihime Satsujin Jiken) (2014) Japanese television dramas Kyōgū (2011) Penance (2012) (Shokuzai) Kōkō Nyūshi (2012) Yakō Kanransha (2013) Hana no Kusari (2013) North no Tame ni (2014).
