Book cover of The Master Key

Book description

A building full of secrets. A key that will unleash them all
The K Apartments for Ladies in Tokyo conceals a sinister past behind each door; a woman who has buried a child; a scavenger driven mad by ill-health; a wife mysteriously guarding her late husband's manuscripts; a talented violinist…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Master Key as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I love the mosaic of characters and the feeling that time has stood still in this 1962 novel, set in a female-only apartment block, the K Apartment for Ladies, in 1950s Tokyo.

It’s a world away from the settings of the last few books in places like Devon and Cornwall. I love Masako Togawa’s vignettes of the denizens of the 150 rooms; they are like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle – separate but interacting with each other in surprising ways.

Only by considering all the multiple portraits of the puzzle – the compelling secret lives of the widows, teachers, eccentrics,…

From Hugh's list on puzzling murder mysteries.

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These Blue Mountains by Sarah Loudin Thomas,

A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.

German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…

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