Detective Yoshitaro Katayama would rather avoid blood, heights, dark spaces, and plenty of other things that come with police work. But when a young woman is murdered, he reluctantly heads to Hagoromo Women’s College to investigate rather than face the gruesome crime-scene photographs.

As more murders follow, Katayama encounters Holmes, a calico cat left without an owner after the college dean becomes another victim. Holmes soon reveals an uncanny talent for uncovering clues, giving the reluctant detective an unexpected partner as he tries to unravel the case.

Translated from Japanese by Haydn Trowell, A Game of Cat and Killer introduces English-language readers to Jiro Akagawa’s long-running Mikeneko Holmes mysteries, pairing a squeamish detective with a remarkably observant feline sidekick.

• Title: A Game of Cat and Killer
• Series: The Casebooks of Mikeneko Holmes
• Author: Jiro Akagawa
• Translator: Haydn Trowell
• Format: Trade Paperback
• Pages: 272
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
• Publication Date: September 29, 2026
• Genre: Mystery / Crime Fiction / Japanese Fiction
• ISBN: 9781538786710