Butter | Asako Yuzuki
A cult Japanese bestseller about a female gourmet cook and serial killer, and the journalist determined to understand her. Inspired by a true story and translated by Polly Barton.
Manako Kajii, a brilliant cook, sits in Tokyo Detention Centre, convicted of murdering lonely businessmen she allegedly lured with exquisite home-cooked meals. She refuses all press contact—until journalist Rika Machida writes asking for her beef stew recipe.
As their unlikely correspondence grows, what begins as research becomes something far more personal. With each meal Rika tastes, something stirs inside her—and she starts to wonder whether she and Kajii share more than she ever imagined.
£9.99
Only 2 left in stock
Description
The cult Japanese bestseller about a female gourmet cook and serial killer, and the journalist intent on cracking her case— inspired by a true story and translated by Polly Barton.
Gourmet cook Manako Kajii is being held in the Tokyo Detention Centre, convicted of murdering a string of lonely businessmen she is said to have seduced with her remarkable home cooking. The case has gripped the nation, yet Kajii refuses every press request.
That is, until journalist Rika Machida writes to her—not for an interview, but for her beef stew recipe. Kajii cannot resist replying. Rika, the only woman in her newsroom, works late most nights and rarely cooks anything more ambitious than ramen.
Their prison visits unfold less like interviews and more like masterclasses in food. Rika hopes this culinary exchange will help her soften Kajii, but soon it seems she may be the one being transformed. With every dish she tries, something begins to awake inside her. She starts to wonder whether she and Kajii might have more in common than she once thought.
Inspired by the true case of the con woman and serial killer nicknamed “The Konkatsu Killer,” Asako Yuzuki’s Butter is a vivid, gripping exploration of misogyny, obsession, and the transgressive pleasures of food in modern Japan.