About the Book: Onizuka Kumako, a bold and beautiful woman with ties to the yakuza, marries wealthy widower Shirakawa Fukutaro, but their happiness shatters when his car plunges into the harbor and he drowns. Accused of murder and vilified as a femme fatale, Kumako steadfastly claims her innocence amid intense media scrutiny. As public opinion turns against her, a determined defense lawyer uncovers unsettling doubts. In this gripping psychological noir, Seicho Matsumoto explores the hidden biases and dark impulses that shape truth and justice, now masterfully translated into English for the first time.