A prolific writer of her own brand of sometimes gothic suspense, Asa Nonami is known for her strong women characters in a mystery genre frequently predominated by men. Nonami was born in 1960 in Tokyo and attended Waseda University to study sociology before dropping out and getting a job at an advertising agency.
In 1988 she made her fiction debut with Happy Breakfast and won the Japan Mystery Suspense Award. Her other awards include the 115th Naoki Prize for The Hunter, which was adapted into a film, and the Chuokoron Prize for Literature in 2012. Her other works include The June 19th Bride, Paradise Thirty, Dramatic Children, Murderer of the Blooming Season, and Body.
