GROTESQUE

Two prostitutes have been murdered in Tokyo. Yuriko had been working as a prostitute all her adult life, startingwhile still at school, where her stunning beauty compensated for what shelacked in intellect and commanded attention from older men. Kazue worked for a blue-chip company and had good career prospects, butwas unpopular with colleagues and felt isolated. She chose to walk thestreets at night where she hoped to get noticed. Twenty years previously both women were educated at an elite school foryoung ladies, and both exhibited exceptional promise prior to theirbrutal, unnecessary deaths. How and why did this tragedy occur? Withnarration from Yuriko's embittered, unattractive sister and through thegirls' journals and diaries Kirino allows their shocking story to unfurl. As with Out, Grotesque gets under the skin, and Kirino's analysis of thefemale psyche grips the reader. The extreme need to succeed, and thevicious desire to be accepted in the bewildering environment of modernlife is explored here with acute and chilling insight. Grotesque is amasterful and haunting achievement.