Kanae Minato Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Kanae Minato is a Japanese author of fiction. She is known for her novels in the genre of thriller and crime fiction.

She was born in 1973 in Innoshima in Hiroshima, Japan. She first began writing when she was in her early thirties. Her first novel was titled Confessions and it was released in 2008. Since then many translations have come out and various editions. However, when it first came out the novel became an instant bestseller and was a hit among audiences. It also was awarded the Japanese Booksellers Award.

Confessions was even turned into a movie. The movie was similarly titled and was named Confession. It was directed by Tetsuya Nakashima. The movie was nominated for an Academy Award in 2011.

Kanae Minato is well known in Japan, where she is called the queen of iyamisu. The word ‘iyamisu’ means “eww mystery”, which is an actual subgenre in the genre of mystery fiction that is defined by grisly episodes as well as a focus on the dark side of the human nature. Naturally, readers should be prepared when they take on her books as they can be scary and even a bit jarring! However, if you like this type of genre work then you may very well like her novels.

Confessions is the first full-length novel released under Minato’s name! In this book, you will truly discover why Kanae Minato was dubbed the queen of the iyamisu genre. See for yourself why this gripping book a movie by the same title (mostly the same title) about the same events. This story is more captivating and suspenseful than you may even be prepared for, so hang on tight!

Main character Yuko Moriguchi has had a difficult life. She was once so happy and engaged to be married. But that engagement abruptly ended with the arrival of a great tragedy. Once that happened, all that Yuko had was her child Manami to live for at just four years of age.

When tragedy strikes again, Yuko Moriguchi is driven to the brink. An accident on the grounds of the middle school has left her child dead. It feels even more devastating because this is where Yuko teaches and works. But now it will never be the same ever again, even if she wants it to be.

This accident has broken her, perhaps even more than when her engagement was ended by a horrible event. This event is even more horrible and Yuko has tendered the resignation of her teaching post to the school as a result. She never wants to come back to the school again.

Yuko believes as well that the students at the school were the ones that killed her daughter and it was no accident. She is dead set on having her last ultimate revenge. But before that happens, she will deliver one last lecture and tell a story that will change how her students see things forever.

The story she is telling will eventually come to turn over every thought that her pupils ever had and make them see that they never knew two of their own peers. Yuko’s crazy plan for revenge is in motion, and there is nothing that can stop it so far as the reader can tell. She has lost her daughter, and those responsible for the loss are going to pay.

Check out this novel for yourself and see why this book was so exciting and captivating that they just had to bring it to the big screen in movie form. Confessions takes on different voices at times to tell a story that explores the very limits of emotions such as love, despair, and punishment.

With crazy twists throughout the book that the reader will never see coming, one woman’s loss may finally overwhelm her and send her into madness. There will never be anything that can bring this teacher’s daughter back to life again, and her emotion and grief will result in a confrontation between adult and student that could hurt more people than anticipated.

When this book is over, you will never see a classroom in the same way. Check out Confessions if you are ready to take on this intense tale!

Penance is the second fictional full-length novel penned by masterful author Kanae Minato! This Japanese writer is famous for her ability to tell a genuinely spooky tale, and Minato delivers in this creepy and satisfyingly spine-chilling tale released in 2017.

Following in the footsteps of her successful bestselling debut novel, Minato is back to spin a story that is going to keep you up at night if you’re not already staying up all night to find out how it ends! This is the story of four women who all share the same childhood trauma and are now haunted by it.

Maki, Akiko, Yuko, and Sae were just children when they were tricked by a stranger. The mysterious person convinced them to separate from their friend Emily. But then later Emily is found dead just hours later, and she was murdered.

The girls are understandably upset. The whole thing happened so quickly that they could not even give an accurate description of how the stranger looked to the police after she was found dead and they started making the rounds.

But Emily’s mother is not convinced that the girls had nothing to do with it. She holds them partially responsible in her mind and Asako is half out of her mind with grief. She vows that the young girls will be the ones to pay for the murder of her daughter, even if she knows deep down that they were not the ones who killed her– the stranger was and tricked them.

Will the girls be affected by what Emily’s mother decides to do? This tale of revenge and trauma early in life will have you flipping the pages to find out what happens next. This international bestseller has won awards and is darkly unique in its own way. Pick Penance up for yourself to find out what happens in this thrilling story of revenge from Kinae Minato!