A frenzied test of wits between ace detective Akechi Kogoro and the seemingly superhuman and fiendishly clever villain known only as Gold Mask, this is one of Edogawa Rampo’s most enjoyable and witty novels. The anonymous fiend, lurking imperturbably behind his glittering mask, leads a frenzied chase across Japan, gleefully using every imaginable trick to outwit his pursuers. But sooner or later he surely has to make a mistake?

Gold Mask is Rampo at his most gleeful and ingenious. It is also a wonderful picture of interwar Japan, mixing new technology and ancient sleights of hand.