Born in 1958 in Osaka, Taku Ashibe graduated from the faculty of law at Dōshisha University, after which he began a career in journalism, holding various posts at the Yomiuri Shimbun's Osaka office. In 1986 he received an honourable mention at the 2nd Fantasy Literature Newcomers Award, and in 1990 he won the inaugural Ayukawa Prize for his debut novel A Thirteen-Hand Murder-Comedy. He became a full-time writer in 1994. A member of Japan's Honkaku Mystery Writers' Club, he is the author of over two dozen novels and many short-story collections.

Bryan Karetnyk is a translator of Japanese and Russian literature. His recent translations for Pushkin Press include Seishi Yokomizo's The Village of Eight Graves, Futaro Yamada's The Meiji Guillotine Murders and Ryunosuke Akutagawa's Murder in the Age of Enlightenment.