Soon they're all ' riding downhill with no brakes', waiting to crash. Not quite sure why she agrees, Masako nevertheless disposes of the body (she decides to ' cut him up and throw away the pieces'), bullying a reluctant Yoshie into helping (Kuniko's nosiness and greed lead her to inveigle herself in events and almost bring a disastrous end to the amateur criminals' activities). The pressure begins to build after Yayoi impulsively kills her husband and enlists Masako's help in avoiding the consequences. Yayoi Yamamoto is a pretty, shallow young mother, whose husband has begun to beat her and has gambled away their joint savings. ' Skipper' Yoshie Azuma is a widow in her mid fifties, subjugating her needs to others, as she cares for a bedridden, ungrateful mother-in-law, and funds two daughters who only take advantage of her. Thirty something Kuniko Jonouchi is selfish and flamboyant, the ultimate consumer, financially overwhelmed, taking on loan shark debts to pay interest on purchases she will never be able to afford. Masako Katori is a strong woman who has lost her way in life, with a husband coccooned in his own depression, and a seventeen-year-old son who has ' given up both education and conversation'.

The four women work nights, part-time on a factory assembly line making boxed lunches. It starts slowly - initially with the feel of Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment - but evolves into a unique tale of how four damaged, despairing women (and one broken man) react to a situation of extreme stress. The novel won Japan's top Mystery award, and is also a 2004 Edgar Award nominee. O ut is a psychological noir thriller, set in the Tokyo suburbs of Japan (seamlessly translated from the Japanese by Stephen Snyder).

Out natsuo kirino characters