Butter – A Seductive Tale of Murder, Mystery, and the Pleasures of Food

"There are two things that I can simply not tolerate: feminists and margarine."

In the bustling heart of Tokyo, gourmet cook Manako Kajii sits behind bars, a convicted serial killer accused of luring lonely businessmen to their deaths with her irresistible home-cooked meals. The case has enthralled the nation, yet Kajii remains an enigma—refusing visitors, shunning the press.

That is, until journalist Rika Machida writes to her with an unusual request: a recipe for beef stew. To everyone’s surprise, Kajii responds.

For Rika, the only woman in her male-dominated newsroom, late nights and convenience-store ramen have become routine. But as she delves deeper into Kajii’s darkly seductive world of food, desire, and control, her own perceptions of hunger—both literal and figurative—begin to shift. 

Who is truly consuming whom?

Inspired by the real-life case of Japan’s notorious "Konkatsu Killer," Butter is a vivid, unsettling meditation on power, misogyny, and the intoxicating pleasures of food and rebellion.

"A mesmerizing, transgressive feast of a novel."

"A story as rich, layered, and complex as the dishes it describes."