Uketsu’s interactive horror-mystery novel Strange Pictures has been named to Waterstones’ shortlist for Book of the Year 2025.

First published in Japan by Futabasha in 2022, Strange Pictures unfolds like a literary puzzle: readers decipher the plot from clues concealed within nine unsettling paintings. The book quickly developed a fervent following, selling more than 1.2 million copies in Japan and exceeding two million copies worldwide.

Waterstones — the U.K.’s largest bookstore chain with close to 300 shops across the U.K. and Ireland — bases its annual Book of the Year selection on titles that staff most enthusiastically recommend to customers. The shortlist draws major attention across the British publishing scene and among general readers; Waterstones described Uketsu’s entry as “a horror novel by a Japanese author originating on social media, gaining attention even in the English-speaking world — an unconventional pick.”

Strange Pictures has earned accolades beyond the U.K.: in France it was chosen as FNAC’s Book of the Month; in Germany it reached No. 1 on the May 2025 Krimibestenliste compiled by Deutschlandfunk and Deutschlandfunk Kultur; and in Thailand it opened at the top of a prominent book fair’s rankings. Translation rights have been sold in 36 territories across five continents, including the United States, South Korea, China, Brazil and Morocco.

Uketsu’s most recent entry in the series, Strange Maps, is currently on sale in Japan and recently claimed the top spot on Billboard Japan’s new chart, the Japan Book Hot 100. Below is Uketsu’s response to the U.K. nomination.

“I’m deeply honored and truly grateful. I lived in Surrey, England, as a child. The overcast skies, the scent of rain, and the serene yet slightly uncanny culture were formative experiences for my writing. I’m thrilled to reconnect with readers in the U.K. in this way.”

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