A dark and twisted exploration of food, obsession, and power: a female gourmet cook turned serial killer, and the journalist determined to crack her case. Based on a true story.

Manako Kajii, a gourmet cook, sits in Tokyo Detention Centre, convicted of the serial murders of lonely businessmen. She allegedly seduced them with her exquisite home-cooked meals before killing them. The case has gripped Japan, but Kajii refuses to speak to the press or entertain visitors until journalist Rika Machida writes her a letter asking for her beef stew recipe.

Rika, the only woman in her news office, spends her nights working late and rarely cooking more than ramen. What starts as a request for a recipe soon becomes an intense exchange between her and the steely Kajii, evolving into something far deeper than journalistic research. Rika hopes to soften Kajii with their gastronomic exchanges, but with each meal she consumes, something within Rika begins to awaken.

Could she and Kajii have more in common than Rika ever imagined?

Butter is a provocative, unsettling novel that delves into themes of misogyny, obsession, and the sensual pleasures of food in Japan.