The Expense of Being You

In the fictional nation of Hoshikawa, a resident lawsuit over misused political funds threatens to expose the carefully constructed life of Kenjiro Maki, a rising municipal councilor. His lifelong friend and business partner, Daisuke Koga, knows the devastating secret beneath Maki's public persona. When their bond fractures under financial strain, identity becomes a weapon. Maki orchestrates an elaborate death trap, forcing Koga to confront a fate sealed by his own trust. Detective Reiko Himura sifts through fiscal records and psychological wreckage to reveal a modern crime rooted not in greed, but in the terror of losing the person one has pretended to be. This is a Val McDermid-style psychological thriller where the ledger of the soul carries the deadliest entries.