Niki Etsuko

In 1981, Niki received a Mystery Writers of Japan Award for her short fiction.

Niki later married and assisted her husband with translation work. She continued with her own writing. In 1981, Niki received the Mystery Writers' of Japan Award for short fiction.

Niki was born in Tokyo and began writing fiction after a childhood bout of polio left her unable to walk. In 1957, Niki's detective novel The Cat Knew received the Edogawa Rampo Prize for best mystery fiction and became a best-seller, breaking all sales records for Japanese detective novels. The book was credited for introducing a new style of detective story and making the genre more accessible to female audiences in Japan.

In 1957, Niki published her mystery novel Neko wa shitte ita (The Cat Knew), a story about two amateur detectives – a brother and sister, both students – who solve a series of murders at a local hospital. When the novel was awarded that year's Edogawa Rampo Prize for best mystery fiction, 29-year-old Niki became the center of media attention. While previous winners of the prize had been selected from the ranks of well-established authors for long-term achievements, 1957 was the first year judges had chosen a brand new work (and relatively obscure writer) to receive the honour. The judges commented on Niki's writing style:

Niki Etsuko (1928–1986) was a Japanese novelist, noted for becoming the first female Japanese writer of mystery fiction to achieve widespread recognition and commercial success.

Niki Etsuko was born in 1928 in Tokyo, Japan. At the age of four, she became sick with polio and was left permanently unable to walk. She was subsequently tutored at home by her older brother. As she grew up, Niki wrote hundreds of stories, starting out with children's fiction before moving almost exclusively into the mystery genre.