Zaregoto, Book 2: The Kubishime Romanticist

"Fresh from unmasking an assassin on a posh island paradise, Ii-chan is finally an ultra-cool college student--jaded, sarcastic, and not exactly consumed by academic ambition. Now more interested in angst and anomie than in catching killers, Ii-chan figures that danger is a thing of the past. Wrong! There's a homicidal maniac loose in Kyoto, a perp with the soul of an artist whose talent is apparent in the inspired way he festoons his crime scenes with body parts. But then murder hits much closer to home. Hours after attending a friend's birthday party, Ii-chan learns that the guest of honor, a pretty co-ed, has been found strangled to death. What's more, Ii-chan is the prime suspect. The lackadaisical college kid had better hope that his crime-solving skills weren't just a fluke, because the killer is within striking distance... of him"--Cover, P. [4].