The Detective Is Already Dead is almost at the end of its story. Author nigozyu revealed in the light novel series' 14th volume, which Kadokawa released in Japan on Friday, that the plan is to wrap up the series with the next volume. That makes Volume 15 the final book in the main series.
The news lands right in the middle of the anime's long-awaited second season, which premiered on October 7 and is streaming on Crunchyroll. A release date for the final volume has not been announced.
Seven Years Of The Detective Is Already Dead
The series began as an award winner. Nigozyu's novel took home the top prize at the 15th MF Bunko J Light Novel Newcomer Award in 2019, and Kadokawa published the first volume in November of that year under its MF Bunko J label, with illustrations by Umibouzu. The title and its opening hook made it one of the most talked-about light novel debuts of that year.
The story follows Kimihiko Kimizuka, a teenager who has always been a magnet for trouble. He stumbles onto murder scenes and gets handed mysterious attache cases, and that bad luck leads him to Siesta, a brilliant detective fighting a secret war against an organization of pseudohumans called SPES. Kimihiko becomes her assistant and follows her on adventures across the world, until she dies. The story picks up a year later, when Kimihiko has gone back to an ordinary life, only for a new case to drag him back into Siesta's unfinished war.
Yen Press publishes the light novels in English and released Volume 12 in August, so English readers are still a couple of volumes behind Japan. Yen Press also published all six volumes of the manga adaptation by Mugiko, which ran in Kadokawa's Monthly Comic Alive from May 2020 to October 2023.
The franchise has also grown beyond the main story. A spinoff novel focused on Charlotte, The Detective Is Already Dead Code: RED, launched in May 2024. It is written by Hoko Hinachi and illustrated by Minori Chigusa, with nigozyu supervising.
Season 2 Is Streaming Now
The anime adaptation first premiered in July 2021 with a one-hour special and ran for 12 episodes. Manabu Kurihara directed the first season at studio ENGI, and Funimation streamed it with an English dub at the time.
Fans waited five years for more, and the second season finally premiered this October. Crunchyroll is streaming the new episodes as they air in Japan, along with an English dub. As we reported earlier, the Season 2 dub brings back Austin Tindle as Kimihiko and Xanthe Huynh as Siesta.
The first season covered the opening volumes and Siesta's backstory, told in a different order than the novels, which split some viewers at the time. Season 2 is pushing further into the novels, and with the source now heading for its last volume, there is a clear finish line for any future seasons to aim at.
What Comes Next
Nigozyu has not shared a release window for Volume 15, and Kadokawa has not announced any plans for after the main series wraps up. The author's note in Volume 14 only confirmed that the next book is planned as the ending.
For longtime readers, that means the end of a story that has been building around Siesta's death since its very first line. Whether the final volume gives Kimihiko and Siesta a happy ending is the question that has hung over the series from the start.
Do you think The Detective Is Already Dead will end with Siesta back for good, or will the final volume stay true to its title?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.