Tokyo Express
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  • Published: 30 June 2022
  • ISBN: 9780241581247
  • Imprint: Penguin Audio
  • Format: Audio Download
  • RRP: $18.00

Tokyo Express

Formats & editions
Paperback
30 May 2023
EBook
7 Jul 2022
Audiobook
30 Jun 2022
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An unputdownable detective novel from Seicho Matsumoto, Japan's master of mystery

In a rocky cove in the bay of Hakata, the bodies of a young and beautiful couple are discovered. Stood in the coast's wind and cold, the police see nothing to investigate: the flush of the couple's cheeks speaks clearly of cyanide, of a lovers' suicide. But in the eyes of two men, Torigai Jutaro, an old and shabby detective, and Kiichi Mihara, a young gun from Tokyo, something is not quite right. Together, they will begin to pick at the knot of a unique and calculated crime...

A coiled mystery in the vein of Georges Simenon, Tokyo Express is Seicho Matsumoto's bestselling masterwork.
  • Published: 30 June 2022
  • ISBN: 9780241581247
  • Imprint: Penguin Audio
  • Format: Audio Download
  • RRP: $18.00
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About the author

Seicho Matsumoto

Seicho Matsumoto was born in 1909 in Fukuoka, Japan. Self-educated, Matsumoto published his first book when he was forty years old and he quickly established himself as a master of crime fiction. His exploration of human psychology and Japanese post-war malaise, coupled with the creation of twisting, dark mysteries, made him one of the most acclaimed and best-selling writers in Japan. He received the prestigious Akutagawa Literary Prize in 1950 and the Kikuchi Kan Prize in 1970. He died in 1992.

Also by Seicho Matsumoto

Inspector Imanishi Investigates
Pro Bono
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Praise for Tokyo Express

Tokyo Express is an irresistible Hitchcockian gem: a fiendishly-plotted crime novel told in crisp, elegant prose

Paula Hawkins, author of The Girl on the Train

This classic of postwar Japanese crime fiction was banned in its day for its 'decadent western ideas'. Now, the fascinatingly detailed investigations of Inspector Torigai echo those of Simenon's Maigret in a pared-down narrative shot through with political critique.

Financial Times, Summer Reads 2022

A labyrinth of convincing alibis and false leads... Matsumoto's classic status is richly deserved

Daily Mail

Tense, enigmatic, thrillingly weird - a glorious find

Kevin Barry, author of Night Boat to Tangier

The debut novel of bestselling writer Seicho Matsumoto, first published in Japan in 1958 and never out of print, is an ingeniously plotted railway mystery

Guardian

An absolute corker of a read -- so brilliantly shrouded in mystery that it was impossible to put it down

Lisa Hall, author of Between You and Me

A fiendishly complex case. A deep understanding of human nature drives this intricately plotted masterpiece of Japanese crime writing. A timely and welcome opportunity for a new generation to discover Seicho Matsumoto

Brian McGilloway, author of The Empty Room

The Simenon of Japan. . . a legendary writer

Le Monde

The greatest Japanese writer of detective stories of the past century. . . Matsumoto infused the genre with social conscience. Highly recommended

La Repubblica

Matsumoto is a necessity, reading him is like having a bowl of rice you never get tired of

Masato Ara