
Tokyo Express - Penguin Modern Classics (Paperback)
Seicho Matsumoto (author), Jesse Kirkwood (translator)Published: 30/03/2023

With a plot as precise and meticulous as the railway timetables which form such a crucial part of the mystery, Matsumoto's classic whodunit of impossible murder in coastal Japan is reminiscent of Georges Simenon at his finest.
'It was a puzzle with no solution. But he did not lose heart.'
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, a senior detective, and Kiichi Mihara, a young gun from Tokyo, something is not quite right. Together, they begin to pick at the knot of a unique and calculated crime.
Now widely available in English for the first time, Tokyo Express is celebrated around the world as Seicho Matsumoto's masterpiece - and as one of the most fiendish puzzles ever written.
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
ISBN: 9780241439081
Number of pages: 160
Weight: 123 g
Dimensions: 198 x 129 x 9 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
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
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“Great”
First published in 1958 this is the first English translation published in 2022. I loved this one. The story is intriguing with two detectives realising there is more to a double suicide than perhaps meets the eye.... More

“A detective story of the highest quality but it is also a work of literature”
A reprint and rebirth of a ‘50s Japanese detective novel, “Tokyo Express” tells the story of a man and a woman who are discovered dead on a beach in Southern Japan, still in each other's arms. The local police... More
“If Georges Simenon wrote in Japan....”
I absolutely enjoyed this short crime novel and totally see why Matsumoto is sometimes called the Japanese Georges Simenon. Simenon is my favourite crime author and this book reminded me of his work, with that special... More
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