Book Review: Tokyo Express by Seicho Matsumoto
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About The Book
"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.Â
Find it in this month's Bucket List Book Box
Why We Love It
Originally published in 1958 and a bestseller in Japan since, Tokyo Express is considered a classic of Japanese crime fiction that's perfect for fans of Agatha Christie.
It tells the story of a young couple found dead on a beach in a southern region of Japan. Although most local authorities regard it as a double suicide, one local detective, Torigai Jutaro, and his Tokyo counterpart, Kiichi Mihara, are not convinced.
A fairly short and fast-paced detective story, the book follows Torigai and Mihara as they doggedly work together to unravel the circumstances of the deaths and the alibi of their main suspect.
Distinctive for being more of a ‘how it was done’, rather than a ‘who did it’, the book is filled with misdirection, plot twists and red herrings to further complicate the puzzle. It’s this detailed, meticulous and intricate plotting that makes Tokyo Express so good and so well-loved even now, over 60 years after publication.
An utterly engrossing page-turner of a book, it's one that you’ll just not want to put down once you start.
