Tokyo Express

Tokyo Express is an irresistible Hitchcockian gem: a fiendishly-plotted crime novel told in crisp, elegant prose
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
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
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
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
Seicho Matsumoto's brief and perennially popular Tokyo Express is a masterpiece of concision and tight plotting. . . exceptionally well paced and palpably tense, both features admirably preserved by Jesse Kirkwood in this fresh translation -- Bryan Karetnyk * TLS *