Seicho Matsumoto forged a new tradition in Japanese crime fiction, moving beyond formulaic plots to weave in elements of human psychology and everyday life. His narratives often reflect broader social contexts and postwar nihilism, expanding the genre's scope and deepening its atmosphere. He introduced a new dimension by exposing corruption among both officials and criminals, focusing his investigations not just on the crime itself but on the society in which it occurred.
A jewel by Seicho Matsumoto (1909-1992), the master of Japanese mystery writing. A beautifully written crime novel set in a coastal city in Northern Japan that takes on the taboo of Japanese prostitution during the American occupation.
Why did Tsuneo's shy wife end up stone dead in a boutique in a louche Tokyo neighborhood? He discovers she's been having an affair, and, in a moment of panic, kills her lover. No apparent motive, no witnesses, a faltering investigation. But the pressure builds and Tsuneo starts making mistakes.
In the wee hours of a 1960s Tokyo morning, a dead body is found under the rails of a train, and the victim’s face is so badly damaged that police have a hard time figuring out the victim’s identity. Only two clues surface: an old man, overheard talking in a distinctive accent to a young man, and the word “kameda.” Inspector Imanishi leaves his beloved bonsai and his haiku and goes off to investigate—and runs up against a blank wall. Months pass in fruitless questioning, in following up leads, until the case is closed, unsolved.But Imanishi is dissatisfied, and a series of coincidences lead him back to the case. Why did a young woman scatter pieces of white paper out of the window of a train? Why did a bar girl leave for home right after Imanishi spoke to her? Why did an actor, on the verge of telling Imanishi something important, drop dead of a heart attack? What can a group of nouveau young artists possibly have to do with the murder of a quiet and “saintly” provincial old ex-policemen? Inspector Imanishi investigates.
Sbírka detektivních povídek. Macumontovy detektivní příběhy vycházejí z každodenního života japonské společnosti. Promyšlené zločiny odpovídají japonské důkladnosti a mentalitě, a přece se vždy najde nějaký zdánlivě nedůležitý detail...
新婚不久，鵜原憲一便拋下年輕妻子禎子消失在嚴寒的北陸！ 禎子採著丈夫的足跡，卻意外踏進了他心中的禁忌之地。 然而隨著禎子的深入，卻帶來了接二連三的死亡…… 丈夫究竟去了哪裡？真兇又是何人？ 那隱藏在狂吹不止的暴風雪、狂暴翻騰的黑暗巨浪之下的悲哀真相到底是什麼？ 一名廣告公司的員工，在新婚一個禮拜之後，便告失蹤。新婚妻子為找尋丈夫，毅然前往丈夫失蹤地北陸金澤找尋丈夫的蹤跡。丈夫究竟發生了什麼事情，是自願失蹤，亦或是被迫失蹤。 以北陸的冰冷海風為背景，一部包裹著重重謎團的懸疑小說。
'An irresistible Hitchcockian gem: a fiendishly-plotted crime novel told in crisp, elegant prose' Paula Hawkins, author of The Girl on the Train 'Matsumoto was Japan's Agatha Christie' Laura Hackett, The Sunday Times '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.
Detektivní povídka japonského autora, v níž se rozvíjí příběh o záhadné vraždě muže a ženy, jejichž mrtvoly byly nalezeny na opuštěném mořském pobřeží v zálivu Kašii. Případ vyšetřuje místní policie z blízkého městečka Hakaty, která ze zjištěných okolností usoudí na sebevraždu milenců a celou záležitost jednoduše uzavře. S tímto rozhodnutím není však spokojen starý policejní veterán Džútaró Torigaj. Pátrá na vlastní pěst a vnese do teorie o sebevraždě milenců pochyby.
