TOKYO EXPRESS

Police rule it a double suicide. Investigators are not so sure, and probe.

Several servers at Tokyo’s comfy Koyuki restaurant are surprised to see co-worker Toki engaged in intimate conversation with a handsome young man on a train platform. True, it’s customary for waitresses to meet with customers outside the restaurant, but Toki keeps to herself at work and never flirts with customers, not even her dedicated regular, industrialist Tatsuo Yasuda, who always requests her. Not long after, Toki and a man identified as Kenichi Sayama are found dead on Kashii Beach, many miles from the city. The undisturbed corpses and the presence of cyanide seem to indicate a double suicide. Police Detective Torigai, who’s skeptical of that ruling, moves forward in small, measured steps. When Kiichi Mihara, investigator with the Second Investigative Division of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police, which examines white-collar crimes, offers to work with Torigai, the inquiry gains traction and accelerates. A key piece of evidence is Sayama’s involvement in a bribery case that’s been compromised by his death. Originally published in 1958 and sometimes called Points and Lines, Matsumoto’s debut novel is credited with launching the mystery genre in Japan. The story is built on the meticulous examination of data; timelines and maps and train schedules figure prominently. Its underlying message about malignant corporate growth in the aftermath of World War II adds poignancy and raises the novel above the genre’s parameters.

A tidy vintage whodunit with a forensic flavor.