Top 3 Seicho Matsumoto Books

Also in the Far East awoke the black gender back in the XNUMXth century. And without a doubt Matsumoto was the one who took the controls of the Japanese criminal narrative with an extensive production that manages to lead us to similar underworlds compared to the Western world, with its sewers and other spaces where the underworld and power seal their pacts with blood or with what more at hand catch...

As a true pioneer of Japanese noir, Matsumoto overflows with authenticity, an essential aspect to bring us closer to that darker vision of this society as marked by ethical rigor and social formalism as it is ready for its vanishing points based on the inescapable human condition in which worst cases.

Unlike the western noir genre, Matsumoto doesn't break down series of investigators. Each of his novels is a new universe with new characters. The changing scenarios allow for greater variability in its plots and an aspect that may be overlooked by the narrators of series on the other side of the world. And it is that each new protagonist drags his capacity for surprise, something that comes in handy to facilitate plot twists. But of course, here we like to get acquainted with the investigators on duty since Sherlock Holmes or Miss Jane Marple until Pepe Carvalho flooded our imagination.

So let's enjoy a novel proposal considering that good old Matsumoto built his work from the 50s of the XNUMXth century until the end of this one. I understand that little by little more novels made in Matsumoto may be arriving to the delight of those seeking alternative proposals in the noir genre.

Top 3 Recommended Seicho Matsumoto Novels

the tokyo express

A seamless equivalent to any great researcher of the Western imagination. An invitation to deduction thanks to the good work of the protagonist in charge of the crime on duty. At the same time, we "enjoy" that close sensation that corruption reaches wills from here and there. To the point that murder may be the only solution when one is completely muddled.

The bodies of an obscure official and a waitress appear one morning on a beach on the island of Kyushu. Everything seems to indicate that this is a clear case: two lovers who have committed suicide together by taking cyanide.

But there are certain details that call the attention of the old local policeman Jutaro Torigai: the deceased had spent six days alone in his hotel and in his pocket they found a single train ticket; so surely the lovers had not traveled together. Immediately it is also discovered that the official worked in a ministry in which an important corruption plot has just been uncovered; Sub-Inspector Mihara of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police will take charge of the investigation in which he will have the invaluable help of Torigai.

 Published in Japan in 1957, the tokyo express is one of the most famous best sellers of Seicho Matsumoto. Its carefully assembled intrigue and combination of psychological, social, and political elements marked a new era in Japanese crime fiction.

the tokyo express

an unknown place

During a business trip in Kobe, Tsuneo Asai receives the news that his wife Eiko has died of a heart attack. Since she suffered from coronary disease, the cause of her death is not so strange as the place where it happened: a remote suburb of Tokyo that she had never told him about and where dating hotels abound. Intrigued, Asai will try to find out the true circumstances of her death through an obsessive investigation that will lead him to piece together the unexpected secret life of his wife.

As we accompany an impromptu detective on this journey full of unexpected twists, Seicho Matsumoto slides his subtle critique of mid-XNUMXth century Japanese society and the rigid conventions and falsehoods that cloud it. An intriguing puzzle cleverly put together through some of his favorite themes: lies, revenge and fear of scandal.

Published in 1975, an unknown place is a classic crime novel written by the Japanese master of the genre and author of such popular works as the tokyo express .

an unknown place

The girl from Kyushu

Kiriko Yanagida, a humble young woman, travels from the island of Kyushu to Tokyo to enlist the help of the famous lawyer Kinzo Otsuka. Her brother has been accused of murder but Kiriko is convinced that he is innocent: she believes that the only way for her to free him from the death penalty is to get Otsuka, the best criminal in the country, to take charge of the murder. defense of her. But when he decides not to accept the case, she sets in motion a series of events that will have unforeseen consequences.

The girl from Kyushu , like all good crime novels, is not only a mystery novel, but also tries to describe and question the society in which it is set; Matsumoto deals in this case with the difficulties that people with fewer resources have in obtaining a fair trial.

First published in 1961, The girl from Kyushu It is a story about injustice, power and the thirst for revenge that is a good example of the narrative skill of its author, one of the most prominent Japanese crime novelists.

The girl from Kyushu

Other recommended books by Seicho Matsumoto

The Sandcastle

A detective novel full of keys to that delightful mystery of investigation. The murderer as one of the typical criminals with a modus operandi towards the perfect crime. The investigation moved with that rhythm like a game against the clock. The truth held like a lost note that we all seem to evoke as we read, like the beginning of a song once heard...

One early morning in the sixties in Tokyo, a body appears under the train tracks. The victim's face, severely damaged, makes it very difficult for the police to identify him. They only have two clues: an older man whom someone overheard addressing a young man in a singular accent, and the word "kameda."

Inspector Imanishi abandons his prized bonsai and his haikus and sets out to investigate a case that ends up being a dead end. The months pass between clues and fruitless interrogations and finally the case remains unsolved. But Imanishi is not satisfied and a series of coincidences makes her return to him. What led a young woman to scatter pieces of paper from the train window? Why did a bar waitress go home right after Imanishi spoke to her? How is it possible that an actor about to reveal something important to Imanishi suddenly dies of a heart attack?

5/5 - (15 votes)

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