WINNER OF THE JAPANESE DETECTIVE WRITERS CLUB PRIZE

This prize-winning railway murder mystery from Japan is a crime classic perfect for fans of Agatha Christie and Seicho Matsumoto.

Early one morning, a body is found lying next to the railway tracks just outside of Kuki Station in Saitama Prefecture, shot dead. It is identified as belonging to the owner of a local mill which is embroiled in a labour dispute. Suspicion initially falls on the workers' union, then on a new religious sect that has been gaining followers recently.

Chief Inspector Onitsura and his assistant Tanna are called in to investigate, and soon set off in a journey across Japan, from Tokyo to Kyoto and Osaka, and finally to the island of Kyushu, in a hunt for the killer.

But as they investigate, the killer strikes again, and again. Will they be able to catch the murderer before even more people are slain?

"This is an intriguing novel and its portrait of life in 1950s Japan is compelling. I particularly admire Ayukawa's ability to sum up a character in a few words" - Literary Review

"Excellent... Well-written, fair-play, and consistently interesting about Japanese culture, not least the impact of the war" - The Critic