Tokyo Express, by Seichō Matsumoto

 

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This Japanese murder mystery novel was first published in 1958 with English translations made in 1970 and 2022. Its original title was Points and Lines. It has an intricate plot that involves analysis of train and airplane schedules to determine if the primary suspects could have possibly been at the crime scene in light of their known locations according to their verified alibis. 

The story begins with what appears to be a lovers' suicide on a beach. But there are two detectives, Torigai and Mihara, who note that one of the deceased was a potential key witness in a nationwide corruption scandal involving government officials. Certain officials had a strong motive for murder in this case thus making them prime suspects, but they have alibis placing them far from the crime.

Thus most of this book's story involves following detective Mihara as he tries to find ways to show that it was possible for the suspects to have been at both the crime scene and at the alibi sights. I thought it was a pretty good mystery novel, but I'm not necessarily a good judge of this genre since I don't read many mysteries. 

[Of the two government officials who are shown by circumstantial evidence to be guilty of murder, one commits suicide before he can be charged and the other is untouched and likely to continue to rise in importance within the government bureaucracy. It is clear that the author is suggesting that the government is corrupt. ]

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