{"product_id":"the-black-swan-mystery-9781805335238","title":"The Black Swan Mystery","description":"\u003cb\u003eTHE JAPANESE CRIME FICTION CLASSIC: A prize-winning railway murder mystery set in 1960s Japan--for fans of Agatha Christie and Seicho Matsumoto! \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFull of devious twists and turns, this brilliant puzzle mystery is considered to be one of the greatest alibi deconstruction mysteries ever written \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eEarly one morning, the owner of a local mill is found lying next to the railway tracks just outside of Kuki Station. Suspicion initially falls on the workers' union, with whom the man had been embroiled in a labour dispute, then on a new religious sect that has been gaining followers recently. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eChief 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 Kyūshu, in a hunt for the killer. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBut as they investigate, the killer strikes again, and again. Will they be able to catch the murderer before even more people are slain? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFans of Agatha Christie's \u003ci\u003e4.50 from Paddington \u003c\/i\u003eand Seicho Matsumoto's \u003ci\u003eTokyo Express\u003c\/i\u003e will delight in the devious twists and turns of \u003ci\u003eThe Black Swan Mystery\u003c\/i\u003e, as well as in the characterisation and portrait of 1960s Japan. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe author, Tetsuya Ayukawa, is considered to be the master of alibi deconstruction mysteries-a talent that is on full display in this brilliant classic railway murder mystery, which won the prestigious Japanese Detective Writers Club Prize.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTetsuya Ayukawa\u003c\/b\u003e (1919-2002) was born in the Sugamo district of Tokyo. The son of a surveyor for the South Manchurian Railway Co., he spent much of his youth in the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo, returning to war-ravaged Japan only in 1944. He began writing detective mysteries, and introduced the recurring character Inspector Onitsura, for which Ayukawa later became renowned. Celebrated as one of Japan's finest writers of impossible crimes and alibi-deconstruction mysteries, he won the Japanese Detective Writers Club Prize for \u003ci\u003eThe Black Swan Mystery\u003c\/i\u003e, and in 2001 he was awarded the inaugural Honkaku Mystery Grand Prix for his contribution to the genre. Many of his works have been adapted for radio and screen.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Pushkin Vertigo","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51325419290898,"sku":"9781805335238","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_15772dd9-c417-4ced-99f6-6c381b15a966.jpg?v=1748732745","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-black-swan-mystery-9781805335238","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}