Order of Book Series
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Seicho Matsumoto Books in Order

Seicho Matsumoto has written 7 books, published between 1957 and 1982. The first book is Points & Lines / Tokyo Express (1957) and the newest is Suspicion (1982). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
7
Published
1957–1982
Pages on record
1,015 in 4 of 7 books
Reading time
17–25 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 1,015 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 4 of 7 titles with a page count on record.

See all 7 books in order Printable Seicho Matsumoto checklist
Photo of Seicho Matsumoto, author

Seicho Matsumoto, born Kiyoharu Matsumoto on 21 December 1909 and died on 4 August 1992, is credited with popularising detective fiction in Japan. Matsumoto brought human psychology and ordinary life into the genre, set crime inside a wider social context and a postwar nihilism that darkened its atmosphere, and wrote about corruption among police officials as well as criminals, so that the society under investigation mattered as much as the crime. Seven books appear here in English translation, from Points & Lines, also published as Tokyo Express (1957), to Suspicion (1982), taking in Point Zero (1959), Inspector Imanishi Investigates (1961), The Voice and Other Stories (1964) and A Quiet Place (1971).

How many Seicho Matsumoto books are there?

Seicho Matsumoto has 7 books, released between 1957 and 1982.

Seicho Matsumoto Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 7 Seicho Matsumoto books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.

  1. Cover of Inspector Imanishi Investigates by Seicho Matsumoto (1961)
  2. Cover of Pro Bono by Seicho Matsumoto (1961)
  3. Cover of The Voice and Other Stories by Seicho Matsumoto (1964)
  4. Cover of A Quiet Place by Seicho Matsumoto (1971)
  1. 1
    Points & Lines / Tokyo Express1957 · confirmed 1/4
    1957–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    Point Zero1959 · confirmed 1/4
    1959–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    Inspector Imanishi Investigates1961 · 313 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1961313
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    Pro Bono1961 · 288 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1961288
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 6
    A Quiet Place1971 · 235 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1971235
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 7
    Suspicion1982 · confirmed 1/4
    1982–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Seicho Matsumoto books grouped by series

Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.

Standalone books

7 books

7 Seicho Matsumoto titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read Seicho Matsumoto books in order?

No. No source lists any of the 7 Seicho Matsumoto books here as part of a series. The numbered table above gives them by publication date.

Where to start with Seicho Matsumoto

Start with Points & Lines / Tokyo Express (1957), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Seicho Matsumoto book?

Suspicion (1982) is the newest Seicho Matsumoto book released so far.

Is there a new Seicho Matsumoto book coming?

No next Seicho Matsumoto book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Awards Seicho Matsumoto has won

Wikidata records 5 awards for Seicho Matsumoto. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.

  • Kikuchi Kan Prize1970Wonfor Unearthing the Shōwa Period
  • Yoshikawa Eiji Prize for Literature1967Wonfor Escape
  • Bungeishunju Readers' Choice Award1959Wonfor Novel Teigin incident
  • Mystery Writers of Japan Award1957Wonfor Face
  • Akutagawa Prize1952Wonfor A Certain Legend of the Kokura Diary

Seicho Matsumoto at a glance

Died
Seicho Matsumoto died in 1992, according to Wikidata.
Last book
The newest book credited to Seicho Matsumoto on record dates from 1982.
Release pace
Seicho Matsumoto books have appeared about one every 4 years on average.
Length
1,015 pages across the 4 of 7 books with a recorded length, a median of 262 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Seicho Matsumoto books, 3 of 7, were published in the 1960s.

What the Seicho Matsumoto books are about

4 of the 7 Seicho Matsumoto books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: mystery & detective is tagged on 2 of 4. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.