熱い絹（上）

by Seichō Matsumoto, 松本清張

自然の密室マレーシアのカメロン・ハイランドに忽然と消えたタイ・シルク王ジェームズ・ウイルバー。はたして事故か拉致されたのか、あるいは失踪か。この事件と軽井沢で起きた殺人事件との間に一つの接点が見出された時、謎は謎を呼び、劇的に進行していく。壮大なスケールで展開する巨匠渾身の推理大作。

424 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 7, 1988

About the author

Seicho Matsumoto (松本清張, Matsumoto Seichō), December 21, 1909 – August 4, 1992) was a Japanese writer.

Matsumoto's works created a new tradition of Japanese crime fiction. Dispensing with formulaic plot devices such as puzzles, Matsumoto incorporated elements of human psychology and ordinary life into his crime fiction. In particular, his works often reflect a wider social context and postwar nihilism that expanded the scope and further darkened the atmosphere of the genre. His exposé of corruption among police officials as well as criminals was a new addition to the field. The subject of investigation was not just the crime but also the society in which the crime was committed.

The self-educated Matsumoto did not see his first book in print until he was in his forties. He was a prolific author, he wrote until his death in 1992, producing in four decades more than 450 works. Matsumoto's mystery and detective fiction solidified his reputation as a writer at home and abroad. He wrote historical novels and nonfiction in addition to mystery/detective fiction.

He was awarded the Akutagawa Prize in 1952 and the Kikuchi Kan Prize in 1970, as well as the Mystery Writers of Japan Award in 1957. He chaired the president of Mystery Writers of Japan from 1963 to 1971.

Credited with popularizing the genre among readers in his country, Matsumoto became his nation's best-selling and highest earning author in the 1960s. His most acclaimed detective novels, including Ten to sen (1958; Points and Lines, 1970); Suna no utsuwa (1961; Inspector Imanishi Investigates, 1989) and Kiri no hata (1961; Pro Bono, 2012), have been translated into a number of languages, including English.

He collaborated with film director Yoshitarō Nomura on adaptations of eight of his novels to film, including Castle of Sand.

Reviews

[Mizuki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hot Silk part 1, is Seicho Mastsumoto's mystery novel from the 1970s, the story takes place in both the 1960s Japan and Malaysia. At first, a American woman was found dead in her resort, then a well off and powerful American businessman named Jim Weber mysteriously vanished from his friend's resort on Cameron Highlands, Malaysia. Turns out the dead American woman is in fact Weber's sister and there might be a connection between the murder case and the disappearance?

It's worth mentioning that the 'Jim Weber' is based on a real-life American businessman called Jim Thompson, who is famous for his Thai silk enterprise and the unsolved mystery of his disappearance on Cameron Highlands, Malaysia. The murder mystery in the story is also loosely based on Thompson's disappearance, though many details had been changed (for example, Thompson's sister was murdered in America five months after her brother's strange disappearance, she was not killed in Japan) and three murder victims had been added.

Disappearance of Jim Thompson: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappe...

I had been to Cameron Highlands and Malaysia some ten years ago and Mr. Matsumoto's novel stuns me with his sharp observation on the Malaysian cultures, social structures (e.g. the tension among the richer Chinese and the poorer local people) and practices at that time, the Malaysian locations (e.g. Cameron Highlands and its nearby towns, the Buddhist temple, etc) in the story is also accurately and vividly written. I have no doubt that Mr. Matsumoto had been to Malaysia for research, and guess what, he did.

The murder investigation is also realistically written without being boring or long-winded.

I can only hope the explanation part of the mystery will be just as good.