Tokyo Zangyo

In a city built on endless overtime, some people clock out for good.
When a senior executive dives from the rooftop of a media empire, the fall is written off as another casualty of “zangyo”—Japan’s notorious overtime culture. But Detective Hiroshi knows better. He’s seen how the city chews up people and calls it business.
To the suits upstairs, it’s an unfortunate headline. To Hiroshi, it’s a message. His investigation drags him through a maze of neon and nicotine: lavish hostess clubs, empty conference rooms, and ledgers that hide more than numbers.
With his mentor, Takamatsu, and the stolid Sakaguchi, Hiroshi follows the money, the favors, and the silence. Every lead brings him closer to the darkness at the heart of Japan Inc.—a system that rewards loyalty and work, work, work, while burying the truth under a mountain of paperwork.
From the Marunouchi boardrooms to the Shinjuku backstreets, polite smiles mask quiet threats. Secrets are traded over whiskey. And somewhere between the late trains and the last drink, Hiroshi realizes he’s not just solving a case—he’s staring down the machinery that keeps Tokyo alive.
Tokyo Zangyo is more than a murder mystery. It’s a descent into the shimmering darkness of modern Japan: a world of ambition, desperation, and corporate ghosts. Every clue drags Hiroshi closer to the truth—that Tokyo’s most dangerous killer might not carry a weapon at all.
Beneath the work deadlines, something deadly lurks.
Winner Mystery of the Year BestThrillers.com (2021)
Gold Medal Reader’s Favorite Mystery (2022)
Gold Medallion Book Readers Appreciation Group (2021)
Gold Award Literary Titan Book Award (2021)
Silver Award Independent Publisher Awards IPPY (2022)
Silver Medal Global eBook Awards for Mystery Fiction (2022)
Bronze Award Reader Views Literary Awards (2021-2022)