AZABU GETAWAY

Tokyo detectives chase an American father—and possible killer—who has kidnapped his own daughters in this fifth installment of a mystery series.

Police detective and forensic accountant Hiroshi Shimizu has a predilection for working at a computer. But his superior sends him to two crime scenes in one day, the second one in the affluent Tokyo neighborhood called Azabu. There’s a body in an apartment and two missing young sisters. The girls’ mother, Miyuki, believes the abductor is the siblings’ father, Patrick Walsh, whom she is divorcing (“I suspected Patrick was having an affair”). He had been in Wyoming on business for nearly a year, and even more tellingly, someone murdered the CEO at Walsh’s investment firm (Hiroshi’s first crime scene of the day). Walsh rushes to make it to the United States with his daughters, who love their dad and have no idea that he’s actually kidnapped them. Hiroshi and his fellow detectives are on the hunt but also take a close look at the firm, where something shady has unmistakably been transpiring. Once mysterious and dangerous men elbow their ways into the story, Walsh, the detectives, and others find themselves in serious trouble. Readers familiar with Pronko’s series won’t be disappointed by the dynamic, regular cast, from head of homicide and former sumo wrestler Sakaguchi to Hiroshi’s sharp and good-natured girlfriend, Ayana. The author, as usual, aptly develops new characters, though they steal pages from the hero. Walsh and Miyuki share an engrossing history and are wrapped up in this gripping novel’s mystery. For example, someone has anonymously sent Miyuki photographs of Walsh’s supposed affair, and her husband uncovers financial discrepancies at his firm. While Walsh’s being on the lam already accelerates the narrative’s pace, Pronko’s typically concise prose stamps the pedal to the metal. Suspenseful moments, such as Walsh spotting strangers following him, wonderfully complement the detectives’ fisticuffs with men desperate to avoid arrest.

Strong characters drive an edgy, nimble thriller.