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Detective Galileo #5
Спасяване на светец
Блестящият физик Манабу Юкава, познат на читателите от международния бестселър ?Смъртоносна отдаденост“, е изправен пред нов случай на невъзможно убийство, в който инстинктите противоречат на фактите, а теориите – на реалността.
Йошитака, изпълнителен директор на ИТ компания, изпива подправено с арсеник кафе и умира. Съпругата му Аяне, от която убитият е искал развод, е логичният заподозрян. Тя обаче е била на стотици километри, когато Йошитака е отровен, пък и полицейският детектив Кусанаги си пада по нея и отказва да повярва, че е виновна. За разлика от него, младши детектив Каору Уцуми е убедена във вината на Аяне. Проблемът е, че не може да я докаже. Затова тя прави онова, което шефът й е правил многократно в миналото – обръща се за помощ към професор Манабу Юкава.
Ще успее ли гениалният ум на физика да разреши невъзможното убийство?
Йошитака, изпълнителен директор на ИТ компания, изпива подправено с арсеник кафе и умира. Съпругата му Аяне, от която убитият е искал развод, е логичният заподозрян. Тя обаче е била на стотици километри, когато Йошитака е отровен, пък и полицейският детектив Кусанаги си пада по нея и отказва да повярва, че е виновна. За разлика от него, младши детектив Каору Уцуми е убедена във вината на Аяне. Проблемът е, че не може да я докаже. Затова тя прави онова, което шефът й е правил многократно в миналото – обръща се за помощ към професор Манабу Юкава.
Ще успее ли гениалният ум на физика да разреши невъзможното убийство?
264 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2008
735 people are currently reading
13.2k people want to read
About the author
Keigo Higashino
178?books7,730?followersAssociated Names:
* Keigo Higashino
* 東野 圭吾 (Japanese)
* 东野圭吾 (Traditional Chinese)
* ????????? ????? (Thai)
Keigo Higashino (東野 圭吾) is one of the most popular and biggest selling fiction authors in Japan—as well known as James Patterson, Dean Koontz or Tom Clancy are in the USA.
Born in Osaka, he started writing novels while still working as an engineer at Nippon Denso Co. (presently DENSO). He won the Edogawa Rampo Prize, which is awarded annually to the finest mystery work, in 1985 for the novel Hōkago (After School) at age 27. Subsequently, he quit his job and started a career as a writer in Tokyo.
In 1999, he won the Mystery Writers of Japan Inc award for the novel Himitsu (The Secret), which was translated into English by Kerim Yasar and published by Vertical under the title of Naoko in 2004. In 2006, he won the 134th Naoki Prize for Yōgisha X no Kenshin. His novels had been nominated five times before winning with this novel.
The Devotion of Suspect X was the second highest selling book in all of Japan— fiction or nonfiction—the year it was published, with over 800,000 copies sold. It won the prestigious Naoki Prize for Best Novel— the Japanese equivalent of the National Book Award and the Man Booker Prize. Made into a motion picture in Japan, The Devotion of Suspect X spent 4 weeks at the top of the box office and was the third highest‐grossing film of the year.
Higashino’s novels have more movie and TV series adaptations than Tom Clancy or Robert Ludlum, and as many as Michael Crichton.
* Keigo Higashino
* 東野 圭吾 (Japanese)
* 东野圭吾 (Traditional Chinese)
* ????????? ????? (Thai)
Keigo Higashino (東野 圭吾) is one of the most popular and biggest selling fiction authors in Japan—as well known as James Patterson, Dean Koontz or Tom Clancy are in the USA.
Born in Osaka, he started writing novels while still working as an engineer at Nippon Denso Co. (presently DENSO). He won the Edogawa Rampo Prize, which is awarded annually to the finest mystery work, in 1985 for the novel Hōkago (After School) at age 27. Subsequently, he quit his job and started a career as a writer in Tokyo.
In 1999, he won the Mystery Writers of Japan Inc award for the novel Himitsu (The Secret), which was translated into English by Kerim Yasar and published by Vertical under the title of Naoko in 2004. In 2006, he won the 134th Naoki Prize for Yōgisha X no Kenshin. His novels had been nominated five times before winning with this novel.
The Devotion of Suspect X was the second highest selling book in all of Japan— fiction or nonfiction—the year it was published, with over 800,000 copies sold. It won the prestigious Naoki Prize for Best Novel— the Japanese equivalent of the National Book Award and the Man Booker Prize. Made into a motion picture in Japan, The Devotion of Suspect X spent 4 weeks at the top of the box office and was the third highest‐grossing film of the year.
Higashino’s novels have more movie and TV series adaptations than Tom Clancy or Robert Ludlum, and as many as Michael Crichton.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 3,320 reviews
March 25, 2022
The second mystery I've read by Higashino was even better than my first (). There is something immensely satisfying about his approach to telling a story. Perhaps it is a difference of cultural expectations on what an author needs to accomplish. Though Higashino is a best-selling author in Japan, he seems relatively unknown in the U.S. What I do know is that when I finish, I feel a strong sense of pleasure. The mystery is resolved, yes, providing a sense of intellectual satisfaction; but there's also an artistic sense of pleasure, as from seeing a play performed by skilled actors.
"Kusanagi walked in through the glass doors and up to the sales counter. He had heard that the store stocked over fifty varieties of tea, and sure enough, there they were, all individually labeled and sorted into neat rows. Behind the counter was a little tea room. Even at the relatively quiet hour of four in the afternoon, he saw a few customers scattered around the cafe, sipping tea and reading newspapers. One or two were dressed in company uniforms. Male customers were definitely in the minority."
Like Agatha Christie, Higashino makes use of traditional or iconic set-pieces, but is wise enough to let the setting be the background to the story, albeit an important one. The main characters are all treated well, with hints at complexity but not in a way that overshadows the plot. There are no scenic digressions of them having a lonely beer at the local bar, or getting their hair cut at the stylist. Kusanagi is the lead detective, and now has a female member of his team, Utsumi, along with his long-term aide, Kishitani:
"Kusanagi suppressed a smile as he looked at his two subordinates. Poor Kishitani had finally got a new recruit of his own to push around--and it was a woman. He has no idea how to handle her."
They are working to solve the case of a man found dead in his locked home, a spilled coffee cup by his side. Is it natural? An accident? Suicide? Homicide? As they work to tease out the possibilities, they end up with an impossible situation. However, nothing is impossible when the physicist Yukawa is consulted:
"It's not very scientific to say things like 'absolutely' and 'zero possibility.' It's also rather unorthodox to say someone made a mistake when they've only presented a hypothesis that proved to be incorrect. But I'll forgive you on the grounds that you're not a scientist."
I love the irreverent and infallibly logical Yukawa. He is not so much the associate with the little grey cells as the analytical counterpoint to the intuition-driven doggedness of Detective Kusanagi.
The first book I read was about how the police uncovered a murder (we knew the who, what, why and how). In this, though the reader has a strong suspicion who the murderer is and why, there's enough doubt on the who to keep the reader wondering, and of course, the how is a puzzle indeed.
Satisfying is really one of the best words I can come up with for this tale. It perhaps stretches, just slightly, the boundaries of imagination, and yet Higashino makes this story plausible. I enjoyed the way the emotions of the story tugged at me without descending into the maudilin or horrific, as well as Higashino's complete failure to include car chases, ominous but missed hints from the criminals as they pack their bombs, and dire threats to end the world as the detective almost fails to catch them in time. I know, I know; I'm overusing that word, satisfying. But I can't think of a better way to describe a work that intrigued me and captured my attention without resorting to narrative or plotting tricks.
Four, five stars. Really could be either. If anything keeps it from five, it is that I do not feel the drive--not quite--to add this to my own library. Although I'd consider reading it again. Rounding up for that.
"Kusanagi walked in through the glass doors and up to the sales counter. He had heard that the store stocked over fifty varieties of tea, and sure enough, there they were, all individually labeled and sorted into neat rows. Behind the counter was a little tea room. Even at the relatively quiet hour of four in the afternoon, he saw a few customers scattered around the cafe, sipping tea and reading newspapers. One or two were dressed in company uniforms. Male customers were definitely in the minority."
Like Agatha Christie, Higashino makes use of traditional or iconic set-pieces, but is wise enough to let the setting be the background to the story, albeit an important one. The main characters are all treated well, with hints at complexity but not in a way that overshadows the plot. There are no scenic digressions of them having a lonely beer at the local bar, or getting their hair cut at the stylist. Kusanagi is the lead detective, and now has a female member of his team, Utsumi, along with his long-term aide, Kishitani:
"Kusanagi suppressed a smile as he looked at his two subordinates. Poor Kishitani had finally got a new recruit of his own to push around--and it was a woman. He has no idea how to handle her."
They are working to solve the case of a man found dead in his locked home, a spilled coffee cup by his side. Is it natural? An accident? Suicide? Homicide? As they work to tease out the possibilities, they end up with an impossible situation. However, nothing is impossible when the physicist Yukawa is consulted:
"It's not very scientific to say things like 'absolutely' and 'zero possibility.' It's also rather unorthodox to say someone made a mistake when they've only presented a hypothesis that proved to be incorrect. But I'll forgive you on the grounds that you're not a scientist."
I love the irreverent and infallibly logical Yukawa. He is not so much the associate with the little grey cells as the analytical counterpoint to the intuition-driven doggedness of Detective Kusanagi.
The first book I read was about how the police uncovered a murder (we knew the who, what, why and how). In this, though the reader has a strong suspicion who the murderer is and why, there's enough doubt on the who to keep the reader wondering, and of course, the how is a puzzle indeed.
Satisfying is really one of the best words I can come up with for this tale. It perhaps stretches, just slightly, the boundaries of imagination, and yet Higashino makes this story plausible. I enjoyed the way the emotions of the story tugged at me without descending into the maudilin or horrific, as well as Higashino's complete failure to include car chases, ominous but missed hints from the criminals as they pack their bombs, and dire threats to end the world as the detective almost fails to catch them in time. I know, I know; I'm overusing that word, satisfying. But I can't think of a better way to describe a work that intrigued me and captured my attention without resorting to narrative or plotting tricks.
Four, five stars. Really could be either. If anything keeps it from five, it is that I do not feel the drive--not quite--to add this to my own library. Although I'd consider reading it again. Rounding up for that.
July 8, 2023
Another crime and mystery novel by Keigo Higashino.
I started to read his novels one by one because I enjoyed reading his style of writing novels.
Ayane, a woman suspected of poisoning her husband. This case was investigated by Detective Kusanagi, young lady Detective, Utsumi, and Professor Yukawa, Detective Galileo.
"The trick was something theoretically possible, but extremely improbable."
There were love, betrayal, and complex relationships.
Always new suspects, evidence, and motives from time to time.
I started to read his novels one by one because I enjoyed reading his style of writing novels.
Ayane, a woman suspected of poisoning her husband. This case was investigated by Detective Kusanagi, young lady Detective, Utsumi, and Professor Yukawa, Detective Galileo.
"The trick was something theoretically possible, but extremely improbable."
There were love, betrayal, and complex relationships.
Always new suspects, evidence, and motives from time to time.
February 26, 2013
I was completely captured by Higashino's previous book, The Devotion of Suspect X, and pre-ordered Salvation of a Saint as soon as I heard about it.
It exceeded my expectations. How do you keep your readers interested in a murder mystery when the murderer is revealed at the very beginning of the book?
1) By making the execution of the murder so devious that it will need the input of "Detective Galileo", a modern day, Japanese Sherlock, to reveal it.
2) By writing the murderer and the investigators in such a way that you empathize with both sides, and the conflict is lifted from the story and lodged somewhere between your throat and your stomach as well as within the pages of the book.
One of the things I'm really coming to appreciate Higashino is that while his stories focus on the technical genius of the murders, he gives equal weight to the emotions behind the murder. And the revelation of those emotions, the driving events, are just as important as the how of it all.
I really hope they start to translate his earlier Galileo novels into English.
It exceeded my expectations. How do you keep your readers interested in a murder mystery when the murderer is revealed at the very beginning of the book?
1) By making the execution of the murder so devious that it will need the input of "Detective Galileo", a modern day, Japanese Sherlock, to reveal it.
2) By writing the murderer and the investigators in such a way that you empathize with both sides, and the conflict is lifted from the story and lodged somewhere between your throat and your stomach as well as within the pages of the book.
One of the things I'm really coming to appreciate Higashino is that while his stories focus on the technical genius of the murders, he gives equal weight to the emotions behind the murder. And the revelation of those emotions, the driving events, are just as important as the how of it all.
I really hope they start to translate his earlier Galileo novels into English.
August 31, 2022
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?????? ?? ?? ????? ????? ???? ?? ???? ????? ??????? ????????? ???? ??? ??? ??? ????? ??? ????? ?? ????? ???? ?? ???? ??? ???? ???? ??? ???? ???? ???? ????? ???? ?? ?? ???????? ????. ???????? ??? ???? ???? ??? ??? ?? ???? ???? ??? ?????? ??? ??? ? ?? ?? ??? ? ????? ?? ????? ???? ???. ????? ??? ?????? ????? ????? ??? ??? ?? ????? ?
May 27, 2021
??? ?? "??????? ????? ????" ????? ????? ??? ?? ?? ??? ??????? ????????? ??? ? ????? ????????. ??? ?????? ???????? ????? ????? ?? ???? ???? ????? ?? ??? ????
March 23, 2016
Salvation of a Saint is the second Higashino novel I've read in as many weeks. It takes place in Japan and is a masterful police procedural featuring several police detectives and the ever-fabulous physics professor Yukawa solving what appears initially to be the perfect crime. One of the things I love about Higashino's novels is that they reflect a uniquely Japanese style and temperament. The aggressive/confrontational interrogation tactics typical of American detective novels and movies is nowhere to be found. There's a politeness in every interaction between the detectives and suspects. If there's a little tension, it's between and among the detectives jockeying for position to be the one to solve the crime.
Salvation of a Saint presents an unsympathetic murder victim and, initially, a particularly sympathetic potential perpetrator. It's a detective novel for those who like their solutions challenging - the more puzzle-oriented readers - the how, as it were, and also want to be presented with a "why" that makes sense based on human nature. Higashino scored on both points in this novel. Finally, his pacing is sublime. I stayed up far later than I should have to read this one night because Higashino has figured out how to drive the reader to read just one more chapter. And one more. And one more. I can't recommend Salvation of a Saint enough, if more complex detective novels are your thing.
Salvation of a Saint presents an unsympathetic murder victim and, initially, a particularly sympathetic potential perpetrator. It's a detective novel for those who like their solutions challenging - the more puzzle-oriented readers - the how, as it were, and also want to be presented with a "why" that makes sense based on human nature. Higashino scored on both points in this novel. Finally, his pacing is sublime. I stayed up far later than I should have to read this one night because Higashino has figured out how to drive the reader to read just one more chapter. And one more. And one more. I can't recommend Salvation of a Saint enough, if more complex detective novels are your thing.
November 30, 2023
?? ???? ? ?? ???? ???????? ?? ??? ????? ??????? ? ?????? ?? ????? ??? ??? ?? ??? ??????. ????? ??? ??? ?????? ???? ?? ?????? ?????? ??????????? ? ???? ??????? ???? ??? ???? ?? ?? ????. ???? ???? ??? "?? ????" ???? ???? "??????" ???.
?? ??? ?????? ????? ??? ?????? ?????? ?????? ?? ??? ???? ??? ??? ???????? ? ???? ???? ???? ?????? ??? ??? ?????? ?? ????? ???? ? ?? ???? ??? ??? ?????? ??? ?? ?? ???? ???? ???? ????? ? ???? ???? ?? ???? ???? ??? ????.
?? ???? ?? ???????? ??????? ???????? ?? ??? ????? ?
????? ????? ????????? ????? ???? ?????? "????? ??? ???????????? ?????" ?? ?????? ????? ?????!
?? ??? ?????? ????? ??? ?????? ?????? ?????? ?? ??? ???? ??? ??? ???????? ? ???? ???? ???? ?????? ??? ??? ?????? ?? ????? ???? ? ?? ???? ??? ??? ?????? ??? ?? ?? ???? ???? ???? ????? ? ???? ???? ?? ???? ???? ??? ????.
?? ???? ?? ???????? ??????? ???????? ?? ??? ????? ?
????? ????? ????????? ????? ???? ?????? "????? ??? ???????????? ?????" ?? ?????? ????? ?????!
January 8, 2024
??? ???? ?? ?? ??????? ??? ?? ?????? ???? ????? . ??? ?? ???? ?? ??????? ??? ????? ???? ?????? ???? . ??? ???? ? ??? ?? ??? ?? ?? ?? ???? ????? ? ??????? ???? ??? ?? ?? ??? ?????? ? ???? ???? ???? ??? . ????? ??? ???? ??? ?????? ??? ? ?????? ???? ??? ? ?? ?????? ????? ??????? ????? ??? ?? ?? ????? ??? ?? ???? ????? ??? ????? ????? ???? ????? ??? ????.
?? ??? ???? ?? ???? ?????? ???? ????? ?? ?? ??? ??? ?? ?? ????? ?????? ???? ? ?? ???? ??? ?? ??? ? ???? ??? ??? ????? ?????? ???? ? ??? ??? ?????? ????? ???? ?????? ?? ????? ?? ???? ?? ???? ????? ? ??? ???. ????? ?? ?? ??? ???? ??? ?? ??? ?? ????? ?? ??? ???? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ????? ???? ?????? ?????? ???? ?? ????? ?? ??? ?????!
? ??? ???? ?? ???? ?? ???? ????? ?????? !
???? ????? ??? ? ??? ????? ?? ??? ??? ??? ??? . ????? ?? ??? ??? .
??????? ?/?
?.?: ???? ? ???? ??? ???????? ?? ?? ????? ?? ???? ????? ?????? ??? ???? ??? ????.
?? ??? ???? ?? ???? ?????? ???? ????? ?? ?? ??? ??? ?? ?? ????? ?????? ???? ? ?? ???? ??? ?? ??? ? ???? ??? ??? ????? ?????? ???? ? ??? ??? ?????? ????? ???? ?????? ?? ????? ?? ???? ?? ???? ????? ? ??? ???. ????? ?? ?? ??? ???? ??? ?? ??? ?? ????? ?? ??? ???? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ????? ???? ?????? ?????? ???? ?? ????? ?? ??? ?????!
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?.?: ???? ? ???? ??? ???????? ?? ?? ????? ?? ???? ????? ?????? ??? ???? ??? ????.
October 28, 2018
Every classic mystery is a magic trick - it works through misdirection. While the magician entices us to watch something in the open, his quicksilver hands does the business out of sight, and we are mystified at the apparent breakdown of the rules of nature. "The hand is quicker than the eye." In the mystery story, it is the same - we are persuaded to chase the red herrings while the writer cleverly builds up his plot under wraps. The only difference is, unlike the magic trick, the novelist tells us how it was done at the end.
Keigo Higashimo's "The Devotion of Suspect X" was a classic in this aspect. "Malice" was also good, though by then I could sense how his particular style of sleight-of-hand was carried out. In "Salvation of the Saint", however, the style is slightly different.
As with "Devotion...", the murderer is pretty clear from the beginning. The focus in a Higashimo novel is not as much on "whodunnit" as "howdunnit". In this aspect, he resembles the great Dorothy Sayers (for example, the novels "Strong Poison", "Unnatural Death" etc.) - it is impossible for the most likely person to have committed the murder: yet it was done.
When Yoshitaka Washiba is murdered by poison in his coffee, his beautiful wife Ayane is the obvious suspect - especially since Yoshitaka had declared his intention of leaving her and marrying her young apprentice Hiromi Wakayama. The problem is, Ayane is hundred of kilometres away when the murder happens, as per the testimony of Hiromi herself. It is left to Detective Kusanagi to unravel the mystery, all the while fighting the strong attraction Ayane exercises over him. However, he has Professor Yukawa of Tokyo University ("Detective Galileo"), who solves cases like problems in physics: constructing hypotheses and testing them.
There is no long trail of false clues in this story - the whole thing boils down to how the poison was introduced into the coffee. But while the method is brilliant and there is a logical explanation for all the doubts it gives rise to, I felt slightly disappointed here as I partly guessed where the poison was, and how it was disposed off. As any mystery which is amenable to deduction by the reader disappoints me, I wouldn't rate this as high as his other novels I have read.
Still, an extremely enjoyable and well-written mystery, with memorable characters. I am getting to be a fan of Detective Galileo.
Keigo Higashimo's "The Devotion of Suspect X" was a classic in this aspect. "Malice" was also good, though by then I could sense how his particular style of sleight-of-hand was carried out. In "Salvation of the Saint", however, the style is slightly different.
As with "Devotion...", the murderer is pretty clear from the beginning. The focus in a Higashimo novel is not as much on "whodunnit" as "howdunnit". In this aspect, he resembles the great Dorothy Sayers (for example, the novels "Strong Poison", "Unnatural Death" etc.) - it is impossible for the most likely person to have committed the murder: yet it was done.
When Yoshitaka Washiba is murdered by poison in his coffee, his beautiful wife Ayane is the obvious suspect - especially since Yoshitaka had declared his intention of leaving her and marrying her young apprentice Hiromi Wakayama. The problem is, Ayane is hundred of kilometres away when the murder happens, as per the testimony of Hiromi herself. It is left to Detective Kusanagi to unravel the mystery, all the while fighting the strong attraction Ayane exercises over him. However, he has Professor Yukawa of Tokyo University ("Detective Galileo"), who solves cases like problems in physics: constructing hypotheses and testing them.
There is no long trail of false clues in this story - the whole thing boils down to how the poison was introduced into the coffee. But while the method is brilliant and there is a logical explanation for all the doubts it gives rise to, I felt slightly disappointed here as I partly guessed where the poison was, and how it was disposed off. As any mystery which is amenable to deduction by the reader disappoints me, I wouldn't rate this as high as his other novels I have read.
Still, an extremely enjoyable and well-written mystery, with memorable characters. I am getting to be a fan of Detective Galileo.
March 7, 2024
“Salvation of a Saint” by Keigo Higashino is a mesmerizing journey into the depths of human cunning, where the impossible becomes possible. The novel poses a tantalizing question: “Can one poison a specific person’s drink from a distance, leaving no trace?” This question forms the backbone of a plot that is as intricate as it is captivating.
The story unfolds around the death of Yoshitaka Mashiba, a wealthy businessman found dead in his home, poisoned by arsenic-laced coffee. The prime suspect is his wife, Ayane, who had every reason to want him dead. However, she was hundreds of miles away in Hokkaido when the murder occurred in Tokyo. This conundrum forms the crux of the narrative, challenging both the characters and the readers to unravel the mystery.
Higashino masterfully crafts a “howdunit” tale, shifting the focus from the identity of the culprit to the method of the crime. The reader is led through a labyrinth of clues and diversions, each tiny action and abstract conversation a potential key to solving the puzzle. The experience is akin to stepping into the shoes of a detective, piecing together the evidence to uncover the truth.
The novel’s strength lies in its ingenious murder scheme, a testament to Higashino’s creativity and attention to detail. The plot is so meticulously crafted that even the most observant readers may find themselves second-guessing their deductions. It’s a mind-bending plan that only a meticulous and obsessive person could execute, leaving me in awe of its audacity and precision.
“Salvation of a Saint” is a cerebral challenge that will captivate readers with its original premise, elegant prose, and surprising conclusion. It’s a standalone novel in the Detective Galileo series and a worthy successor to “The Devotion of Suspect X”. Both novels showcase Higashino’s talent for crafting complex narratives that keep readers on their toes. If you’re a fan of puzzles and logic, “Salvation of a Saint” is a must-read. It’s a testament to Higashino’s status as one of Japan’s most popular and prolific writers, and a shining example of the “howdunit” genre at its best.
The story unfolds around the death of Yoshitaka Mashiba, a wealthy businessman found dead in his home, poisoned by arsenic-laced coffee. The prime suspect is his wife, Ayane, who had every reason to want him dead. However, she was hundreds of miles away in Hokkaido when the murder occurred in Tokyo. This conundrum forms the crux of the narrative, challenging both the characters and the readers to unravel the mystery.
Higashino masterfully crafts a “howdunit” tale, shifting the focus from the identity of the culprit to the method of the crime. The reader is led through a labyrinth of clues and diversions, each tiny action and abstract conversation a potential key to solving the puzzle. The experience is akin to stepping into the shoes of a detective, piecing together the evidence to uncover the truth.
The novel’s strength lies in its ingenious murder scheme, a testament to Higashino’s creativity and attention to detail. The plot is so meticulously crafted that even the most observant readers may find themselves second-guessing their deductions. It’s a mind-bending plan that only a meticulous and obsessive person could execute, leaving me in awe of its audacity and precision.
“Salvation of a Saint” is a cerebral challenge that will captivate readers with its original premise, elegant prose, and surprising conclusion. It’s a standalone novel in the Detective Galileo series and a worthy successor to “The Devotion of Suspect X”. Both novels showcase Higashino’s talent for crafting complex narratives that keep readers on their toes. If you’re a fan of puzzles and logic, “Salvation of a Saint” is a must-read. It’s a testament to Higashino’s status as one of Japan’s most popular and prolific writers, and a shining example of the “howdunit” genre at its best.
March 7, 2025
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???????? ????? ????????? ????? ? ??????????. ???? ???? ?? ?? ??? ????????? ????? ? ??????? ?? ???? ? ???? ??? ???? ? ????????????? ? ???????? ? ??? ???? ?????? ?????? ????? ??????????? ??? ? ???????.
?????? ?????? ?? ?????? ?? ??? ????? ? ??? ???? ????? ???????? ??? ??? ?? ???? ???? ???? ?? ???? ???? ? ??? ???? ?? ???????? ??? ? ?????? ??? ?????????. ??? ????? ?? ?? ??????? ????? ?????? ? ??? ??? ???? ??? ????????. ???? ?????? ? ????? ??? ???? ? ??????? ??????? ?????? ??????? ???? ??? ?? ??? ?????? ?? ??? ???.
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?????? ?????? ?? ?????? ?? ??? ????? ? ??? ???? ????? ???????? ??? ??? ?? ???? ???? ???? ?? ???? ???? ? ??? ???? ?? ???????? ??? ? ?????? ??? ?????????. ??? ????? ?? ?? ??????? ????? ?????? ? ??? ??? ???? ??? ????????. ???? ?????? ? ????? ??? ???? ? ??????? ??????? ?????? ??????? ???? ??? ?? ??? ?????? ?? ??? ???.
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October 18, 2021
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June 30, 2020
In this 5th book in the 'Detective Galileo' series, the Japanese police look into the death of a rich businessman. The book can be read as a standalone.
Wealthy businessman Yoshitaka Mashiba tells his wife Ayane that he's divorcing her because she hasn't become pregnant. He reminds Ayane this was the deal when they married - a baby on the way within a year or he looks for someone new.
Meanwhile Yoshitaka has been having an affair with Hiromi, Ayane's apprentice in the art of quilt making.
Heartbroken, Ayane goes off for the weekend to visit her parents. While she's away Yoshitaka is murdered with arsenic-laced coffee. The police suspect Ayane, but she has an ironclad alibi.
To add to their problems, the police can't figure out how the arsenic got into the coffee. Detective Kusanagi and his team question Yoshitaka's friends and acquaintances but have trouble advancing the case.
So the female detective on the team, Kaoru Utsumi, consults the brilliant physicist Yukawa, who's a whiz at solving difficult cases.
Eventually the ingenious murder method and the killer are uncovered. I liked the new slant on murder weapons but the resolution was not very believable or satisfying (to me).
All in all I thought the book read like a typical cozy, but I would have liked the characters to be more fully developed and more interesting. Still - for mystery fans - the book is a pleasant way to pass a few hours
You can follow my reviews at
February 16, 2023
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August 15, 2020
4.5★
I have no idea why it took me so long to get back to this series, when I enjoyed so much!
It may be a case of "Ooh look, shiny!" as new books cross my 欧宝娱乐 path, but it is more likely that the number of group reads I do & my devotion to twentieth century fiction crowd even the ablest of modern writers out. Which is, of course, a pity.
But better late than never!
Devotion of Suspect X made me think of Shogi
This book features both chess
and badminton
It isn't subtle (nothing about this book is) but it shows the value of keeping fit mentally and physically.
One of the main characters is a Japanese quilter. I know nothing about this sub craft ( I guess you would call it) but I certainly looked at some beautiful examples.
This one might be closer to the style of Ayane's work.
This art form is definitely the work of careful planner. And Ayane is indeed a planner!
It may also be the translation, but some of the points are very heavy handed.
Still, don't give up. I definitely got a surprise at the end!
I have no idea why it took me so long to get back to this series, when I enjoyed so much!
It may be a case of "Ooh look, shiny!" as new books cross my 欧宝娱乐 path, but it is more likely that the number of group reads I do & my devotion to twentieth century fiction crowd even the ablest of modern writers out. Which is, of course, a pity.
But better late than never!
Devotion of Suspect X made me think of Shogi
This book features both chess
and badminton
It isn't subtle (nothing about this book is) but it shows the value of keeping fit mentally and physically.
One of the main characters is a Japanese quilter. I know nothing about this sub craft ( I guess you would call it) but I certainly looked at some beautiful examples.
This one might be closer to the style of Ayane's work.
This art form is definitely the work of careful planner. And Ayane is indeed a planner!
It may also be the translation, but some of the points are very heavy handed.
Still, don't give up. I definitely got a surprise at the end!
Read
March 25, 2021I appear to be glomming. Really enjoying this author's twisty murders, which tend to have wildly complex solutions while also playing hob with form. Here, the author reveals the murderer in the first chapter, and we then spend the entire book trying to see how she did it and wondering if we've been fooled and she didn't, only to facepalm at the end. I've read three of these in a row, I really should start to see the twists coming, but no.
This one also has a lot to think about re some fairly toxic gender attitudes not unknown in Japan. Cracking reads.
This one also has a lot to think about re some fairly toxic gender attitudes not unknown in Japan. Cracking reads.
May 11, 2013
**A big thank you to Blogadda for kindly forwarding a review copy to me**
The task of reviewing a novel of the mystery-detective genre usually presents itself as a challenge to me. Not because it is hard to put into words what the story holds without giving away spoilers. But because a detective novel usually doesn't give a reviewer much to go on, aside from a mystery and its solution.
But despite being a book of the same genre, Salvation of a Saint, provides ample food for thought on the complexities of the human mind and offers the reader some philosophical meanderings to go with a regular offering of a mind-boggling mystery.
Without delay, let me get to the summary now.
Yoshitaka and Ayane Mashiba have been married for one year and yet their marriage is already falling apart. Why? Because turns out, both of them had agreed to treat marriage like a contractual agreement in which if Ayane fails to conceive a child within a year they will part ways. And, of course, Ayane has failed to conceive at the end of the stipulated time period.
So what happens next? Yoshitaka declares he is leaving her because he has already found prospective new baby-producer to replace Ayane. And it turns out that she is none other than Ayane's protege, Hiromi Wakayama, whose talent Ayane has helped hone herself.
And to put the cap on this madness, Yoshitaka gets killed in his apartment while Ayane is away in Sapporo on a visit to her parents and the detective in charge of the investigation falls for Ayane at first sight even though she becomes the chief suspect.
But then of course, she has a rock solid alibi. She was away from Tokyo when Yoshitaka was murdered.
How do you kill when you are physically hundreds of miles away from the scene of the crime?
Here in lies the novelty of Salvation of a Saint. It's not a whodunit as much as it is a howdunit.
To me the real villain of the story remains the victim and not the murderer. Because men who treat women like baby-producing machines and switch to one from another as easily as changing clothes, deserve to be at least squarely kicked in their family jewels, if not murdered outright. And I'm pleased to find out there are no misogynistic undertones in this narrative since Higashino doesn't gloss over this fact.
Now for my verdict on Higashino as a writer:-
If you are acquainted with anime such as Death Note, Monster or Detective School Q (Tantei Gakuen Kyu), you are bound to know that the Japanese, being big fans of logical reasoning and the science of deduction, have a penchant for creating stories with a worthwhile mystery at its center. And Keigo Higashino upholds that cherished tradition with this well-plotted novel.
He excels at creating a mystery which appears convoluted and unsolvable at the outset, but when it unravels slowly and all the pieces of the puzzle start falling into their place, the solution doesn't baffle one as much as the killer's dedication towards the very act of the murder does.
But I have a bone to pick with the translation - it doesn't always do a good job of capturing the true cadence of Japanese speech and the awkward sentence construction feels jarring at times.
A significant thing about this book is instead of one detective giving it his all to solve a murder, it gives you 3.
The detective in charge of the investigation, Kusanagi finds his judgement dangerously clouded by his growing fascination for Ayane. While his assistant Kaoru Utsumi, stubbornly convinced of the fact that Ayane is the killer, seeks out physics professor cum detective extraordinaire, Manabu Yukawa aka Detective Galileo to help her out.
But even while pursuing separate leads, all 3 of them arrive at the same answer.
The characters are not badly sketched caricatures but appear as people who could actually exist. The calmness of Ayane's demeanour even under suspicion, Utsumi's doggedness, Yukawa's brilliance and Kusanagi's quiet dignity shine through.
Kusanagi and Yukawa's friendship, rivalry and the grudging respect they have for each other add another dimension to the story. And it reminds one of the Lestrade and Holmes equation because like Lestrade, Kusanagi is the one getting the credit even though most of the work is done by Yukawa. Although a comparison between Lestrade and Kusanagi won't be fair since the former was essentially a pompous idiot while Kusanagi is balanced and reasonable.
It is also interesting to take note of Kusanagi's increasing concern over his own evaluation of the murder and the subsequent investigation - is he being objective or is he being too judgemental? and how does one stop his personal feelings from getting in the way of his professional assessment of a scenario?
His inner turmoil leads him to ponder over what makes a person commit a murder and the effect it has on their personality:-
Lastly, this novel also dares to analyze the not-so-flattering shades of a woman's personality and how one woman is sometimes another woman's worst enemy - how an act of betrayal may cause a woman to seek out vengeance with a resolute, perverse passion.
Hence an impressed 3 stars.
Highly recommended to lovers of mysteries and it doesn't hurt either if you are a fan of Japanese literature in addition to that.
P.S:- I apologize for not shedding any light on how the title of the book relates to the murder or the core of the story. But to do that would be to reveal the crux of the story itself, which would be doing the future reader a grave injustice.
Review as in
The task of reviewing a novel of the mystery-detective genre usually presents itself as a challenge to me. Not because it is hard to put into words what the story holds without giving away spoilers. But because a detective novel usually doesn't give a reviewer much to go on, aside from a mystery and its solution.
But despite being a book of the same genre, Salvation of a Saint, provides ample food for thought on the complexities of the human mind and offers the reader some philosophical meanderings to go with a regular offering of a mind-boggling mystery.
Without delay, let me get to the summary now.
Yoshitaka and Ayane Mashiba have been married for one year and yet their marriage is already falling apart. Why? Because turns out, both of them had agreed to treat marriage like a contractual agreement in which if Ayane fails to conceive a child within a year they will part ways. And, of course, Ayane has failed to conceive at the end of the stipulated time period.
So what happens next? Yoshitaka declares he is leaving her because he has already found prospective new baby-producer to replace Ayane. And it turns out that she is none other than Ayane's protege, Hiromi Wakayama, whose talent Ayane has helped hone herself.
And to put the cap on this madness, Yoshitaka gets killed in his apartment while Ayane is away in Sapporo on a visit to her parents and the detective in charge of the investigation falls for Ayane at first sight even though she becomes the chief suspect.
But then of course, she has a rock solid alibi. She was away from Tokyo when Yoshitaka was murdered.
How do you kill when you are physically hundreds of miles away from the scene of the crime?
Here in lies the novelty of Salvation of a Saint. It's not a whodunit as much as it is a howdunit.
To me the real villain of the story remains the victim and not the murderer. Because men who treat women like baby-producing machines and switch to one from another as easily as changing clothes, deserve to be at least squarely kicked in their family jewels, if not murdered outright. And I'm pleased to find out there are no misogynistic undertones in this narrative since Higashino doesn't gloss over this fact.
Now for my verdict on Higashino as a writer:-
If you are acquainted with anime such as Death Note, Monster or Detective School Q (Tantei Gakuen Kyu), you are bound to know that the Japanese, being big fans of logical reasoning and the science of deduction, have a penchant for creating stories with a worthwhile mystery at its center. And Keigo Higashino upholds that cherished tradition with this well-plotted novel.
He excels at creating a mystery which appears convoluted and unsolvable at the outset, but when it unravels slowly and all the pieces of the puzzle start falling into their place, the solution doesn't baffle one as much as the killer's dedication towards the very act of the murder does.
But I have a bone to pick with the translation - it doesn't always do a good job of capturing the true cadence of Japanese speech and the awkward sentence construction feels jarring at times.
A significant thing about this book is instead of one detective giving it his all to solve a murder, it gives you 3.
The detective in charge of the investigation, Kusanagi finds his judgement dangerously clouded by his growing fascination for Ayane. While his assistant Kaoru Utsumi, stubbornly convinced of the fact that Ayane is the killer, seeks out physics professor cum detective extraordinaire, Manabu Yukawa aka Detective Galileo to help her out.
But even while pursuing separate leads, all 3 of them arrive at the same answer.
The characters are not badly sketched caricatures but appear as people who could actually exist. The calmness of Ayane's demeanour even under suspicion, Utsumi's doggedness, Yukawa's brilliance and Kusanagi's quiet dignity shine through.
Kusanagi and Yukawa's friendship, rivalry and the grudging respect they have for each other add another dimension to the story. And it reminds one of the Lestrade and Holmes equation because like Lestrade, Kusanagi is the one getting the credit even though most of the work is done by Yukawa. Although a comparison between Lestrade and Kusanagi won't be fair since the former was essentially a pompous idiot while Kusanagi is balanced and reasonable.
It is also interesting to take note of Kusanagi's increasing concern over his own evaluation of the murder and the subsequent investigation - is he being objective or is he being too judgemental? and how does one stop his personal feelings from getting in the way of his professional assessment of a scenario?
His inner turmoil leads him to ponder over what makes a person commit a murder and the effect it has on their personality:-
"Kusanagi had met plenty of good, admirable people who'd been turned into murderers quite by circumstance. There was something about them he always seemed to sense, an aura that they shared. Somehow, their trangression freed them from the confines of mortal existence, allowing them to perceive the great truths of the universe. At the same time, it meant they had one foot in forbidden territory. They straddled the line between sanity and madness."
Lastly, this novel also dares to analyze the not-so-flattering shades of a woman's personality and how one woman is sometimes another woman's worst enemy - how an act of betrayal may cause a woman to seek out vengeance with a resolute, perverse passion.
Hence an impressed 3 stars.
Highly recommended to lovers of mysteries and it doesn't hurt either if you are a fan of Japanese literature in addition to that.
P.S:- I apologize for not shedding any light on how the title of the book relates to the murder or the core of the story. But to do that would be to reveal the crux of the story itself, which would be doing the future reader a grave injustice.
Review as in
April 23, 2023
**3.8 stars**
“Sometimes it's as important to prove there is no answer to a question as it is to answer it.”
It was the second work I read by Higashino, with my expectations set higher after his probably most famous work. An unwise decision, perhaps, to read an author’s most acclaimed work before dealing with his others, but I didn’t regret it, for sure.
The story revolves around a middle-aged hypocrite who was going to divorce his wife, for “failing” to “give” him a baby, which wasn’t his fault for he had gone through the medical check-up himself. And soon after that, he was found dead in his abode, by arsenic poisoning, and the suspicion fell on his wife. However, she was verified to be hundreds of miles away at that time, and hence our beloved Physics Professor Manabu Yukawa was called to look into the matter.
Written in a bit of Christie-like whodunnit style, the storytelling often can remind you of her , though in a modern, and bit differently complicated manner. The ending may seem a bit unrealistic, but definitely a treat. However, this little bit of imitative way of storytelling doesn’t allow this work to be as great as its sequel. But still, I will highly recommend this one to all lovers of this genre. Kusanagi and Yukawa’s conversations, at times, are well enough to provide a bit of relief from the serious tone and pace of the story. Yoshitaka’s outlook on society, and women’s role in marriage, can remind you of Atwood’s ; a simultaneously disgusting and ridiculous way of perceiving a ‘modern’ guy. Truth be told, we are actually always surrounded by guys who think like this, and even now there’s none to mould the thoughts.
So, a thriller, packed with bits of important (relevant) social messages, that does not for an instance feels preachy? Also, an awesome translation, that proved to me more readable than even Murakami. I hardly remember anything that I had read almost 3 years ago. Still, this story sheds some much-needed light on a silent antagonist of immense character, one that can’t be easily forgotten. No need to speak anything about the crime-solving skills of Yukawa, we don't call him "Galileo" for no reason. And quite like the other works of the series, you won’t be amazed by the “who?”, as much as you will be by the “how?”
Definitely recommended. However, it’s not that excellent. Good, undoubtedly, but not even close to his best. Rather, doesn’t feel that authentic , but just as some good modern-day crime thriller will do.
“…marriage meant offering daily salvation to a man standing on the gallows”
“Sometimes it's as important to prove there is no answer to a question as it is to answer it.”
It was the second work I read by Higashino, with my expectations set higher after his probably most famous work. An unwise decision, perhaps, to read an author’s most acclaimed work before dealing with his others, but I didn’t regret it, for sure.
The story revolves around a middle-aged hypocrite who was going to divorce his wife, for “failing” to “give” him a baby, which wasn’t his fault for he had gone through the medical check-up himself. And soon after that, he was found dead in his abode, by arsenic poisoning, and the suspicion fell on his wife. However, she was verified to be hundreds of miles away at that time, and hence our beloved Physics Professor Manabu Yukawa was called to look into the matter.
Written in a bit of Christie-like whodunnit style, the storytelling often can remind you of her , though in a modern, and bit differently complicated manner. The ending may seem a bit unrealistic, but definitely a treat. However, this little bit of imitative way of storytelling doesn’t allow this work to be as great as its sequel. But still, I will highly recommend this one to all lovers of this genre. Kusanagi and Yukawa’s conversations, at times, are well enough to provide a bit of relief from the serious tone and pace of the story. Yoshitaka’s outlook on society, and women’s role in marriage, can remind you of Atwood’s ; a simultaneously disgusting and ridiculous way of perceiving a ‘modern’ guy. Truth be told, we are actually always surrounded by guys who think like this, and even now there’s none to mould the thoughts.
So, a thriller, packed with bits of important (relevant) social messages, that does not for an instance feels preachy? Also, an awesome translation, that proved to me more readable than even Murakami. I hardly remember anything that I had read almost 3 years ago. Still, this story sheds some much-needed light on a silent antagonist of immense character, one that can’t be easily forgotten. No need to speak anything about the crime-solving skills of Yukawa, we don't call him "Galileo" for no reason. And quite like the other works of the series, you won’t be amazed by the “who?”, as much as you will be by the “how?”
Definitely recommended. However, it’s not that excellent. Good, undoubtedly, but not even close to his best. Rather, doesn’t feel that authentic , but just as some good modern-day crime thriller will do.
“…marriage meant offering daily salvation to a man standing on the gallows”
August 10, 2021
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?????? ???? ?? ????? ???????? ?? ??????? ????? ?? ????? ??? ??? ??????? ??????? ????? ?? ?????? ???? ???? ?? ???? ????? ????? ??????? ??? ???? ??? ??? ?????? ??? ???? "?????".
????? ????? ????? ??????? ????? ??? ???? ???? ??????? ???? ?? ?? ??? ??? ?? ???? ?????? ??? ???? ?? ??????? ?????? ???? ??? ????? ?????? ?????? ????!
??? ???? "?????" ?? ????? ????? ?????? ?? ??????
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September 15, 2019
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August 4, 2021
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March 1, 2022
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November 7, 2018
It seems like the end of 2018 is gonna be ‘Keigo Higashino’ year for me and I’m not complaining! Salvation of a Saint is another impressive novel, a successor of the Devotion of Suspect X in the thriller series 'Detective Galileo'. This book revolves around a perfect crime: a crime which is so proficiently crafted that it leaves no evidence or trace behind to pinpoint the criminal; the unsolvability of the crime depends on the skill of the criminal rather than the incompetence of the investigator.
The mystery here begins with the murder of a businessman Yoshikata Mashiba who’s killed in his apartment alone with a poison-laced coffee. We later learn that the victim had made up his mind to divorce his wife so, the wife is a logical suspect here, as there scarcely appears anyone else who had a definite motive and who might have constructed such a scheme to end Yoshikata. The thing is the murder was committed when the wife was miles away which would make it impossible to carry out.
Unfortunately, our lead detective Kusanagi is enchanted by the wife and denies any allegations against her. Seeing his judgment getting clouded due to his feelings for the dead man’s wife, his assistant Utsumi secretly approaches Professor Manabu Yukawa, famously known as 'Detective Galileo' to assist in the investigation, as the events happened in the previous book has created a rift between the two friends. But, even Yukawa has a hard time decoding this one. It leads the two friends to split in different directions and pursue different paths to find the killer. What follows is the elaborate observation of the clues to rule out different possibilities to get to the heart of the crime.
This book is well detailed and cleverly constructed and the information is disclosed one step at a time with tiny twists. The characters are likable and witty. The plot is very simple. Turning a simple plot into a complex story is the forte of the author! There’s never a dull moment and it’s hard to put down the book. Even though the identity of the criminal is revealed in the first few pages, you need not worry, as it does not hinder the mystery. Even as I was reading and was absolutely sure about something, I was led astray by the revelation of new clues and information which made me doubt myself so much. And, the ending just blew my mind! This book attempts to stretch the boundaries of your imagination and makes you marvel at the complexity of the human mind.
All in all, this book was awesome! Not as good as the previous one but excellent in its own way. I highly recommend it to the fans of thrillers.
The mystery here begins with the murder of a businessman Yoshikata Mashiba who’s killed in his apartment alone with a poison-laced coffee. We later learn that the victim had made up his mind to divorce his wife so, the wife is a logical suspect here, as there scarcely appears anyone else who had a definite motive and who might have constructed such a scheme to end Yoshikata. The thing is the murder was committed when the wife was miles away which would make it impossible to carry out.
Unfortunately, our lead detective Kusanagi is enchanted by the wife and denies any allegations against her. Seeing his judgment getting clouded due to his feelings for the dead man’s wife, his assistant Utsumi secretly approaches Professor Manabu Yukawa, famously known as 'Detective Galileo' to assist in the investigation, as the events happened in the previous book has created a rift between the two friends. But, even Yukawa has a hard time decoding this one. It leads the two friends to split in different directions and pursue different paths to find the killer. What follows is the elaborate observation of the clues to rule out different possibilities to get to the heart of the crime.
This book is well detailed and cleverly constructed and the information is disclosed one step at a time with tiny twists. The characters are likable and witty. The plot is very simple. Turning a simple plot into a complex story is the forte of the author! There’s never a dull moment and it’s hard to put down the book. Even though the identity of the criminal is revealed in the first few pages, you need not worry, as it does not hinder the mystery. Even as I was reading and was absolutely sure about something, I was led astray by the revelation of new clues and information which made me doubt myself so much. And, the ending just blew my mind! This book attempts to stretch the boundaries of your imagination and makes you marvel at the complexity of the human mind.
All in all, this book was awesome! Not as good as the previous one but excellent in its own way. I highly recommend it to the fans of thrillers.
March 16, 2025
A few years ago I read , the first book in Higashino’s Detective Galileo series. I thought it was great - but this was even better.
The setup for the series is that Detective Kusanagi of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police, now joined by young detective Kaoru Utsumi, turn to “Detective Galileo”, actually physics professor Manabu Yukawa, for help with the “how” on particularly challenging cases. Where Kusanagi and Utsumi are inclined to pay attention to their cop instincts, Yukawa looks only at the facts.
The “how” in this volume is extremely complicated, and it takes even Yukawa the better part of the book to figure it out. But there is also a knotty “why” in this one. There is a surface level explanation, but the real story is buried more deeply.
In short, I found this a crackerjack read. I’m already looking forward to the next in the series!
The setup for the series is that Detective Kusanagi of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police, now joined by young detective Kaoru Utsumi, turn to “Detective Galileo”, actually physics professor Manabu Yukawa, for help with the “how” on particularly challenging cases. Where Kusanagi and Utsumi are inclined to pay attention to their cop instincts, Yukawa looks only at the facts.
The “how” in this volume is extremely complicated, and it takes even Yukawa the better part of the book to figure it out. But there is also a knotty “why” in this one. There is a surface level explanation, but the real story is buried more deeply.
In short, I found this a crackerjack read. I’m already looking forward to the next in the series!
October 28, 2017
I don't recommend this book if you are trying to cut down on caffeine. I say this as someone who drinks far too much coffee for his own good. I decided to knock coffee on the head for a week. The same week, by chance, I started listening to the audiobook of Salvation of a Saint. On day one, I had terrible headaches and a real craving for the smell and taste of filter coffee. And then I found, much to my chagrin, the victim keels over from a cup of poisoned coffee and all I could think about was coffee. In fact, the the whole novel revolves around coffee, or how the poison got in to the coffee. Every day for a week as I struggled to detoxify my body, I listened to detectives experimenting with coffee filters, debating whether mineral or tap water went into the coffee and who had the last cup?
Well, it wan't me.
Anyway, when I could drag my mind away from my addiction, I found the book's tastiest elements were the blend of characters -- our hero cop who falls for the femme fatale, his sidekick female junior detective who decidedly doesn't fall for suspect no. 1, and the professor who hovers Spock-like over all the bickering parties offering sage advice to follow the clues to their logical conclusion. At times I found the whodunnit puzzle a little too tedious and our hero's infatuation with the suspect not strongly convincing, but it was all palatable enough. The audiobook narrator was very good, although his pronunciation of Japanese place names was sometimes - how you say? - distracting. Nevertheless, on the whole, a concoction worth savouring.
Download my starter library for free here - - and receive my monthly newsletter with book recommendations galore for the Japanophile/crime fiction/English teacher in all of us.
Well, it wan't me.
Anyway, when I could drag my mind away from my addiction, I found the book's tastiest elements were the blend of characters -- our hero cop who falls for the femme fatale, his sidekick female junior detective who decidedly doesn't fall for suspect no. 1, and the professor who hovers Spock-like over all the bickering parties offering sage advice to follow the clues to their logical conclusion. At times I found the whodunnit puzzle a little too tedious and our hero's infatuation with the suspect not strongly convincing, but it was all palatable enough. The audiobook narrator was very good, although his pronunciation of Japanese place names was sometimes - how you say? - distracting. Nevertheless, on the whole, a concoction worth savouring.
Download my starter library for free here - - and receive my monthly newsletter with book recommendations galore for the Japanophile/crime fiction/English teacher in all of us.
May 1, 2025
One thing I love about literature is how most of it exists to prove you right. You sit there thinking, I am a good person. Then you read a book where a regular Jane goes out of her way to give a homeless man some cash. And you applaud her because you do the same often enough that you'd never end up on Santa's coal list. But that kind of book that just confirms your beliefs becomes trite. So what if you're a good person? Good for you. What if I could introduce you to the kind of literature that makes you tear your hair out having to empathise with someone you wouldn't want to be friends with on pain of death?
(For the sake of some literalists who will read this and start arguments, I'm not talking about bigots or people who'd rather see your human rights stripped away for their personal satisfaction.)
Shishi-odori
Having a fundamental difference of belief with the person you're reading about can challenge you in ways that gives your humanity muscles quite the stretch. As someone who hates children and can't stand them being anywhere near me, I had to wonder at a man who will do absolutely anything to have children. While I hate children, I also hate pregnancy. It's my firm belief that people who want kids should try to focus on adoption than more natalism. We're enough. Stop adding more people. Regardless, people are going to have their pwecious wittle babies because legacy or some shit, I don't care. For Yoshitaka Mashiba, he wanted children desperately. It was a deal he made with every woman he aimed to marry. If within a year they hadn't given him children, he'd move on and find another woman to be his little baby factory. It was at this point I stopped to scream at this assembly of words.
Was this man just using women as incubators? Reducing us to the most heinous of purposes ever given to the female form? I recently wrote about how I am and here I am reading about a man who will plough through the entire cishet female population of Japan until he can get a baby? Buddy, have you heard of adoption? HAVE YOU TRIED THERAPY? Oh, you're dead. Well, damn. That's too bad. Right? Right? Nope.
Keigo Higashino is an artist at making you sit with emotions that make you extremely uncomfortable. Because for all of Mashiba's faults, he was honest with the women he was dating. He wanted a baby and he wanted one within a year. When your boss gives you annual KPIs you don't start yelling at them to go to therapy. Often. When Mashiba was found dead inside his own home, it became a quintessential locked room mystery. Except the main suspect, his widow, a patchwork artist called Ayane was miles away with her parents at the time of death. Junior Detective Utsumi, a spitfire to Detective Kusunagi's stoic, is absolutely certain Ayane did it because she is the only one who had any cause to kill Mashiba. Detective Kusunagi is then tasked with finding Ayane and returning her to Tokyo to confirm her alibi and question her as a suspect. But Kusunagi firmly believes she's a victim--of a man's whims, a man's discard, a man's callousness. Because as soon as the book starts, Mashiba tells Ayane he is leaving her for another woman on account of no babies.
At a loss, Utsumi runs off to Professor Yukawa, Detective Galileo, to find out how Mashiba died. Yukawa reluctantly agrees to help the investigation. Drawn in by the siren's call of the consultant detective. Sherlock Holmes said, “I cannot live without brainwork. What else is there to live for? Stand at the window here. Was ever such a dreary, dismal, unprofitable world? See how the yellow fog swirls down the street and drifts across the duncoloured houses. What could be more hopelessly prosaic and material?” Granted, Galileo doesn't have a world of mire and dullness that needs to be sharpened by bodies hitting the floor. He's a physics professor and science is always entertaining to him. But one thing about him is he understands human nature better than most.
It was great watching him tease Utsumi and Kusunagi by withholding his findings, almost as if he was giving Kusunagi the opportunity to come to terms with how his infatuation with Ayane is preventing him from being a good detective. There's a subtle debate in this book about intuition vs belief. Do you go with your gut or do you go with what you know? Does your gut tell you what you know? What if you're running on confirmation bias? Kusunagi's inability to hold back his tongue whenever someone presented the possibility of Ayane being guilty made him have to call himself to a meeting. Eventually, his own instincts help him subvert his feelings and bring justice to chronic breeder Mashiba, who should have ultimately, seen a therapist. Then maybe he would still be alive.
Audio narration: A million stars.
(For the sake of some literalists who will read this and start arguments, I'm not talking about bigots or people who'd rather see your human rights stripped away for their personal satisfaction.)
Shishi-odori
Having a fundamental difference of belief with the person you're reading about can challenge you in ways that gives your humanity muscles quite the stretch. As someone who hates children and can't stand them being anywhere near me, I had to wonder at a man who will do absolutely anything to have children. While I hate children, I also hate pregnancy. It's my firm belief that people who want kids should try to focus on adoption than more natalism. We're enough. Stop adding more people. Regardless, people are going to have their pwecious wittle babies because legacy or some shit, I don't care. For Yoshitaka Mashiba, he wanted children desperately. It was a deal he made with every woman he aimed to marry. If within a year they hadn't given him children, he'd move on and find another woman to be his little baby factory. It was at this point I stopped to scream at this assembly of words.
Was this man just using women as incubators? Reducing us to the most heinous of purposes ever given to the female form? I recently wrote about how I am and here I am reading about a man who will plough through the entire cishet female population of Japan until he can get a baby? Buddy, have you heard of adoption? HAVE YOU TRIED THERAPY? Oh, you're dead. Well, damn. That's too bad. Right? Right? Nope.
Keigo Higashino is an artist at making you sit with emotions that make you extremely uncomfortable. Because for all of Mashiba's faults, he was honest with the women he was dating. He wanted a baby and he wanted one within a year. When your boss gives you annual KPIs you don't start yelling at them to go to therapy. Often. When Mashiba was found dead inside his own home, it became a quintessential locked room mystery. Except the main suspect, his widow, a patchwork artist called Ayane was miles away with her parents at the time of death. Junior Detective Utsumi, a spitfire to Detective Kusunagi's stoic, is absolutely certain Ayane did it because she is the only one who had any cause to kill Mashiba. Detective Kusunagi is then tasked with finding Ayane and returning her to Tokyo to confirm her alibi and question her as a suspect. But Kusunagi firmly believes she's a victim--of a man's whims, a man's discard, a man's callousness. Because as soon as the book starts, Mashiba tells Ayane he is leaving her for another woman on account of no babies.
At a loss, Utsumi runs off to Professor Yukawa, Detective Galileo, to find out how Mashiba died. Yukawa reluctantly agrees to help the investigation. Drawn in by the siren's call of the consultant detective. Sherlock Holmes said, “I cannot live without brainwork. What else is there to live for? Stand at the window here. Was ever such a dreary, dismal, unprofitable world? See how the yellow fog swirls down the street and drifts across the duncoloured houses. What could be more hopelessly prosaic and material?” Granted, Galileo doesn't have a world of mire and dullness that needs to be sharpened by bodies hitting the floor. He's a physics professor and science is always entertaining to him. But one thing about him is he understands human nature better than most.
It was great watching him tease Utsumi and Kusunagi by withholding his findings, almost as if he was giving Kusunagi the opportunity to come to terms with how his infatuation with Ayane is preventing him from being a good detective. There's a subtle debate in this book about intuition vs belief. Do you go with your gut or do you go with what you know? Does your gut tell you what you know? What if you're running on confirmation bias? Kusunagi's inability to hold back his tongue whenever someone presented the possibility of Ayane being guilty made him have to call himself to a meeting. Eventually, his own instincts help him subvert his feelings and bring justice to chronic breeder Mashiba, who should have ultimately, seen a therapist. Then maybe he would still be alive.
Audio narration: A million stars.
June 27, 2021
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September 25, 2024
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November 28, 2023
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February 27, 2025
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