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    The Devotion of Suspect X: A Detective Galileo Novel
    The Devotion of Suspect X: A Detective Galileo Novel
    The Devotion of Suspect X: A Detective Galileo Novel
    Ebook369 pages6 hours

    The Devotion of Suspect X: A Detective Galileo Novel

    By Keigo Higashino

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    Now a major motion picture on Netflix, Jaane Jaan

    This e-book now includes preview chapters from Higashino's newest mystery, SALVATION OF A SAINT.

    Yasuko Hanaoka is a divorced, single mother who thought she had finally escaped her abusive ex-husband Togashi. When he shows up one day to extort money from her, threatening both her and her teenaged daughter Misato, the situation quickly escalates into violence and Togashi ends up dead on her apartment floor. Overhearing the commotion, Yasuko's next door neighbor, middle-aged high school mathematics teacher Ishigami, offers his help, disposing not only of the body but plotting the cover-up step-by-step.
    When the body turns up and is identified, Detective Kusanagi draws the case and Yasuko comes under suspicion. Kusanagi is unable to find any obvious holes in Yasuko's manufactured alibi and yet is still sure that there's something wrong. Kusanagi brings in Dr. Manabu Yukawa, a physicist and college friend who frequently consults with the police. Yukawa, known to the police by the nickname Professor Galileo, went to college with Ishigami. After meeting up with him again, Yukawa is convinced that Ishigami had something to do with the murder. What ensues is a high level battle of wits, as Ishigami tries to protect Yasuko by outmaneuvering and outthinking Yukawa, who faces his most clever and determined opponent yet.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Publishers
    Release dateFeb 1, 2011
    ISBN9781429992312
    Author

    Keigo Higashino

    Born in Osaka and currently living in Tokyo, Keigo Higashino is one of the most widely known and bestselling novelists in Japan. He is the winner of the Edogawa Rampo Prize (for best mystery) and the Mystery Writers of Japan, Inc. Prize (for best mystery), among others. His novels are translated widely throughout Asia.

    Read more from Keigo Higashino

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    Reviews for The Devotion of Suspect X

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    190 ratings152 reviews

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    • 4/5
      The Devotion of Suspect X is only the second of Keigo Higashino's works to be translated into English. (Vertical published his novel Himitsu, "Secret," under the title Naoko in 2004.) This is really too bad since he is both a popular and award-winning author in Japan. The Devotion of Suspect X is arguably his most notable book--originally published in Japan in 2005, it won him the Naoki Sanjugo Prize and was made into a film in 2008. The novel is scheduled for release in English in February 2011 by the Minotaur imprint of St. Martin's Press. I was happy to receive an advance copy of The Devotion of Suspect X through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program. I was also very excited to learn that Alexander O. Smith--one of my favorite translators--worked on the novel's translation with Elye J. Alexander. I had never read any of Higashino's work before, but was really looking forward to The Devotion of Suspect X.After Yasuko unintentionally kills her ex-husband during a violent struggle in her apartment, she is surprised when her next door neighbor, the brilliant mathematician Ishigami, offers to do all that he can to help cover up the crime. He asks for nothing in return but Yasuko and her daughter must follow his plan exactly for it to work. Incredibly, Ishigami seems to have taken into consideration all possible outcomes and the investigation proceeds just as he predicts. The detectives suspect that something isn't quite right with the situation, but the evidence tells a convincing story even if they are uneasy about it. But then Ishigami is unexpectedly reunited with Yukawa, a former university classmate, rival, and friend. Yukawa, who often acts as a consultant to the police, may be the only person in a position to see through Ishigami's schemes. However, Ishigami is prepared even for this unforeseen scenario.Even though the characters are extremely important in The Devotion of Suspect X, the reader never really gets to connect with or know them that well, or see what's going on inside their minds. It is this not knowing that drives the story. Ishigami is terrifying in his brilliance specifically because the depth of his devotion and the lengths he is willing to go to protect Yasuko are unknown. There is no question he has helped her and her daughter and his incredible intelligence has allowed him to do this extraordinarily well. Throughout the novel, the enormity of exactly what he has done and the ultimate truth behind the situation is slowly revealed. Although I predicted some of the plot developments, I'll admit that I didn't see some of the final twists coming. Ishigami's genius is stunning and in many ways the ending is heartbreaking.Technically, The Devotion of Suspect X is the third volume in Higashino's Galileo series, which features Manabu Yukawa. However, the book stands alone perfectly well. I wasn't even aware that it was a part of a series when I started reading it and only discovered that fact later on. I do hope that the previous two books, Tantei Galileo and Yochimu are translated because I would really like to read them now. The thing that I was most impressed by in The Devotion of Suspect X was how Higashino effectively and very subtly built tension as the novel progressed. I didn't even realize how worked up I had become until the end of the book when Higashino finally releases his grip. Occasionally, he would linger on a particular mathematical theory or concept for too long and I wouldn't necessarily call The Devotion of Suspect X a page-turner. However, I found it to be thoroughly engrossing and I really hope to read more of Higashino's work in English.Experiments in Manga
    • 4/5
      This is the first Japenese book I have read albeit in English. The main 2 characters in this story are Yasuko Hanaoka a single Mother to her daughter Misato.The other character is their weird next door neighbour school teacher Ishigami. Yasuko's ex husband Togashi calls for her, she doesn't want to see him. Misato attacks and kills him. Ishigami takes charge of the situation and tells them to get a good alibi. A body is found down by the river. The Police with the help of Ishigami's old colleague from college Yukawa unravel the case. Ishigami had killed a tramp and pretended the body was Togashi's. Ishigami was devoted to Yasuko and agreed to take the blame for the murder.He goes to jail happy to have protected Yasuko honour.She then also confesses to the murder. Easy to read good book.
    • 4/5
      Wonderfully intricate murder mystery with a twist that, for me, was a surprise.
    • 4/5
      I stumbled onto this one by accident. I'd seen a foreign film that I liked and the Wikipedia page for it said it was loosely based on this novel, so I bought it to give it a try, and in the end I can only see a few similarities between the two but not enough to really claim the book and the movie were much alike. I'm getting off topic. Regardless of all that, I quite enjoyed the book.I like reading stories that take place in wildly different cultures, because it not only educates me about those cultures, but often I'm surprised by the way the stories unfold. American/English authors (whether they acknowledge this or not) often slip into familiar patterns that we, the readers, begin to anticipate before we realize what we're doing.For instance, take the "Rule of Three." This is an actual thing. Here's the Wikipedia entry for it:"The rule of three or power of three is a writing principle that suggests that things that come in threes are funnier, more satisfying, or more effective than other numbers of things. The reader or audience of this form of text is also thereby more likely to remember the information. This is because having three entities combines both brevity and rhythm with having the smallest amount of information to create a pattern. It makes the author or speaker appear knowledgeable while being both simple and catchy."I wonder if this is an Western concept, whereas other cultures (Eastern?) may not have developed the same patterns in their story-telling. They have their own patterns, which are unfamiliar to a Western reader. So lots of times in a book written by someone Asian/Eastern, where we (Westerners) would expect to see a pattern of three, the Asian writer throws us for a loop and does something completely different. That's the sort of thing I see all over the place when I read books from Asia, and it intrigues me. Not the lack of the "Rule of Three," per se, but just a sense of randomness that I can't foresee. And I like it. I like that I start to anticipate one thing, and suddenly the narrative goes in a different direction. Keeps me on my toes.Anyway, not to digress further and again, I had fun with that sort of thing in this book, the sense of curiosity I felt in reading something that had an unfamiliar structure and kept me guessing. And on top of that, it's just a really good detective story. You see the story unfold from the point of view of the detective as well as the "bad guy" at the same time, so it's not a whodunit or even a howdunit, but a "which of these two brilliant people will out smart the other" type of story. Also, you're sympathetic to both (there really isn't a "bad guy" in this story), so while I was reading it, I honestly didn't know who to root for. (See, there's another example of a standard Western trope, good guy vs. bad guy, that gets turned on it's head.)And even though you know the whole story from the start, the writer still manages to add a few "gotchas" at the end that maybe you weren't expecting.Fun read.
    • 5/5
      Yasuko divorced her abusive ex-husband, but that hasn't stopped him from finding out where she's living, and harassing her and her teenaged daughter. One night he ends up dead on Yusuko's apartment floor. Their neighbour knows what they've done and quickly devises a plan to cover up what really happened.

      The characters are well developed and believable, and the story is full of twists and turns that will shock you. This book was amazing.

      I received a free copy through Goodreads First Reads.
    • 5/5
      *Received through Goodreads First Reads program from author/publisher for an honest review**Also posted on Amazon.com (under Leanne) Higashino opens up the story by describing Ishigami’s daily routine which succinctly draws a picture of how intelligent he is along with his affection for Yasuko, his next door neighbor and pretty single mother. Yasuko kills her extortionist, violent ex-husband at the beginning of the story and Ishigami helps her to cover up the crime. The plot majorly comprises of how a police detective, Kusanagi, along with help from his physicist colleague, Yukawa, investigates the murder and interprets clues and evidence to solve the case. All the while, Ishigami tries his best to be a step ahead of the police and Yukawa, who happens to be an old college classmate. In the beginning, Yasuko is a sympathetic character but barely so. Lack of detail on the actual development of Ishigami’s loyalty to her does little to convince the reader that she is worthy of such help and Ishigami, himself, is very stoic and logical. The author only shares very little snippets of emotion from Ishigami such that the reader believes the story is superbly developed technically but does not pull the heart strings and make you root for the main characters. This thankfully changes as the plot develops. The reader is prepared for the murder to be solved, but the author expertly weaves into the story a surprise twist that you don’t expect. This happens along with the revealing of Ishigami’s motivation behind helping Yasuko and such measures he takes tugs at the heart of the reader, so much more so, that this depth of character is so unexpected. Higashino’s deliberate development of Ishigami’s character along with the use of Yukawa as a foil, makes for the success of the story and, by the end, you hope for the “bad guys” to get away. Overall, I was quite surprised with how much I loved The Devotion of Suspect X. I typically don’t read many murder/mysteries and found this novel refreshing and compelling. I would recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of mysteries and anyone who enjoys stories with great development of character. Now I understand why Higashino is Japan’s most popular bestselling author and look forward to reading more of his works in the future as well as seeing the translation into the little/big screens!
    • 4/5
      Actually I might give this one a 4.5 if I could-- great puzzle-type mystery with the whodunit out there from the beginning and a good interplay between logic and intuition in the final outcome. As always, the fact that I attended a discussion group session (as a guest) enhanced my enjoyment-- you always read a bit more carefully and you always benefit from comments and questions from other readers.
    • 4/5
      Very different. This is the only book I have read where I was rooting for the killer !! I will definitely read/listen to the 2nd one.
    • 1/5
      Half way though - BORING. Listening to the audio book version. Usually with fiction that is placed in countries where I am not familiar with the pronunciations (Mitchner "Poland", all the Scandinavian mysteries being translated these days) the audio versions are great because the narrator gives words/name/phrases life. Well, in this book, other than the names being pronounced - there is absolutely nothing that makes me think this takes place anywhere other than the US. I don't know if this is the problem of the translation or the narrator - but very unsettling. Ever watch the old "Colombo" series? We see the crime happen and then Columbo ferrets out the truth through diligent, intuitive detective work. None of that here.Finished. Consider watching an old Columbo re-run rather than reading this.
    • 4/5
      The characters and their motivations drive this psychological suspense story set in Japan. I very much enjoyed the interplay between the two scientists, one a shy but brilliant man devoted to the woman who kills her abusive husband, and the other a chess playing physicist who helps the police detective trying to make sense of the murder.It's an interesting and suspensefull cat and mouse game and I was conflicted in who to root for. An intriguing read but the language was clunky at times.
    • 4/5
      I had never heard of this book when I came across it in Waterstone's and, feeling unwarrantedly flush I decided to take a punt on it, swayed by the publisher's blurb. For once (as I have rather poor form in this field) I think I chose wisely. Please note that my review does contain some minor spoilers (though certainly not the ultimate denouement.).Yasuko Hanoaka is a divorced mother who now works in an upmarket sandwich bar, though earlier she had been a hostess in a couple of lively nightclubs. As the novel opens, her neighbour, Tetsuyi Ishigami, is walking to his work as a maths tutor at a cramming college for academically challenged pupils, and, as he always does, takes a detour to visit Yasuko's shop, principally for the chance to gaze at her. She is aware of him but does not pay him any attention.However, this day will prove to be different because later on another customer whom she recognises call in to the shop. This visitor is less welcome as it turns out to be Yasuko's estranged former husband, Shinji Togashi, whom she had divorced because of his drunken violence. They had not met for some years, and Yasuko soon recognises that Togashi has not changed and that he is likely to be there to scrounge for money. She manages to persuade him to leave the store, but he turns up later at the flat she now shares with her young daughter. Trouble ensues, and escalates, culminating in the sudden death of Togashi. Ishigami, who lives next door, hears the struggle and comes round to investigate, finding Yasuko and her daughter in shock, stunned by what has happened and perplexed as to how to react. Ishigami takes charge and arranges for the disposal of the body.We then move on a couple of weeks by which time the police have found an unidentified corpse and set about trying to unravel the mystery of who the dead man was, and how he came to be there. The investigation is led by Kusanagi, an inspector of the local police, with help from his intelligent civilian friend Yukawa who, as it happens, had been at university with Ishigami. Yukawa, an associate professor of physics at the Imperial University, starts his own investigation which runs in parallel with that pursued by the police, and their paths continually cross.The plot is never less than utterly plausible, and the characterisation is clever, with Yukawa cast almost as a Japanese version of Mycroft Holmes, seldom straying from his comfortable base while managing to unravel the trail of clues that he identifies to the bemusement of the police.All in all, very enjoyable.
    • 3/5
      This is an unusual police procedural set in Tokyo, Japan. The reader knows who the murderer is from the beginning, and the suspense comes from finding out whether the cover-up will be successful. There's a cat and mouse game being played, but not between the detective and the murderer, but between a physicist working in a university lab who sometimes consults for the lead detective and the next-door neighbor of the murderer who engage in the battle of wits. Ishigami, a high school math teacher, loves his neighbor, Yasuko. Yasuko is a divorced mother who works in a small shop selling bento boxes. He buys his lunch from her every day, but lacks the courage to speak to her. On day, her estranged ex-husband appears and after he follows her home and forces his way into her apartment, there's an altercation and he is killed. Hearing the commotion, Ishigami appears and takes charge. The Devotion of Suspect X was an interesting deviation from the usual police procedural. Coupled with the Japanese setting, this proved to be a fun evening's read.
    • 4/5
      The book kept me reading till the end. What looks a simple case at the beginning, it gets complex and with a final surprise.The case is simple, at the beginning. The real story seems to be the battle of wits between two geniuses, one that tries to hide a crime, and one who tries to solve it.The characters are not very developed, all the story lays in the plot. The strategies used by the two scientists or genius are compared with the ways scientists do their work. Comparisons are made with the way people make assumptions, wrong assumptions.The final twist is pure genius.
    • 4/5
      The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino lays before the reader an engrossing puzzle, but one flawed by serious editing problems and weak character development. For the majority of the book the characters seemed more as ghosts floating about an insoluble problem. My problem with the character development might be countered with the argument that the principals of the story, Ishigami, Yasuko, and Kukawa, must remain inscrutable if they are to succeed. This may also be noted as a cultural difference since one can point to Kawabata and Mishima as artists whose style of subtle character development hinged as much on not telling as telling. The same might be said of the Anglo-Japanese writer Ishiguro. Higashino creates a mystery of a mathematical elegance, plays fair with the reader, never does one feelthat the author is holding back until the end. If one heeds the Detective Galileo's deductive and philosophic musings, the solution, the twist should not come as a surprise. Still, the insubstantiality of the characters as flesh and blood people and several serious editing problems, some which lead to contradictions in facts, others were simply copy issues such as omissions of necessary small words kept me from being utterly enthralled.
    • 5/5
      this has 'first novel' written all over it...bad and sudden transitions, wrong spellings, wrong grammar, awkward character and plot developments...i think these are not necessarily bad for a first novel (is it higashino's first?), just mildly annoying and sets up bad omens for the book.but like all good first novels (i just did a quick google search...this was not higashino's 1st novel), Suspect X has something extremely well going for it that overrides the little annoyances: it is a very cleverly written, intelligent, and original puzzle!i do not feel this positively towards detective and crime thrillers in general. i've been reading mysteries and whodunits since i was very young and its become easy, more often than not (ok, not that easy), to guess the right solution, or the twist, even if just a partial one. Suspect X, however, took me so completely by surprised that i actually swore out loud when i realized what actually happened on the 'fateful night'. extremely satisfying! ^_^'which is harder: devising an unsolvable problem, or solving that problem? and it's not an empty question...i guarantee this puzzle has an answer. interesting, no?' -- detective galileo
    • 5/5
      I'm not entirely sure how to express how much I loved this book. I'd watched the jdrama, Galileo, before I read the book and had completely forgotten that that series was based on Higashino's Detective Galileo character. I'd also fallen in love with the actor who plays Kusanagi, so it was much to my delight when I realized that this novel was part of the source material for the TV show that I love. This did prove to be a slight problem, as the "bad" guys in the novel are rather sympathetic, but I came into this predisposed to like the detective and the physicist. Overall, the story is engaging and interesting, I was never bored with any of the storylines. I also found the characters to be just as much fun in the book as they are in the show. Near the end of the novel, there's a twist that I didn't see coming which basically left me sitting at my kitchen table, listening and possibly crying a little. It was extremely well done and I immediately ILL'd the next book. I listened to the audiobook version and the reader was fantastic. I really wish some of the Detective Galileo short stories were translated into English, though!
    • 4/5
      Yasuko kills her abusive ex-husband in defense of her daughter; the only other witness to the murder is the brilliant mathematician who lives across the hall. He decides to help them conceal the murder and creates the perfect alibi for Yasuko, thus beginning a thrilling cat-and-mouse game among the suspects, the police, and a brilliant physicist who knows the math teacher. Summary HPLA murder mystery that reveals "whodunit" in the opening pages means to take the reader on a different journey. Telling the story from different points of view, Higashino manoeuvers his plot like a chess game where the pieces are able to communicate about their role in the game only insofar as their positions on the chess board will allow. Of course, the author has some surprise moves...The beauty of ethics and mathematics is personified respectively by the physics professor, Yukawa and the math genius, Ishigami. Their interplay as they pursue their missions is finely wrought in spare strokes. Science, logic and predictability dominate the novel, partly to lead the reader astray.In Higashino's Japan, the culture remains patriarchal: Yasuko knows the police won't stop her ex-husband from stalking her; after the murder, she does not hope for leniency from the law but submissively accepts the help offered by the male neighbor who is little more than a stranger. The stilted dialogue brought to life the formality of Japanese social exchanges.Not a light or easy read; THE DEVOTION OF SUSPECT X shows the power of chance encounter and the strange places love is born.8 out of 10 Recommended to readers who prefer their suspense to be intelligent and informed and to fans of off-beat love stories.
    • 4/5
      This crime novel is a lot like an episode of Columbo. The novel begins with a murder and a known murderer. A woman kills her ex-husband in her apartment. Her neighbor, a mathematics genius, steps in to help her cover up the crime. He matches wits with a police consultant, a physicist who also happens to be an old college classmate. The physicist assists the police in chipping away at the alibi, becoming every bit as annoying as Columbo with “just one more thing”.I don't often read crime novels where the murderer's identity is revealed at the beginning. I enjoy the challenge of a whodunnit and trying to beat the detective to the solution. It's not as much fun trying to guess where the killer will slip up in the cover-up. However, this book had a lot more surprises in store than that, and I was completely surprised by the ending. If all crime novels with a known murderer were written this well, I'd try one of them more often.
    • 4/5
      Trust a Japanese to throw an unseen twist in a seemingly simple murder story. Surprisingly refreshing!3.5/5
    • 5/5
      Der vorliegende Roman ist nach "Mord am See" (hier nicht besprochen) der 2. ins Deutsche übertragene des japanischen Erfolgsautors. Am Anfang steht die Tat, begangen von der alleinerziehenden Yasuko aus Tokio, die ihren gewalttätigen Ex-Mann in ihrer Wohnung erdrosselt. Ihr Nachbar, der in Yasuko verliebte, geniale Mathematik-Lehrer Ishigami, hilft ihr beim Beseitigen der Leiche, beim Legen falscher Fährten und gibt ihr genaue Anweisungen, wie sie sich der Polizei gegenüber verhalten soll. Er findet seinen Widerpart in dem Physikprofessor Yukawa, der wiederum den leitenden Kommissar Kusanagi in seinen Ermittlungen unterstützt. Der eine will die Wahrheit vertuschen, der andere aufdecken, wobei der Leser mehr mit den Tätern mitfiebert. Der wohltuend altmodisch geschriebene Krimi erfährt viel Spannung durch den intellektuellen Wettstreit der beiden Naturwissenschaftler und endet mit einem echten Knaller als Auflösung des Falles. Ganz nebenbei vermittelt das Buch auch noch Einblicke in das Leben im heutigen Japan. Deshalb zumindest ab mittleren Beständen gerne und unbedingt empfohlen. Namen: Yasuko Hanaoka, ihre Tochter Misato, ihr neuer Freund Kudo
    • 4/5
      Less a 'whodunnit' than a 'how & why-dunnit' set in Japan. Very well parsed plot, presented through the eyes of a mathematician and a physicist. A suitable twist near the end, and a shiver-down-the-spine psychological denouement. Excellent holiday reading, and a change from usual UK-US fare.
    • 4/5
      this book was a good read. I really enjoyed it . There is not much more to be said that hasn't already been said. I would definitely tell others to read it. I didn't know that there was an audiobook out there but if you don't like to read but like to listen. Get the audiobook.
    • 4/5
      Higashino is one of Japan's best selling crime writers. His protagonist is a divorced single Mom. Her ex-husband is out to extort funds from her. He comes to the apartment and threatens the Mother and the teenage daugheter, Misato. Violence follows and the ex-husband ends up dead. If you like police procedurals set in exotic places you will like SUSPECT X. It is a good read. Definitely worth a detour.
    • 5/5
      This is the only Detective Galileo book that I've seen in English, and is based on the movie Suspect X. However, be warned that while in terms of plot, the movie is true to the book, there is one major change: Utsumi has been replaced.The plot, while unlike a conventional murder mystery, is excellent, as it aptly places it's focus on characterisation. In fact, I sometimes felt as though the murder was just a literary device for characterisation to occur. There isn't an unsympathetic character, except perhaps the murdered man himself, and I felt sympathetic towards all the characters. Of course, this book feels slow at times, but that is only if you read it expecting an exciting murder mystery. It reminds me of a study I saw, where a spoiler can actually enhance the reading of a book. In this case, it's proven true, because by telling you the murderer, you can better appreciate the characterisation and the prose.
    • 4/5
      This is really an upside down mystery... you know who dunnit from the outset, but are taken on a path of wondering if and how the police will solve the crime. It's a complex path, created by one of the main characters, a math professor who is accustomed to taking advantage of his student's assumptions to create difficult mathematical problems. He does the same in covering up a murder which leads us and the detectives down an intriguing path. Even knowing this was the basis of his strategy, and loving a good logic puzzle as much as anyone, I never saw the ending coming. I listened to the audio book, it's well read and has a nice pace that made me look forward to my next run so I could listen to more.
    • 3/5
      A short, nice, quick read murder mystery story. A man covers up crime for his beloved in most unusual manner.
    • 5/5
      “Which is harder: devising an unsolvable problem, or solving that problem?”Yasuko Hanaoka is a single mother just trying to get ahead. She’s finally working a more respectable job and raising her teenage daughter, Misato, as best she can. Her sleazy ex-husband, Togashi, is making that difficult. As much as she tries to distance herself, he keeps coming around, extorting money in order to go away. This time, however, the altercation becomes physical when Misato hits him. He attacks the girl, and both mother and daughter wind up in a life-or-death struggle that finds Togashi strangled on the floor.Panicked, the two are discussing Yasuko turning herself into the police when a knock comes at the door. It is Ishigami, the smitten teacher who lives next-door. It seems he *will* do anything for Yasuko—including move bodies. And so a plot is hatched. Ishigami is much more than a high school math teacher. At one time, he was a bona fide mathematical genius and it seems he’s still got a talent for logic and strategy. Will it help them all get away with murder?Enter “Detective Galileo,” the nickname of physicist Manabu Yukawa. Yukawa earned his moniker helping out the police on occasional cases. He’s got Holmesian intellect and observational skills, though considerably better people skills than the famed detective. And, back in their college days, he and Ishigami were friends and rivals. While Yukawa is not officially on the case, his personal connection draws him in. But rather than working with Detective Kusanagi, for the first time he seems to be following his own agenda. Thus begins a high-stakes chess game between two brilliant men. Says the physicist:“When an amateur attempts to conceal something, the more complex he makes his camouflage, the deeper the grave he digs for himself. But not so a genius. The genius does something far simpler, yet something no normal person would even dream of, the last thing a normal person would think of doing. And from this simplicity, immense complexity is created.”I’m not generally a huge fan of police procedurals, but this one had a lot going for it. At the very top of the list is the plotting. The cat-and-mouse aspect to the investigation kept tension ratcheted—especially as readers knew exactly how the murder went down from the novel’s opening pages. But each of these men had surprises up their sleeves, and the dénouement was a thing of beauty. Also, this was largely a crime of self-defense (apparently not a big concept in the Japanese legal system, as it was never brought up once as a mitigating factor), and therefore the perpetrators were quite sympathetic. As a reader, at times it was hard to know who to root for—and that’s just interesting. This was definitely not a black and white crime novel.Character development is a little trickier. I always have some trouble getting a feel for Japanese characters simply due to cultural differences. And whatever the culture, Ishigami is not your average Joe. I liked Yukawa quite a lot, but can’t say that I feel he’s a wildly unique creation. At least not yet. Author Keigo Higashino has had a second Detective Galileo mystery published in English, Salvation of a Saint. As I was reading, I thought to myself, This must not be the first novel in the series. But checking Wikipedia, it appears there were only a series of short stories featuring the character prior to this novel. Additionally, there’s a third novel in the series not yet released in America. Based on this introduction, I’d be very open to further investigations.
    • 4/5
      An interesting police procedural / murder mystery, which I quite enjoyed in the end.Getting into it was a challenge, however, as it seemed to take a long time (185 pages?) with little or no feeling for the characters or their situation. I don't expect this was any particular fault of the author's, the translation, the reader's, or (maybe?) simply cultural differences; but, the fact remains, I very nearly put it down, deliberately (rather than inadvertently), to move on to other things.Let's say I'm interested to watch for other English translations of Higashino's work, which is evidently quite popular in Japan; but I won't likely pay retail for the privilege.
    • 3/5
      When Yasuko's abusive ex-husband shows up uninvited and unwelcome at the apartment she shares with her teen-aged daughter one day, things quickly escalade and he ends up dead. Before she has had time to figure out what to do next, her next door neighbour Ishigami, a middle-aged mathematics teacher whom she hardly knows, offers to help dispose of the body and creates the perfect alibi for her. Though the police can't find any incriminating evidence against her, detective Kusanagi's instincts tell him something isn't quite right with Yasuko's story. He discusses the case with his brilliant physicist friend Dr. Yukawa, who, as luck would have it, was friends with the mathematician in his college days and discovers to pay his old friend a visit.This was a cleverly told mystery with an interesting plot twist toward then end, though I sometimes felt like the investigation was going in circles, and found the pacing a bit slow and plodding. One of the elements of the story I found most interesting was that it was never made completely clear whether Ishigami's obsession lay with the beautiful Yasuko or with his passion for mathematics. Good, but not great.
    • 3/5
      When I received this book, it came with a cd recording as well. I started listening to this book and was very engrossed, but then suddenly the disc wouldn't advance (I was on a nine hour drive) so I lost the momentum that had been created by the animated reader.I'm not sure if this disconnect affected how I enjoyed the book. When I picked it up to finish it, I couldn't get back into the suspense. It seemed to drag on a bit in the end. Overall, I have seen it compared to 'Out' and I do think it's a good comparison. However, 'Out' is the much stronger novel and it does seem that this story was highly influenced by it. Maybe because I had read the former, I was more critical of this novel. I think you will enjoy it but you won't want to read it again.

    Book preview

    The Devotion of Suspect X - Keigo Higashino

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