By Keigo Higashino
Setting & details: ⭐⭐⭐
Authenticity of Japanese characters & dialogue: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Translation quality: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Entertainment value: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
My recommendation: The latest murder mystery from bestselling author Keigo Higashino delivers the usual meticulous puzzle solving we expect of detectives Kaga and Matsumiya, and will not disappoint those who love detailed police procedurals.
Keigo Higashino is one of the world’s most-read Japanese authors for a reason: he delivers fiendishly clever puzzles and unlike most Japanese mystery/thriller writers, he shapes his detectives into recognizable individuals who a reader can know and like. This fourth book in the Kyoichiro Kaga series features Higashino’s usual meticulous connecting of seemingly-unrelated people and crimes, and we’re with detectives Kaga and Matsumiya every step of the way as they hunt down both red herrings and crucial clues in a way that feels like real-life police work.
But in reading The Final Curtain, it struck me that one reason Japanese murder mysteries often fail to charm non-Japanese audiences (besides the usual translation issues) is that all too often, key plot points hinge on uniquely Japanese character traits and cultural norms.
In The Final Curtain, the crime is rooted in the kind of family drama that assumes it’s not unusual for a parent to just walk away from a husband and child for reasons that seem trivial to Westerners, and people are driven to kill themselves (or others) to escape problems that seem like they could be solved in a number of other, less-drastic ways. It also features the uniquely Japanese tendency to bully victims as well as criminals, which strikes me (and perhaps other Western readers) as both unnatural and cruel. And because this is a work in translation, the cultural background that might make the players’ motives at least semi-understandable is assumed, not explained.
It does keep you guessing right up to the end, though, and it’s always interesting to watch Detective Kaga unravel a seemingly insoluble crime. This is still a good read if you enjoy getting an authentic look at Japanese police work and the underside of Japanese society.
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Jonelle Patrick writes novels set in Japan, and blogs at Only In Japan and The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had
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