by Keigo Higashino
In memory of Keigo Higashino (who sadly passed away in July), the September book giveaway is my favorite Japanese mystery writer’s most famous thriller, a diabolically clever tale of love, deception, and misdirection.
Setting & details: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Authenticity of Japanese characters & dialogue: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Translation quality: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Entertainment value: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
My recommendation: This thriller is classic Keigo Higashino, an intensely clever game of cat and mouse between the police investigating a murder and a desperate killer trying to cover it up. Although this mystery is Japanese through and through, Higashino does an excellent job of making both the killer’s motives and the leaps of deduction by the detectives resonate with universal appeal.
When local lunchbox seller Yasuko kills her abusive ex-husband in self-defense, her neighbor Ishigami volunteers to help her cover it up so she won’t go to prison and leave her teenage daughter alone.
Ishigami takes it upon himself to dispose of the body and comes up with a plan. Yasuko agrees to follow his instructions to the letter, no matter how odd his requests. As the police investigation unfolds, suspicion falls upon her weak alibi, which can neither be proven nor disproven. With the help of Higashino’s amateur sleuth, the physicist genius “Professor Galileo,” the police finally close in and solve the crime.
But this is not the end of the story, because their solution is absolutely correct, and also dead wrong.
Keigo Higashino is the master of clever twists and intricately constructed plots, and his police procedurals are all the more impressive because the crimes aren’t the work of ridiculously brainy criminal masterminds, but of ordinary human beings who nevertheless stand an excellent chance of getting away with their misdeeds, even though they panic and make mistakes along the way.
You can get it right now, or check out the October Japanagram to see if you won a copy. All subscribers are automatically entered to win—if you’re not yet a member of this lucky group, click this button to subscribe, and be automatically signed up to enter.
How I pick the book giveaway winners: At the end of September, I will load all the email addresses of current Japanagram subscribers into an online random name picker and ask it to choose one lucky subscriber to get the book from this month’s review. I’ll publish the winner’s email in the next Japanagram (obscured in a way so only the subscriber will be able to recognize it as their own, of course) so check your October Japanagram to see if you won!
And if you haven’t yet read The Samurai’s Octopus…
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The last thing Birdie needs is to turn her life upside down solve a murder that was committed before she was born…
Birdie is a true daughter of the pleasure quarter, the chosen apprentice to Yoshiwara’s number one queen of the night. She’d rather do anything than derail her future life of wearing opulent robes and entertaining lords of the land. But when her search for the mother she never knew takes a dangerous turn, she finds herself with an impossible choice: betray her own flesh and blood, or live the rest of her life being hunted by a powerful man who won’t stop until they’re both dead…read more
“…a complete immersion in a world of beauty, drama, secrets, and betrayals.”
—Kim Hays, author of the Polizei Bern series
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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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