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 ...
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Nov 15, 2010
Irene
rated it: 
Not only is THE DEVOTION OF SUSPECT X a multi-faceted cultural reading experience, but it also acutely complements the familiar psychological suspense/thriller/mystery genre by infusing Japanese philosophy. Keigo Higashino shrewdly and subtly induces the reader to contemplate the immeasurable complexities of the human psyche by questioning what motivates one human being to judge who is worthy of life, and who is not.
Tetsuya Ishigami’s daily schedule is precisely what one would expect More...
Tetsuya Ishigami’s daily schedule is precisely what one would expect More...
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Oct 16, 2011
Juliana
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Superbly crafted psychological suspense novel - simple, yet genius
This story was superbly crafted and a really wonderful, highly recommended read. The truth is I didn't actually like it very much at the beginning, however I quickly got pulled into the story and in the end could only admire the simple but genius quality of the plot.
There are essentially four main characters in this novel: Yasuko, the single-mother who commits the unplanned murder; Ishigami, a math teacher More...
This story was superbly crafted and a really wonderful, highly recommended read. The truth is I didn't actually like it very much at the beginning, however I quickly got pulled into the story and in the end could only admire the simple but genius quality of the plot.
There are essentially four main characters in this novel: Yasuko, the single-mother who commits the unplanned murder; Ishigami, a math teacher More...
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Apr 07, 2011
Kaion
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A hard-working single mother, Yasuko is surprised by the implication when her boss points out that Yasuko’s otherwise unsociable neighbor Ishigama comes by especially to buy a boxed lunch from her every day. But when a typical visit by her violent ex-husband to hustle her for money ends in his death, she's positively shocked, if thankful, when the seemingly-ordinary high school math teacher not only immediately deduces the crime but also offers to help cover it up.
The Devotion of Suspe More...
The Devotion of Suspe More...
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Feb 22, 2012
Allan
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The Devotion of Suspect X is a quick decent read which nevertheless left me with many unanswered questions, only some of which can be laid at the feet of the translator. [return][return]The “Suspect X” of the title is the brilliant mathematician Ishigami who has spent the last number of years teaching high-school math and spending his evenings working on arcane math problems. His secret “devotion” is to his neighbor Yasuko who lives next door with her daughter Misato. [return][return]Yasuko is b
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Apr 06, 2011
Bookmarks Magazine
rated it:
In this police procedural and detective novel, which the Washington Post described as a modern take on the “puzzle genre,” readers best pay attention to the details if they hope to solve the crime. A story of murder and cover-up that seeks to fit murder into mathematical principles, The Devotion of Suspect X creates a challenging mind game that provoked most critics. Still, despite the emotional heft provided by the former friendship between the physicist and math teacher, as well as the web of
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Feb 12, 2012
Ashland Mystery
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It's hard to write about The Devotion of Suspect X without giving away too much of the story. The central crime is a woman's murder of her abusive ex-husband and the unspoken love of a neighbor who helps her conceal the crime. It's the neighbor, Ishigami who is Suspect X. He's the unknown accomplice the Tokyo police are seeking as it's clear that Yasuko Hanaoka has an alibi, and is physically unlikely to have committed the crime.
Ishigami is essentially alone, suicidal until he meets More...
Ishigami is essentially alone, suicidal until he meets More...
Feb 08, 2012
Tony
rated it:
THE DEVOTION OF SUSPECT X. (2005; Eng. trans. 2011). Keigo Higashino. *****.
Yasuko and her daughter, Misato, live in an apartment next door to a Professor of mathematics who teaches at a local high school, Ishigami. Recently, Yasuko had been approached by her ex-husband, dunning her for money and a chance to make things up to her. She had heard all of this before and wanted no part of it again. She would do anything to stop her ex from coming around and bothering her and her daughte More...
Yasuko and her daughter, Misato, live in an apartment next door to a Professor of mathematics who teaches at a local high school, Ishigami. Recently, Yasuko had been approached by her ex-husband, dunning her for money and a chance to make things up to her. She had heard all of this before and wanted no part of it again. She would do anything to stop her ex from coming around and bothering her and her daughte More...
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Jan 02, 2012
Amy
rated it:
The Devotion of Suspect X actually deserves a 5-star rating in its original. But the translation into English was, well, mediocre at best and it affected my enjoyment of the story. There was no character, no voice to the translation. It read very much like a grade-school primer. I'm really storry to say that, but...
The story itself really shows its social roots for their is a definite feeling of hopeless inevitability about the events.
Yasuko is a divorced mom, trying to make More...
The story itself really shows its social roots for their is a definite feeling of hopeless inevitability about the events.
Yasuko is a divorced mom, trying to make More...
Nov 07, 2011
Tony
rated it: 
I've read perhaps ten or so Japanese crime novels seen maybe fifteen Japanese crime films, have read some non-fiction about the Japanese underworld, and have been to the country. All of which is to say that while I'm not fluent in the culture, I didn't come to this story completely unversed in it either. Unfortunately, this particular book seems to be a case of a publisher trying to find the next big international crime thriller hit, and releasing a book with some major flaws.
The stor More...
The stor More...
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Oct 23, 2011
Ms.pegasus
rated it:
The characters are presented with the skill of a sumi-e brush – everything we need to know succinctly condensed into some conversations, and a few interactions right from the outset. The story is told from constantly shifting viewpoints. We observe the methodical detective, Kusanagi, and we are presented with a police procedural, the investigation redirected after each new clue. We observe the physics professor, Manabu Yukawa – his inquiring scientific mind matched by his acute observations
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Aug 09, 2011
Ryandake
rated it: 
sort of a cross between Death Note Box Set: Volumes 1 - 13 and Out, except without the clever pictures and the character development.
Suspect X was probably a really good example of a certain type of cat-and-mouse japanese mystery, wherein watching the detectives vs. the miscreants is the point of the novel, not finding out whodunit. it was certainly well-plotted, decently written, and criminally plausible.
what it wasn't, was insightful. the characters are not fleshed out More...
Suspect X was probably a really good example of a certain type of cat-and-mouse japanese mystery, wherein watching the detectives vs. the miscreants is the point of the novel, not finding out whodunit. it was certainly well-plotted, decently written, and criminally plausible.
what it wasn't, was insightful. the characters are not fleshed out More...
Jun 13, 2011
Jenny
rated it:
This was a different kind of read for me. I picked it up spontaneously during a trip to Borders without ever having heard anything about it. Then when I got home my hubby mentioned he saw it on Barnes & Noble's Best of February list. So I thought... good! Sounds promising!
I spent most of this read wondering where it was going and if it really was going to be as simple as it seemed. The types of things I said to myself while reading this included, "this is like mystery/crime 101" More...
I spent most of this read wondering where it was going and if it really was going to be as simple as it seemed. The types of things I said to myself while reading this included, "this is like mystery/crime 101" More...
May 29, 2011
The Devotion of Suspect X, by Keigo Higashino, translated by Alexander O. Smith, a-minus, narrated by David Pittu, produced by Macmillan Audio, downloaded from audible.com.
This mystery is translated from Japanese. Yasuko Hanaoka is a divorced, single mother who, even five years after her divorce, her abusive ex-husband Togashi, turned up at her apartment yet again, one of his many stalkings of her over the years, to again borrow money. On this day, he was threatening both her and h More...
This mystery is translated from Japanese. Yasuko Hanaoka is a divorced, single mother who, even five years after her divorce, her abusive ex-husband Togashi, turned up at her apartment yet again, one of his many stalkings of her over the years, to again borrow money. On this day, he was threatening both her and h More...
May 10, 2011
Lisa
rated it:
Good book. Very close to being a "great" book - though I have a feeling that a bit of what made it slightly less than great to me might have to do with either cultural differences or the translation. Either way, it was very good - easy to read - and reminded me a lot of a good Agatha Christie book. The final plot device - while it didn't resonate for me as completely believable - was certainly very clever - I didn't see it coming - and I liked the idea of the brilliant but lonely ma
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Apr 08, 2011
Tricia
rated it:
Devotion of Suspect X
By: Keigo Higashino, Alexander O. Smith
I had really wanted to like this book more than I actually did. I have read other foreign authors' works that are translated, and although I feel that was part of my problem, it wasn't the only factor.
The translation here, for me, was somewhat stilted or more formal than what a normal dialogue would be like. Just basic responses to everyday things seemed off and it interfered with the flow of the story. More...
By: Keigo Higashino, Alexander O. Smith
I had really wanted to like this book more than I actually did. I have read other foreign authors' works that are translated, and although I feel that was part of my problem, it wasn't the only factor.
The translation here, for me, was somewhat stilted or more formal than what a normal dialogue would be like. Just basic responses to everyday things seemed off and it interfered with the flow of the story. More...
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Feb 05, 2011
Amy
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Be prepared to get sucked into this new thriller from Keigo Higashino. While he’s already a big name in Japan, this is his first book translated into English. It’s best called a police procedural rather than just a crime novel, because every little detail Higashino includes has a point in the story. What’s most unique is as soon as you begin, the murder of a man occurs, and you know exactly who did it. Straight up, it’s right there, demanding you pay attention!
The m More...
The m More...
Feb 02, 2011
Susan
rated it:
I was lucky enough to win this book and was delighted that it also came with a CD version, which I plan to use in the future as I have a long drive coming up. At that point I may revise my review, as I sometimes feel differently about a book after the second read.
I enjoyed this book, but found it a difficult read. The names took a while to get on to and to keep straight in my head. And although the names added flavor and setting to the book, it was distracting to me. I recommend More...
I enjoyed this book, but found it a difficult read. The names took a while to get on to and to keep straight in my head. And although the names added flavor and setting to the book, it was distracting to me. I recommend More...
Jan 31, 2011
Stephanie
rated it:
I think I've already found the best thriller of 2011. And it's only January.
By the end of the first chapter, you will already know who did it and how. That's not why The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino is a compulsive page-turner. This is not a run of the mill whodunit nor an elaborately staged mystery. When you get to the end, when you race to the end, you'll slap your head like I did and realize how simple, but brilliant the story is.
"'...you science type More...
By the end of the first chapter, you will already know who did it and how. That's not why The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino is a compulsive page-turner. This is not a run of the mill whodunit nor an elaborately staged mystery. When you get to the end, when you race to the end, you'll slap your head like I did and realize how simple, but brilliant the story is.
"'...you science type More...
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Jan 14, 2011
Becky
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Togashi, the shiftless ex-husband of single mom Yasuko, who for years has been harassing her and her daughter whenever he could track them down, goes one step too far at the beginning of The Devotion of Suspect X, a stately, elegantly constructed mystery by bestselling Japanese author Keigo Higashino. In a tense, terrifying scene, Yasuko and her teenage daughter kill Togashi by strangling him with an electrical cord. When her next door neighbor, a retiring middle-aged math teacher named Ishigam
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Jan 09, 2011
Felice
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In some mysteries and suspence novels there is the Oh No Don't Do That Moment. The moment when as an onlooker you know that what a character is doing is a really bad idea. The kind of bad idea that will snowball into a full on police investigation. In these kinds of mysteries if it's the victim that does this thing you can accept that the ball got rolling and move on. When it's the main suspect? That's not so good and that's the beginning of The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino.
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Jan 07, 2011
Linda
rated it:
Alexander O. Smith did a great job translating this Japanese crime novel into English! Collocialisms and common American expressions are sprinkled liberally throughout the book to successfully convey the action and elements of character that were, I'm sure, intended by the author though probably would've been worded differently (and perhaps confusingly) in a verbatim translation from modern Japanese. I am not an avid crime fiction afficionado, yet found this one hard to put down.
I More...
I More...
Jan 02, 2011
Christine
rated it:
A smart whodunit with precise timing and alarmingly clever curveballs, The Devotion of Suspect X matches the murderous progression of a mathematics teacher's proof against a physicist's logic and a detective's intuition. Despite knowing what really happened from the first chapter, this book will have you quickly thumbing pages, eager to figure out the end.
When Yasuko and her daughter Misato strangle Yasuko's brutal ex-husband Togashi after a threatening encounter in their apartment, th More...
When Yasuko and her daughter Misato strangle Yasuko's brutal ex-husband Togashi after a threatening encounter in their apartment, th More...
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Jan 02, 2011
Ellen
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I'm not a regular reader of mysteries but got this book through First Reads--I signed up being interested in a Japanese novel that had won a literary prize. It wasn't bad, but again probably more of interest to those who read mysteries frequently. The plot involves a single mom who accidentally kills her husband and the neighbor who's in love with her who helps her cover up the crime. The neighbor is an interesting character in that he's a mathematician and very exacting in his plans. He is
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Jan 01, 2011
Debp
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This was my first book by well known Japanese author, Keigo Higashino. A single mother and her daughter become involved in a crime. Their neighbor, Yoshi, is a brilliant, lonely math teacher comes to her aide. Yoshi is able to stay ahead of the investigation because of his intelligence. A friend of both Yoshi and the lead detective sees what is happening. He cannot stop the evolving tragedy, only bear witness to it.
The first few pages were a bit slow, and hard to get into to. I am very gl More...
The first few pages were a bit slow, and hard to get into to. I am very gl More...
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Jan 02, 2011
Denise
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A battle of wits, January 2, 2011
This is a very clever mystery novel originally written in Japanese and translated into English and is this author's first major English publication. Apparently this novel is a continuation of a popular serial drama, Galileo, and has also been made into a Japanese film, Suspect-X that was released in 2008. The recurring character in the series is Manabu Yukawa, a brilliant physics professor at Imperial University who is respectfully called Detective More...
This is a very clever mystery novel originally written in Japanese and translated into English and is this author's first major English publication. Apparently this novel is a continuation of a popular serial drama, Galileo, and has also been made into a Japanese film, Suspect-X that was released in 2008. The recurring character in the series is Manabu Yukawa, a brilliant physics professor at Imperial University who is respectfully called Detective More...
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Jan 01, 2011
Amy
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At first I had a hard time with the Japanese names and customs, as I am not familiar with them. However, as the book went on, it got easier to understand. I really liked this book...I can see why Keigo Higashino is a popular author in Japan, and I'm glad that he is releasing books in the US.
This is a story of Yasuko, a single mom, who accidentally kills her ex-husband while he is in her home and is threatening her and her daughter. Yasuko's neighbor, Ishigami, who has a romantic i More...
This is a story of Yasuko, a single mom, who accidentally kills her ex-husband while he is in her home and is threatening her and her daughter. Yasuko's neighbor, Ishigami, who has a romantic i More...
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Dec 29, 2010
Nancy
rated it:
like a 3.75 rounded up.
First things first: my thanks to Librarything and its Early Reviewers program (and to Minotaur books) for the advanced reader's copy of this novel. File this one under pre-order, because it's not scheduled to be released until February, 2011.
I liked this book and didn't really appreciate it until some time had passed after reading it. It's one of those stories where everything comes together at the end -- and then deserves some pondering.
More...
First things first: my thanks to Librarything and its Early Reviewers program (and to Minotaur books) for the advanced reader's copy of this novel. File this one under pre-order, because it's not scheduled to be released until February, 2011.
I liked this book and didn't really appreciate it until some time had passed after reading it. It's one of those stories where everything comes together at the end -- and then deserves some pondering.
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Jul 17, 2011
Tony
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I just did not understand what all the hype was about. It was an ok story. It might have been better if it was a short story. The number of times the police keep going over her alibi drove me nuts. Also the beginning I didn't buy. So maybe I was not able to buy into the book. The murder seemed justified. I kept thinking if she just come clean right away and explain what happened either she gets off or gets a lesser sentence. So why the need to for the elaborate cover-up? If this happene
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Jul 17, 2011
Long
rated it:
Tôi bị cuốn hút vào quyển sách này nhờ vào câu hỏi mở phía bìa sau: “Việc nghĩ ra một bài toán vô cùng khó và việc giải bài toán đó, việc nào khó hơn?”.
Khoảng 1/3 phần đầu tiên cuốn sách khá chậm rãi, với việc mô tả các nhân vật, những mối quan hệ, cuộc sống xung quanh họ, và vụ án xảy ra, nhưng tác giả cố giấu đi cách thức xóa dấu vết của thủ phạm. Phần còn lại của sách, nhịp điệu trở nên nhanh dần, xoay quanh cuộc đấu trí giữa các bên: một nhà toán học thiên tài ẩn dật, một nhà vậ More...
Khoảng 1/3 phần đầu tiên cuốn sách khá chậm rãi, với việc mô tả các nhân vật, những mối quan hệ, cuộc sống xung quanh họ, và vụ án xảy ra, nhưng tác giả cố giấu đi cách thức xóa dấu vết của thủ phạm. Phần còn lại của sách, nhịp điệu trở nên nhanh dần, xoay quanh cuộc đấu trí giữa các bên: một nhà toán học thiên tài ẩn dật, một nhà vậ More...
May 19, 2011
Nickolas
rated it:
I received this books from Goodreads right after I joined the site and started entering the giveaways. It's taken me a while to get to reading it. I should have done so much sooner as I enjoyed it, at least up until the very end.
A story of the cover up of the murder of an abusive ex-husband by the wife and daughter that left him. A neighbor, a genius mathematician teaching high school (ok a bit much to fathom a guy this smart settling for this job) who is infatuated with his neighbor c More...
A story of the cover up of the murder of an abusive ex-husband by the wife and daughter that left him. A neighbor, a genius mathematician teaching high school (ok a bit much to fathom a guy this smart settling for this job) who is infatuated with his neighbor c More...
