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Salvation of a Saint

(Detective Galileo #5)

Keigo Higashino,

Alexander O. Smith (Translator)

3.95 · Rating details · 11,856 ratings · 1,542 reviews

In 2011, The Devotion of Suspect X was a hit with critics and readers alike. The first major English language publication from the most popular bestselling writer in Japan, it was acclaimed as “stunning,” “brilliant,” and “ingenious.” Now physics professor Manabu Yukawa—Detective Galileo—returns in a new case of impossible murder, where instincts clash with facts and theor ...more

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Hardcover, 330 pages

Published October 2nd 2012 by Minotaur Books (first published October 2008)

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The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino

Japanese Mystery/Detective/Crime Fiction Translated Into English

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Apr 08, 2018 carol. rated it it was amazing

Shelves: multi-culti, mystery, male-lead

The second mystery I've read by Higashino was even better than my first (The Devotion of Suspect X). 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 The second mystery I've read by Higashino was even better than my first (The Devotion of Suspect X). 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 isthe 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. ...more

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Nov 27, 2012 Crystal Bryant rated it it was amazing

Shelves: mystery, own

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 ...more

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May 25, 2018 Nandakishore Varma rated it liked it · review of another edition

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 tell 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. ...more

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Jan 26, 2014 Barbara rated it liked it

Shelves: 2014-wom-flipping-the-pages

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.

H ...more

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Apr 30, 2013 Samadrita rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-detective, crime-noir, asian-literature, nihon-ga-suki, arc-netgalley, sort-of-good, human-drama, own

**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 complexi ...more

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Aug 15, 2020 Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ rated it really liked it

Shelves: mystery-murder-crime-21st-century, read-in-translation

4.5★

I have no idea why it took me so long to get back to this series, when I enjoyed The Devotion of Suspect X so much!

It may be a case of "Ooh look, shiny!" as new books cross my Goodreads 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

...more

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Nov 24, 2014 Carol rated it it was amazing

Shelves: japan, not-united-states

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 now ...more

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Jan 29, 2020 Tamoghna Biswas rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: thriller-crime

**4.2 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 that 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 **4.2 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 that 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 lying dead in his abode, by arsenic poisoning, and the suspicion fell, quite obviously 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 Mysterious Affairs At Styles, though in a modern, and bit differently complicated manner. The ending may seem a bit unrealistic, but definitely a treat. However, this little bit imitative way of storytelling doesn’t allow this work to be as great as it’s 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 of the society, and women’s role in marriage, can remind you of Atwood’s Handmaid’s Tale; a simultaneously disgusting and ridiculous way of perceiving for 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 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, but 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 on 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” ...more

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Nov 07, 2018 Apoorva rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-thriller-horror, favorites, japan

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 investigato 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.

...more

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Oct 28, 2017 Patrick Sherriff rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: japan, crime-and-such

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 ...more

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Oct 09, 2018 Bharath rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I read Keigo Higashino’s “The Devotion of Suspect X” on a recommendation from a friend sometime back and really liked. Since then, I read “Malice” and now “Salvation of a Saint”. The strength is in the depth of the story and the characters. They are all great crime novels with no fluff or unnecessary drama.

Salvation of a Saint is another great story if you like crime/mysteries. It is not as crisply written as the other two books mentioned above, but a very good read nevertheless.

Yoshitaka and ...more

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Oct 26, 2017 Idarah rated it really liked it

Shelves: own

"Kusanagi had met plenty of good, admirable people who'd been turned into murderers by circumstance. There was something about them he always seemed to sense, an aura that they shared. Somehow, their transgression freed them from the confines of a 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."

Detective Galileo has done it again, by solving the p ...more

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Jun 30, 2015 Em*bedded-in-books* rated it it was amazing

Shelves: crime-mystery-thriller, rest-of-the-world-sans-asia-us-uk, series-part-of-a

Was better than my expectations. Devoured it page by page. I love intelligence in women, devious brains and a mystery which exercises my brain cells, and of course the Japanese way of life, storytelling and descriptions.
A man in his early middle age , who was about to divorce his wife of a year, as she couldn't conceive in the stipulated time, is found dead in his house by his young lover, who's in fact the wife's disciple. He's died of arsenic poisoning. And the search for the killer starts, th ...more

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Mar 05, 2013 Amit rated it really liked it · review of another edition

There's nothing more scary than the truth that hides in plain sight.

First of all, what makes this this murder mystery an interesting read,
1. By the end of the 1st chapter, you will know who committed the murder.
2. By the end of the 2nd chapter, you will know what happened to the victim (as we always do).

BUT

3. It will take close to 300+ pages to find out exactly how the victim was murdered.

When one picks up a murder mystery, one might expect an extremely elaborate plan to murder, motives that ...more

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May 14, 2013 Scarlet rated it liked it · review of another edition

Recommended to Scarlet by: Samadrita's review

A good unconventional mystery but it lacked the punch-in-the-gut intensity that made The Devotion of Suspect X shine. ...more

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Apr 30, 2014 S.Ach added it · review of another edition

Shelves: popular-fiction, japan, thriller-suspense-mystery

(Edit on 7th July 2018)

I needed to remove the 1 star rating that I had awarded to this book and add this edit to my original review. Cause, after persistent prodding by the fellow Goodreaders to explore other works of the author before judging unfairly, I took up two other books of Keigo Higashino. And I must admit, he is a master of this crime-thriller genre. I absolutely loved his other 2 books - The Devotion of Suspect X and Malice.
And now I have a feeling that if I again read 'Salvation of ...more

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Jun 11, 2017 Bill Khaemba rated it it was ok

Shelves: cultural, mystery, thriller-suspense-crime-mystrey

Sadly, my expectations were not met... Maybe it's because it's the 5th book of the series but in my opinion it's pretty forgettable and very underwhelming ...more

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Nov 03, 2015 Jeanette rated it liked it

These Keigo Higashino are fixed within a common mystery/detective genre, but hold a singular Japanese style which quite changes the formula. It alters difference in feel, approach, confrontation, reflecting the over culture well. But that exact point of style in particular is also a factor to why many readers of impatience or other faster paced and less repetitious to manners sensibilities would not persevere to the end. Many Westerners will pale at the repeating language. Exact words in plot pr ...more

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Jan 20, 2015 Ashish Iyer rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, read-2015, thriller, crime

This book has much to enjoy. A trip to Japan, a good investigator, a puzzling and confusing investigation. You know the who, what and how of the murder. The ingenious outcome has some awful aspects. It doesn't disappoint in construction but is disturbing. ...more

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Apr 02, 2019 Naddy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mysteries, thrillers, japan

The beauty of Keigo Higashino is that, the plot doesn’t take much length to build, just 15-20 pages are gone and murder is done, then comes the detective and it depends then comes physicist and the crime seems to be perfect crime and obviously fast paced. Now the actually climax about his books how physicist reveals how the crime was actually performed.

Salvation of Saint you know who has performed the crime by reading 25 pages by how that is done is explained over 300 pages. So, basically it is ...more

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Jun 07, 2018 Tim rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: japanese, reviewed, 2000s, mystery-crime

While I never reviewed it, I really enjoyed the previous book (at least in terms of English translations… this series has some weird release gaps) The Devotion of Suspect X. I really see no need to go back and review it now, as the reasons I liked it are much the same for this novel, so I would mostly be just repeating myself.

This series is unique. I don’t know if it is because I’m new to Japanese Police Procedural novels or if it Higashino’s writing (my initial guess would be both) but this se While I never reviewed it, I really enjoyed the previous book (at least in terms of English translations… this series has some weird release gaps) The Devotion of Suspect X. I really see no need to go back and review it now, as the reasons I liked it are much the same for this novel, so I would mostly be just repeating myself.

This series is unique. I don’t know if it is because I’m new to Japanese Police Procedural novels or if it Higashino’s writing (my initial guess would be both) but this series is refreshingly different. First off, the police are so polite that it comes off as nothing like most American crime novels. They hand out business cards, they apologize every time they call on the phone to ask a question, hell they even water a suspect’s plants when the suspect is not at home. It’s just such an oddity, but a refreshing one to compare to the all business, don’t care if they bother you attitude I’m used to in such works.

The other thing I love about these books is that they are not “who done its”. You know from the opening chapters who did it, the question is “HOW THE HELL DID THEY DO IT?!?!” While we know who the killer is, Higashino is so skilled at his killer’s methods and alibies that much like the detectives in the novel, we sit there baffled. We know they did it, but it doesn’t seem physically possible! Surely he’s cheating and this isn’t a “fair play” mystery! Then the solution is presented and you realize that clues were given all along, so subtly and beautifully that it’s stunning it wasn’t obvious.

Of the two novels in the series I’ve read, I personally enjoyed this one better. I gave both a 4 star rating, this one though I debated on a 5 star. I decided not to simply because some aspects I wasn’t satisfied with (for example how things would end if it actually went to court), but overall I found this a more enjoyable story and an excellent detective novel. It managed to create a sympathetic killer, which made me have mixed emotions over whether or not I even wanted the case solved. The layers this story creates are delightful and gives us multiple characters with conflicting viewpoints yet all distinctly likable.

Highly recommended for all mystery fans.
...more

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Oct 18, 2015 Versha rated it really liked it

Shelves: reviewed, 2015

3.5

I get the pattern of Keigo Higashino novels. First we come to know the crime and then the next moment we get to know the criminal but what we won’t know is the reason behind it and these kinds of mysteries is what i love to read. Where rather than concentrating on who is the criminal, the plot is more about why and how it was done.

Ayane and Yoshitaka a married couple, don't have children even after trying. But Yoshitaka is so adamant about having his own child that he doesn’t mind divorcing ...more

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Dec 11, 2012 Diane S ☔ rated it liked it

This is only the second detective story I have read set in Japan. It is amazing, the many difference in the tone and writing of the various stories set in different countries. The British mysteries are very detailed, slower moving and atmospheric. The Nordic mysteries are very stark, the writing blunt and somewhat colder somehow. The Japanese seem to like puzzle mysteries, very matter fact writing, with very little emotion shown. I find it quite fascinating just as I found this novel. It is more ...more

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Dec 16, 2018 Caro the Helmet Lady rated it it was amazing

Shelves: japanese, mystery-crime, 2018-reads, holmes-desu

5 stars for this fast and very satisfying read. I wanted something like this and Higashino is one of my favs. His style is neat and his mystery is, well, very mysterious. Yukawa ("detective Galileo") reminds me a lot of Sherlock Holmes and I don't think it's something accidental - even though his drug of choice is coffee and he's got a badminton racquet instead of a violin. One star plus for bringing lady police officer into the story - a couple of years ago I've read women were still a rare cas ...more

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Oct 13, 2012 Ms.pegasus rated it really liked it

Shelves: mystery, translated-into-english, japan, fiction

This unconventional mystery has at its core a playful consideration of gender stereotypes. From page 1, the victim, Yoshitaka Mashiba, is a preening narcissist unapologetic about his misogyny. The book opens with his reiteration of his so-called 'life's plan'. The only purpose of marriage is to have children. It's been a year, and his wife Ayane is still not pregnant. Her time is up, he announces, while at the same time chiding her for her unsympathetic attitude toward this setback in this goal. ...more

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Mar 22, 2013 Soham Chakraborty rated it it was amazing

Shelves: japan, thriller

Here comes the second thriller of Keigo Higashino, who I have fallen in awe with, after the jaw-dropping end of Devotion of Suspect X. I will start off this review telling that, if you haven't read the first one till now, please do yourself a favour and read that. I would put that novel beside The Millennium Trilogy. Higashino hasn't got the nick 'Japanese Stieg Larsson' for free.

First a question. How would you keep your readers glued to a crime story where in the first chapter you have declared Here comes the second thriller of Keigo Higashino, who I have fallen in awe with, after the jaw-dropping end of Devotion of Suspect X. I will start off this review telling that, if you haven't read the first one till now, please do yourself a favour and read that. I would put that novel beside The Millennium Trilogy. Higashino hasn't got the nick 'Japanese Stieg Larsson' for free.

First a question. How would you keep your readers glued to a crime story where in the first chapter you have declared whodunnit. Simple, read 'Salvation of a Saint' and you will keep the pages turning yourself. The story starts with a conversation of Ayane Mita and Yoshitaka Mashiba, married for around one year by now. Yoshitaka wants a child and while marriage, he laid his plan clear to Ayane, that is, if she can't bear an offspring within an year, they would have to cut the tie. In the very first conversation in the book, Yoshitaka again says this to Ayane and she is left wondering whether her husband really loved her or not. And while they go downstairs to meet their guests of that night, Ayane utters to herself, 'I love you but I will also kill you'.

And it happens. Ayane goes to visit her home town, more than thousand miles apart from the upscale city of Tokyo. She gives the house key to her best student and apprentice, Hiromi Wakayama. After Ayane leaves, Hiromi gets a call from Yoshitaka and we get to know that Ayane's husband is also the lover of her student. Together on that night, they drink coffee made by Yoshitaka. Since Ayane, who used to use the kitchen as her castle, has left, next morning Hiromi makes the coffee while Yoshitaka observes the rules of ideal coffee making. Next day, she gets another call from her lover and they agree to have dinner from a restaurant. She goes to Yoshitaka's residence when her call goes unanswered and she finds Yoshitaka dead, coffee spilled in the floor.

The charge of the investigation comes to Tokyo metropolitan police and soon detective Kusangi enters the house. This time, he has another assistant along with Kishitani, detective Utsumi, a rookie young woman. They have two suspects - Hiromi and Ayane. While Hiromi was taking classes throughout the day, Ayane is not even in the scene. So who did the murder, if it is indeed one.

The detectives soon find out that Yoshitaka died of arsenous acid laced coffee and so they are now formally into a homicide investigation. The question is looming on them. Who poisoned Yoshitaka Mashiba - CEO of a well-off company and where did the poison come from. They can't find traces of any kind of arsenic in the house. Soon, the investigation has no clue and both the suspects have an ironclad alibi.

Ayane Mita comes to Tokyo next day and on first sight, Kusangi is smitten of her. Kusangi with all the experience of his illustrious detective career, can't extract the information from Ayane, while Utsumi has fixed her sight on Ayane as the prime suspect. The two detectives develop a difference between them but none of them can move the investigation one inch and they have to turn to the brilliant Physics professor of Imperial university, Manabu Yukawa - Kusangi's classmate from college, who is long known in the police circle as detective Galileo.

But even Yukawa's extraordinary mind finds this coffee soaked murder mystery so beautifully plotted that it appears like a perfect crime. A crime where the criminal didn't intend to kill the target but kept it alive, until at the final point, the string is snapped. And it snaps so mysteriously that it forms a perfect circle, with no hole in it. But if this is a murder, someone is the murderer and who is that.

Higashino's earlier novel sported the clash of two genius scientists, one mathematician and one physicist. The outcome, Devotion of Suspect X, was touted as stunning, intricate and beguiling. This one, doesn't have the delicate maths and physics riddles of the former but it has a character development unlike no other crime story, where the central detective finds himself hopelessly attracted to the number one suspect, the other detective tries her wit's end to find any clue and Manabu Yukawa hangs his head down at the perfect crime. With countless side-plots, this is one hell of a ride, where the crime floats on the water, where the crime is deep into the filtration system of the kitchen and is inseparable from the coffee and as neatly woven as the wonderful tapestry made by Ayane.

If you like crime thrillers, you will be hooked to this beguilingly complex piece of a mystery to no end. It is one of the rare showcase of talent, enigma, reason and emotion, churned into salvation of the murderer, the detectives and of course, you, the reader. ...more

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May 24, 2013 Maria rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Keigo Higashino, who teased readers worldwide with his novel THE DEVOTION OF SUSPECT X about a year ago is back again with a new novel to tease again, intrigue again and keep readers turning the pages until the very end. The author known as 'the Japanese Stieg Larsson' has a reputation to maintain and he's certainly doing a good job of maintaining it.

True, it was an English playwright, Congreve, who said that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. But this is a universal phenomenon. When the pe Keigo Higashino, who teased readers worldwide with his novel THE DEVOTION OF SUSPECT X about a year ago is back again with a new novel to tease again, intrigue again and keep readers turning the pages until the very end. The author known as 'the Japanese Stieg Larsson' has a reputation to maintain and he's certainly doing a good job of maintaining it.

True, it was an English playwright, Congreve, who said that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. But this is a universal phenomenon. When the person you love stops loving you, it's a betrayal of all you've shared. When that person is about to leave you for a friend of yours and tries to twist things round to make it look like it's your fault, the betrayal can be absolute and unforgiveable. Ayane's husband Yoshitaka had told her that without children, their life together could not go on. For Ayane, grieving inwardly for her failure to bear a child, the fact that her partner turns away from her rather than standing by her in that dark moment makes a terrible retribution inevitable. Yoshitaka is found dead and Ayane is far from the scene. Who poisoned this man?

Who knows the truth about this apparently happy couple and their life together? Their friends Yukiko and Tatsuhiko who had recently produced their first child and had received a beautiful, handmade gift from Ayane, a talented crafter? Hiromi, Ayane's assistant and Yoshitaka's secret lover? Yoshitaka, the victim, elicits no sympathy, the arrogant male who was so ready to cast off his hapless wife for a newer , younger model, as one would trade in a car. As a woman, it made me furious. Why is it that in every society in the world women seem to have a 'use before' date? Ayane, the woman betrayed, seems so vulnerable. But is Ayane really what she seems to be on the surface? The answers, which must be unraveled by Detective Kusanagi, may not be be as simple and straightforward as originally envisaged.

We meet an assortment of complex characters. What sort of man can be so unselfish that he turns away from a loving wife because she has failed to bear a child? What sort of woman can betray no emotion as the emotional blows are dealt out and treat revenge as a dish eaten cold? What sort of girl can cold bloodedly steal the husband of a woman who has befriended her? Detective Kusanagi has his work cut out for him. Detective Kusanagi's assistant, a female detective, is a delightful character, providing feminine insight into the whole sorry business, a crime involving two women. I do hope what I'm hearing is the author's original voice. Translated works may be technically perfect but they sometimes lose their fresh originality. I very much enjoyed the light touches of humour in the dialogue.

This is the second novel I've read by Keigo Higashino and I can honestly say that along with a talent for telling a story with layers and twists aplenty, he gives a fascinating glimpse into Japanese society, often considered complex and inscrutable by outsiders. A society where people are struggling to find some happiness and some meaning other than going about the daily grind. Would a child have given meaning and joy to the marriage of Yoshitaka and Ayane? Who can know that? Once I pick up a book by this author, I cannot leave it down. I generally like to wait until I have at least two or three free hours, which has been impossible lately owing to problems with work and family. Yet once I picked this up I couldn't leave it. This book has the same fascination as THE DEVOTION OF SUSPECT X. The same adrenaline rush as the book hurtles towards its inevitable - yet unexpected - conclusion. The word 'compulsive' springs to mind.

As in the case of the previous book, I found the cluster of Japanese names a little less than easy to get my head around and repeat to the publishers that a character list at the opening of the book would be great, if they could arrange it for future editions. .

Yet in the end one can only say that east or west, Europe or Asia, society to society, ordinary men and women deal with the problems of life as they see fit, depending on their circumstances and cultural backgrounds. The local can very much be the universal, depending on which way we view circumstances.

Do I recommend this book? Yes, I do.
...more

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Aug 27, 2017 Mobyskine rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: japanese-literature

I love Keigo's style a lot, he always make me go nervous after revealing who's the killer and go mysteriously wonder about how they will do the investigation later. The case seems so simple, suspect was obvious and yet Keigo was so great to keep me glued until the very last page.

The new girl detective really caught my eyes, so in love with her style of investigation. I was shocked with her conclusion about Kusanagi to Yukawa. I never thought Kusanagi would go personal on it, but he after all a h ...more

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Aug 17, 2017 Kakashi Hatake rated it really liked it

The solution was " √(−1)" .

theoretically possible yet practically imaginary

interesting yet far-fetched ...more

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Aug 11, 2020 Mohammed Sheikh rated it really liked it

Shelves: thriller, japanese

More reviews@---https://mohammedsreview.wordpress.com

Yoshitaka Mashiba is found dead at his apartment in Tokyo.the body is discovered by Hiromi Okayama student of victim's wife Ayane Mita. Mr. Mashiba murdered with the use of Arsenous acid mixed with coffee ,which seemed almost an impossible task to accomplish(of course there is a loads of discussion about this in the book) . And when the Prime suspect victim's wife was miles away when the incident takes place it seemed like a perfect crime.

Afte ...more

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About Keigo Higashino

Keigo Higashino

3,784 followers

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 ...more