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 (After School) at age 27. Subsequently, he quit his job and started a career as a writer in Tokyo.
In 1999, he won the Mystery Writers of Japan Inc award for the novel Himitsu (The Secret), which was translated into English by Kerim Yasar and published by Vertical under the title of Naoko in 2004. In 2006, he won the 134th Naoki Prize for Yōgisha X no Kenshin. His novels had been nominated five times before winning with this novel.
The Devotion of Suspect X was the second highest selling book in all of Japan— fiction or nonfiction—the year it was published, with over 800,000 copies sold. It won the prestigious Naoki Prize for Best Novel— the Japanese equivalent of the National Book Award and the Man Booker Prize. Made into a motion picture in Japan, The Devotion of Suspect X spent 4 weeks at the top of the box office and was the third highest‐grossing film of the year.
Higashino’s novels have more movie and TV series adaptations than Tom Clancy or Robert Ludlum, and as many as Michael Crichton.
A pretty complicated murder mystery. The story spans over two generations that led to a murder. A politician and a former actress couple died in a house fire. Initially it was thought that they were both murdered and the house was set on fire by the murderer after the crime. Detective Godai and deputy detective Mochizuki from another unit were assigned on the case. Immediately Godai notices that something doesn't “add up” with Mochizuki. It turns out the murdered couple and Mochizuki go way back to the same high school; the husband, now a politician, was a teacher at the high school; the wife and Mochizuki, were students. Godai focuses on this, and eventually uncovers the rather complicated truth about the murder. It is not Mochizuki who committed the crime, though, but he intentionally mislead Godai to suspect him, in order to protect the real murderer, as he believed the murderer to be his daughter; he and the female victim had a short fling in high school just before graduation. He was confident that there were not enough evidence for him to be charged but Godai and his team will waste enough time chasing the wrong lead, the case will never be solved, so both he and his daughter would be safe in the end. The twist of the story is that the female victim had manipulated the facts of her pregnancy to make the two men believe the girl she gave birth to, the year she graduated from high school, was theirs: now her husband and Mochizuku. She told her husband that their daughter was born a month prematurely. So, they each acted to cover up the truth of the murder to protect her. The husband, coming home right after his wife was murdered and realizing that it was their daughter who committed the murder, he set the house on fire to kill himself, taking extra care to make it look like it was a double suicide. It is a highly emotional murder mystery, going back to complicated relationship of high school students and a teacher, and their paths, leading to a murder 40 years later!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Follows the same style as other detective mysteries from Higashino Keigo--an unexplained murder, false suspects, a few twists. The recurring characters are two detectives who are lifeless except when moving along the plot. The book's biggest plot twist is basically recycled from another (better) Higashino mystery--I will refrain from saying which one, so as to avoid spoiling it--yet it is still a strong twist in the moment. And I did like the ambiguity he left us with at the end, especially a character's reaction to it.
🔍The mystery felt a little repetitive from the past works🔍
As a huge fan of Higashino Keigo's fantasy works such as 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘺𝘢 𝘎𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘦 and 𝘓𝘢𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦'𝘴 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩, I came to the conclusion that I might need a break from his recent mystery writing. Instead, I will welcomingly wait for my favorite genre by him. This one simply didn't deliver the originality I was hoping for, and it felt very dry, which is the opposite of what I favor in mystery (high suspense, highly-detailed action, and surprising twists.)