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.
Các vụ tự sát và giết người liên tục xảy ra tại ngôi biệt thự thập tự của gia tộc Takemiya. Tại ngôi biệt thự, có sự xuất hiện có một con búp bê chú hề hay "búp bê bi kịch" - được cho là đã giáng tai ương xuống gia tộc Takemiya.
Điểm khiến cho cuốn sách này mới mẻ: có một vài đoạn được kể dưới góc nhìn của con búp bê chú hề, nghe khá thú vị, nhưng mình không hẳn thích (dù nó được dùng để đánh lừa người đọc).
Mình không cảm nổi và hiểu được mối quan hệ giữa các nhân vật này (đặc biệt là chuyện tình cảm), có gì khác ngoài các cuộc đối thoại liên tục, và việc các nhân vật này ghét nạn nhân không? Nhân vật chính mờ nhạt, nhân vật khác xuất hiện thì ảo.
Mình bất ngờ về thủ pháp ở phần cuối. Phần cuối có một tiết lộ khiến mình liên tưởng đến Conan :))
A twisty and well-designed murder mystery with an interesting pov from the creepy doll that’s said to be a magnet for tragedy. I love how Higashino’s stories are rarely about the mystery itself - there’s always so much depth and complexity in his characters and their relationships.
I never like Keigo Higashino's novels despite he is a darling of the Japanese publishers and his books are selling like crazy in many Asian countries. Many people praised him as a master of detective novels, but I never think his books are really up there with the other grand masters from the past generations.
Let's get back to the actual novel in hand, shall we? First it's a traditional murder mystery: the family head of a rich family and his mistress were found dead in the family manor, police suspected it's a crime done by someone from within the family. There're mistrust and many family secrets among the family members blah blah blah.
Mr. Higashino hadn't made any mistake in this book, the story is fast paced and effectively written but the characters and their relationships with one another are a bit flat (but I can live with it). But does it mean the story is charming or refreshing when I say "Mr. Higashino hadn't made any mistake"? No. There's nothing charming about the murder mystery and the characters, although the mystery is explained in a decent way, but in the end, it's a highly forgettable book.