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.
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.)