Newcomer

3.5 to 4 stars. Having read a few novels by Higashino from both his Galileo and Kaga series, I have come to expect great things from him. The last Kaga book I read, Malice, was simply outstanding, while others like The Devotion of Suspect X was incredibly This one, unfortunately, came up a little short. For Higashino's high standards, it was a little underwhelming, but as a mystery novel this was still pretty good.

The mystery centers around the murder of Mineko, a recently divorced woman living on her own in Nihonbashi. The book takes a while to get going, but it's incredibly engaging when it does. Instead of the typical formula where we either see events leading up to the murder, or having the murder happen very early on in the story, we instead start the story with the investigation but without any actual details as to the murder.

Most of this book is pretty much Kaga going around the different family-run businesses in the neighbourhood of the victim's home and asking them things. We get to learn tiny bits and pieces of the murder itself and about the victim through the accounts of these people, but mostly we get to see slices of their lives and the problems that they deal with. Though Kaga is interested in what they know about the victim and the events of that day, he takes the time to do little bits of side investigation to help them solve the small issues plaguing them, mostly domestic disputes. Because of this, the book is pretty episodic which honestly works for me.

We only really get to know about the murder, the victim, and her background very late into the book, within the second half. When we eventually get round to solving the actual murder, it does feel a little - straightforward. The conclusion of the mystery didn't really surprise me, and I didn't feel as mindblown about it, as I am used to feeling with Higashino. Nevertheless though, I enjoyed the way we dipped into the daily lives of all the families in the neighbourhood to slowly and gradually build up a picture of the victim.

Definitely going to read more Higashino after this.

I am really becoming very fond of Higahino. In every book he has surprised me. This one is a perfectly crafted murder tale where the murder takes second place to the Columbo-like working back (not quite but you can easily guess the culprit about 2/3 through. But he is original in his slicing horizontally through the vertical plot timeline, taking time with each chapter reveling characters, their lives, how they played (or did not) in the outcome. I wish he would be translated more becuase he is a fine craftsman.