Juliana (philippaj) -
~ Superbly crafted psychological suspense novel - simple, yet genius (4 stars) ~
This story was superbly crafted and a really wonderful, highly recommended read. The truth is I didn't actually like it very much at the beginning, however I quickly got pulled into the story and in the end could only admire the simple but genius quality of the plot.
There are essentially four main characters in this novel: Yasuko, the single-mother who commits the unplanned murder; Ishigami, a math teacher and her neighbor, who helps her cover it up; Kusanagi, the main detective investigating the case; and Yukawa, a physics professor who is friends with Kusanagi and often assists him on cases. Yukawa and Ishigami used to be friends when they were both university students, but had since lost touch.
For much of the beginning, Yasuko and Ishigami are the central of the book and the reason I wasn't getting wrapped up in the story was mainly because neither one of them really drew me in at first. While I sympathized with Yasuko, she appeared to me a somewhat boring character. Ishigami, on the other hand, seemed like he was probably very complex, but so placid and emotionless on the surface that I couldn't really get a feel for him. When Kusanagi and Yukawa become further integrated into the story, they were the ones whom I actually became most interested in and who really started to pull me in. The more I read, the more I ended up liking and understanding all four characters. The one who remained the weakest was our heroine, Yasuko, but Kusanagi, Ishigami, and Yukawa are wonderfully written, with the last two being the most complex and thoroughly developed/explored characters of the four.
The plot itself is nothing short of superb. Very skillfully crafted and just when you think you know what's going on and are ahead of characters x, y, and z, things take a surprising turn. There were also several cases of reverse dramatic irony (if that's an actual term - and if not, now it is!). What I loved most about the mystery was that it was as mystery stories should be: there are enough clues that the reader could actually figure things out, but the truth of the matter is that you're not going to (or at least I didn't) because it's so carefully interwoven and hidden.
Another thing that was absolutely fabulous - and also superb in a mystery/suspense - is that I truly did not know how the book was going to end. You have all of these opposing forces and teams - Yasuko and Ishigami, the accomplices; Kusanagi and Yukawa, the investigators; Yukawa and Ishigami, the math and science geniuses and reacquainted friends - and are somewhat confounded as to who you should be rooting for. So not only do you not know how the book is going to end, but you also are not sure how you even *want* it to end!
This was the first I had heard of this book and this author, but after finishing THE DEVOTION OF SUSPECT X, it is clear to see why it is an award-winning book and why Higashino is Japan's biggest bestselling novelist. I am already looking forward to reading more of his work.
[This review is of an advanced copy format of the book from LibraryThing Early Reviewers]
This story was superbly crafted and a really wonderful, highly recommended read. The truth is I didn't actually like it very much at the beginning, however I quickly got pulled into the story and in the end could only admire the simple but genius quality of the plot.
There are essentially four main characters in this novel: Yasuko, the single-mother who commits the unplanned murder; Ishigami, a math teacher and her neighbor, who helps her cover it up; Kusanagi, the main detective investigating the case; and Yukawa, a physics professor who is friends with Kusanagi and often assists him on cases. Yukawa and Ishigami used to be friends when they were both university students, but had since lost touch.
For much of the beginning, Yasuko and Ishigami are the central of the book and the reason I wasn't getting wrapped up in the story was mainly because neither one of them really drew me in at first. While I sympathized with Yasuko, she appeared to me a somewhat boring character. Ishigami, on the other hand, seemed like he was probably very complex, but so placid and emotionless on the surface that I couldn't really get a feel for him. When Kusanagi and Yukawa become further integrated into the story, they were the ones whom I actually became most interested in and who really started to pull me in. The more I read, the more I ended up liking and understanding all four characters. The one who remained the weakest was our heroine, Yasuko, but Kusanagi, Ishigami, and Yukawa are wonderfully written, with the last two being the most complex and thoroughly developed/explored characters of the four.
The plot itself is nothing short of superb. Very skillfully crafted and just when you think you know what's going on and are ahead of characters x, y, and z, things take a surprising turn. There were also several cases of reverse dramatic irony (if that's an actual term - and if not, now it is!). What I loved most about the mystery was that it was as mystery stories should be: there are enough clues that the reader could actually figure things out, but the truth of the matter is that you're not going to (or at least I didn't) because it's so carefully interwoven and hidden.
Another thing that was absolutely fabulous - and also superb in a mystery/suspense - is that I truly did not know how the book was going to end. You have all of these opposing forces and teams - Yasuko and Ishigami, the accomplices; Kusanagi and Yukawa, the investigators; Yukawa and Ishigami, the math and science geniuses and reacquainted friends - and are somewhat confounded as to who you should be rooting for. So not only do you not know how the book is going to end, but you also are not sure how you even *want* it to end!
This was the first I had heard of this book and this author, but after finishing THE DEVOTION OF SUSPECT X, it is clear to see why it is an award-winning book and why Higashino is Japan's biggest bestselling novelist. I am already looking forward to reading more of his work.
[This review is of an advanced copy format of the book from LibraryThing Early Reviewers]
Maggie M. -
This was my first Keigo Higashino book and it was okay, although somewhat farfetched to the point of being ridiculous. Tokyo Police Detective Kusanagi focuses all of his attention on the x-wife (and her tween daughter) of a murdered man found beside a river, to the complete exclusion of all other possible suspects, even though she has solid AND verified alibis. The story doesn't tell us why he's so focused on her, even when there is no evidence to back it up. Not even his "intuition" tells him it's her, so the reader is left trying to put those pieces together and they just don't fit. Anyway, he brings in his friend, a physicist who has helped him solve cases in the past. The physicist discovers an old school buddy/friend (who is now a math teacher) is the x-wife's neighbor and, again, the reader is left trying to fit the puzzle pieces together as to why this matters or fits. We are supposed to believe the implausible fact that the physicist gets a notion that the math-genius neighbor is behind everything. The unbelievable just becomes moreso from there on until the murder is solved. The ending is rather unusual from what I'm used to and that was, I think, the highlight of the book overall. On the other hand, it was fun to become part of/introduced to a different culture than the United States.
