Journey Under the Midnight Sun by Keigo Higashino

Journey Under the Midnight Sun by Keigo Higashino

by CarolNo Comments
Journey Under the Midnight Sun is compelling and clever and not a typical mystery. A pawnbroker is found murdered in an abandoned building in Osaka in 1973. Detective Sasagaki is assigned to the case. He uncovers a lot of clues and possible suspects but is never able to charge anyone with the crime. The case reaches a dead end and Sasagaki is forced to give up his investigation. However, he continues to keep tabs on the two pre-teens involved in the case the daughter of Fumiyo Nishimoto: Yukiho, the daughter of a woman suspected of having an affair with the pawnbroker, and Ryo Kirihara, the dead man's son. We see how the crime affects their lives through the next 20 years. The story is told from multiple points of view, mostly minor characters', letting us learn about the events and Yukiho and Ryo from various perspectives, but never from their viewpoint. A lot of characters get introduced, some of...
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A Death in Tokyo by Keigo Higashino

A Death in Tokyo by Keigo Higashino

by Carol2 Comments
A Death in Tokyo is the third entry in the Detective Kaga series that has been translated into English. Once again, it's a solid, enjoyable read, with a couple of good twists. Kaga is part of a squad investigating the brutal murder of a middle-aged man. The man was stabbed but stayed alive long enough to drag himself to the famous Nihonbashi Bridge, in order to die at the foot of the statue of a kirin adorning it. Not far away, a young man in a park flees police and runs out into traffic where he is struck and seriously injured. The young man, Yashima, is carrying the murdered man's wallet. Unfortunately, the man ends up in the hospital in a coma, unable to answer questions. This is a police procedural. Kaga is unsatisfied with Yashima as the killer, so he keeps questioning people and walking the neighborhood where the crime occurred. He's persistent, follows his hunches, and step by step...
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Silent Parade by Keigo Higashino

Silent Parade by Keigo Higashino

by Carol4 Comments
SIlent Parade is the eighth in the Detective Galileo series, not all of which have been translated into English. It's the fourth that I've read, but it works perfectly fine as a stand-alone. The story begins shortly after the third anniversary of Saori Namiki's disappearance when she was nineteen. A decrepit house has burned down in Tokyo and her remains were identified in the rubble. Chief Inspector Kusanagi and his team are assigned the case because of a curious connection they have to the chief suspect. But it's not Saori's murder that's the focus. When her presumed killer is let free, he ends up dead and it's that murder the police are trying to solve. There are tons of characters, which can get a little confusing in the audio occasionally, but they each have their roles and are important to the plot. The plot itself is twisty and turny and some things are obvious and some are not what you expect....
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Newcomer by Keigo Higashino

Newcomer by Keigo Higashino

by Carol6 Comments
I have been a fan of Higashino's for years, but the order his books are translated into English seems rather haphazard. Thankfully the ones I've read have all been able to stand on their own, including Newcomer. The newcomer is Detective Kaga, who has been newly transferred to the district. He is investigating the murder of a divorced woman who lived by herself, also a relative newcomer to the area. Kaga is like Sherlock Holmes in a way, picking up on the tiny, seemingly insignificant clues, but he's friendly and nice and puts people at ease. And he doesn't have a sidekick. He works with others in his department, but only when he needs to, he does his best work when he's on his own. This is a puzzle-type mystery. We have an odd assortment of clues and a large batch of potential suspects, but no good, solid possibility. The way the book is set up is a bit unusual. Each section...
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A Midsummer’s Equation by Keigo Higashino

by Carol2 Comments
Higashino might be one of my favorite authors. A Midsummer's Equation is the fourth of his mysteries I've read I've read. It's the third Detective Galileo translated into English but the 6th in the series. It doesn't matter; the ones I've read definitely stand-alone. As the blurb above says, Manabu Yukawa is at a run-down resort town to attend a conference when, surprise, surprise, someone gets murdered. Yukawa is a physicist - good at observing, logical, thoughtful, quiet. He's that character that knows what's going on but isn't going to brag about it. We also get to see his more caring side here. He becomes friends with a boy who is also staying in town and they have some very good scenes together. His concern for the boy is what pulls him into the case, and his natural tendency to get involved in mysteries - he is the series' star. A lot of mystery blurbs talk about a surprise twist, but Higashino actually lives up to...
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Malice by Keigo Higashino

by Carol4 Comments
Keigo Higashino is a Japanese author, apparently a very popular one. I've read two of his books before from the  and loved them. This one is from a difference series, #4, but the only Kaga mystery translated into English at this time. Happily is stands well on its own. As the blurb states, the story is more of a cat and mouse game than a traditional mystery. We learn early who the killer is, even hear their confession, but as Kaga, our detective, digs deeper he questions what he's been told. I have to say I've never read a mystery quite like this one, and I've read a lot of mysteries. The killer's thought process and actions are pretty fascinating really and the motive was not what I was expecting. In the beginning, we see things from two points of view, Kaga's and Nonoguchi's, but as time goes by we hear more Kaga's thoughts and his interviews with people who knew the...
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