I have read a lot of mysteries and most tend to follow a certain well worn path. The detective stumbles on or encounters a mystery. They follow certain threads and put the pieces together in order to bring the killer (sometimes charming and likable, sometimes not) to justice. So it takes something special to break through the standard expectations. The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino is one of those books. It has managed to pull off that magician-like trick of subverting your expectations in a wholly satisfying way.
The book unfolds Columbo-like as we meet the folks committing the crime first, before any detectives. Yasuko is a single mother dealing with an abusive ex-husband. When the seemingly inevitable happens and he returns threatening violence, the tables are turned and Yasuko is left with a corpse in her living room. Enter Ishigami. He’s her neighbor and a high school math teacher. He has no personal life to speak of aside from working on various high level math proofs. Ishigami hears what happens next door offers to help make it all go away. So begins a battle of wits between Ishigami and the detectives who quite quickly look at Yasuko as the obvious suspect. Ishigami has come up with a devious plan using all his mathematical logic skills to fool the authorities. What he didn’t count on was an old friend from his college days, Yukawa AKA “Detective Galileo”, who’s just as smart as Ishigami turning up and becoming the one variable the math teacher couldn’t have accounted for.
This is a book that flies by. I read it in two sittings and Higashino invests you in the lives of both Yasuko and Ishigami. You want them to find their way through this fiasco, whether they are criminals or not. By the end, you realize it’s also surprisingly romantic, albeit in a completely unorthodox way.
Hisashino is an extremely clever writer, dropping hints of what might be happening throughout but not in a way that feels unfair to the reader. Throughout, author Higashino talks about Ishigami playing to everyone’s expectations in order to pull off the perfect murder. By the end, you realize he’s also been talking to you, the reader. Higashino is just as ruthless and clever as his murderer; finding ways to trick you into believing what is put in front of you never knowing the hidden layers. Extra credit should go to Alexander O. Smith and their flawless English translation. This is a book that gives no sense that it was translated from another language.
Although this is billed as the first in the Detective Galileo series, Galileo gets minimal screen time. That’s not to say he isn’t an interestingly drawn character, but that Higashino has done such an effective job putting us on Team Ishigami, you’re rooting for the “villain” despite yourself. By the time the final revelations occur, you’ll be amazed at the slight of hand involved in both making you fully invested in Ishigami’s story as well as the slick ability Higashino has in pulling off an ingenious mystery.
This book is part of the Newberry Library’s “Exploring the East Asian Mystery” class. It looks at a new mystery each week and I’ll be posting reviews of the books read. I highly recommend checking out their Adult Education Seminars for some interesting look at various facets of Chicago’s past as well as classes looking at various books as mentioned above. Previously in person, they are currently via Zoom opening up the radius of who can take part.
See the Author 