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A review by audreysy
Newcomer by Keigo Higashino
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
5.0
really love keigo higashino’s works. he doesn’t just write to craft a mystery, he writes to explore the human condition. but he does so without making the story depressing which i love because i can’t deal with that stress rn lmao.
this was written in an interesting way, basically detective kaga, who is new to the town after being demoted from the tokyo metropolitan police for being “too emotionally involved” in his cases, investigates the murder of a woman who was strangled to death in her apartment. he goes store to store to piece together what happened around the time of the murder but also what exactly the lives of the woman and everyone surrounding her was like.
the first half or more of the book had the same format of him visiting a different traditional/old-style japanese store and while these visits develop his knowledge of the murder, he also leaves having helped these (usually family-owned) stores appreciate the people involved in it more. the latter portion zeroes in more on the perpetrator as well as a fellow detective on the case, both of which find a similarity that helps to unravel the motive by the end of the book.
what was amazing was how despite the number of characters and the intricacies of the plot, he was able to introduce us to everything with little to no confusion while also endearing us to the people and leaving behind heartwarming messages about human relationships. i read detective fiction with the expectation of having something thrilling and fast-paced occupy my time, but this went beyond the traditional detective story by making you care about the characters.
though the mystery was nothing to write home about, i found myself thoroughly enjoying reading about these people’s lives and going through the motions of good old-fashioned detective work.
this was written in an interesting way, basically detective kaga, who is new to the town after being demoted from the tokyo metropolitan police for being “too emotionally involved” in his cases, investigates the murder of a woman who was strangled to death in her apartment. he goes store to store to piece together what happened around the time of the murder but also what exactly the lives of the woman and everyone surrounding her was like.
the first half or more of the book had the same format of him visiting a different traditional/old-style japanese store and while these visits develop his knowledge of the murder, he also leaves having helped these (usually family-owned) stores appreciate the people involved in it more. the latter portion zeroes in more on the perpetrator as well as a fellow detective on the case, both of which find a similarity that helps to unravel the motive by the end of the book.
what was amazing was how despite the number of characters and the intricacies of the plot, he was able to introduce us to everything with little to no confusion while also endearing us to the people and leaving behind heartwarming messages about human relationships. i read detective fiction with the expectation of having something thrilling and fast-paced occupy my time, but this went beyond the traditional detective story by making you care about the characters.
though the mystery was nothing to write home about, i found myself thoroughly enjoying reading about these people’s lives and going through the motions of good old-fashioned detective work.