James Nicoll Reviews

2008’s Salvation of a Saint is the second novel in Keigo Higashino’s Detective Galileo police procedural series. The 2012 English translation is by Alexander O. Smith.

Yoshitaka Mashiba informs his wife Ayane that as she has failed to get pregnant despite a year of marriage, he will be discarding her in favour of an unnamed woman.

Ayane leaves for Sapporo, ostensibly because her father is doing poorly. She leaves her house key with her favourite student, Hiromi Wakayama… who also happens to be Yoshitaka’s secret lover. Hiromi visits the house and is horrified to discover Yoshitaka’s dead body.

Yoshitaka drank poisoned coffee. Murder or suicide?

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2005’s The Devotion of Suspect X is the first in Keigo Higashino’s Detective Galileo mystery series. First published as Yogisha X No Kenshin, the English translation is by Alexander O. Smith with Elye J. Alexander¹.

Togashi proclaims that he is no longer the abusive embezzler whom Yasuko Hanaoka divorced. He insists that he still loves Yasuko and still wants to be a loving father to Yasuko’s daughter Misato. Perhaps he does. He certainly enjoys the money he bullies out of Yasuko. As long as he lives, Togashi will never leave mother and daughter alone.

Cut to: Yasuko and Misato viewing Togashi’s cooling corpse, showing bruises and ligature marks.

Enter a mathematician.

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