Review: The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino

Author: Keigo Higashino, Alexander O. Smith (Translator)
Publisher: Minatour Books
Publication Date: February 2011

Yasuko lives a quiet life, working in a Tokyo bento shop, a good mother to her only child. But when her ex-husband appears at her door without warning one day, her comfortable world is shattered.

When Detective Kusanagi of the Tokyo Police tries to piece together the events of that day, he finds himself confronted by the most puzzling, mysterious circumstances he has ever investigated. Nothing quite makes sense, and it will take a genius to understand the genius behind this particular crime...

The Devotion of Suspect X is the first book from the Detective Galileo that was translated into English.  I'm always up for something new, so when it popped up as an audiobook in my library, I decided to give it a try.  This is the first book translated from a Japanese author that I have ever read.  It was an interesting experience.   I found this mystery much more straight foreword than most other mysteries.   I found the writing to be much more formal that I am used to.  I'm not sure if that is due to the translation or if it is just cultural.  

Even though you know who the killer is, there are a couple of twists that I didn't see coming  I did like the characters, particularly Detective Galileo.  I liked his way of figuring out the twist.  He is definitely a character I would be interested in reading about again. 

If I had to choose two downsides, they would have to be the ending and the audiobook narrator.  While I did enjoy the audiobook for the name pronunciation, I think I would have enjoyed it more had the narrator not had an American accent.  In a way, it took me out of the story.  I also didn't care for the ending.  I know it was probably more culturally fitting, but I didn't agree with the choice.  If you haven't tried this series yet, I do recommend going this one a try.