Tuesday, December 21, 2021

Inspector Galileo

Silent Parade by Keigo Higashino, published December14, 2021.
Much of the novel is centered in a family restaurant in a Tokyo neighborhood.
So there's lots of food in the novel, as in most of Higashino's fiction.

Keigo Higashino (1958- ) has written dozens of detective stories and novels and many other works. He is one of the most popular authors in Japan and much of Asia, though not as well-known or popular in the US. Higashino's most recent novel, Silent Parade, features "Detective Galileo," a physics professor (actually named Manabu Yukawa) who also consults with the police in solving particularly perplexing murders. Silent Parade is fourth in Higashino's series of Detective Galileo novels -- I had it pre-ordered and I read it as soon as it became available. And when I finished, I re-read two of the earlier ones. 

I am totally fascinated by these novels. In each one, a murder is described at the very beginning. For the most part, the perpetrator is revealed to the reader. However, the exact method of the perpetrator is concealed. The challenge to police detectives Kusanagi, Kishitani, and Utsumi, and to Detective Galileo is to discover how the crime and the cover-up or alibi was set up. Each of the criminals is completely ingenious, and they come very close to success. While the three detectives are often quite obtuse, Detective Galileo applies his scientific reasoning to the case, looking for solutions that are unexpected and not obvious. 

In each novel, Galileo's opponents -- the perpetrators -- have thought of almost every angle from which their crime would be analyzed, and have worked out ways to deceive their opponents. As Galileo questions the suspects, and as he directs the detectives to question them and search for evidence, he gets closer and closer to understanding their methods. And they become more and more desperate. However, the police and the reader are not in on his train of thought. It seems hopeless. But the brilliant physicist always figures out the real story. 

Higashino, in my opinion, is one of the most ingenious crime novelists ever. Each of the novels that I've read had a completely different plot from the others: always suspenseful and very intricately worked out. I highly recommend him to any fans of this type of fiction. This review © 2021 mae sander.

Another very good plot,just not quite
as amazing as The Devotion of Suspect X
My favorite because Inspector Galileo pits his
intelligence against a math genius, and the battle of wits
is amazing.

 

7 comments:

gluten Free A_Z Blog said...

You've sold me. I love detectives stories and am looking for a good one. I'll get my hands on one of his. Thanks Mae and enjoy this beautiful holiday season.

Darla said...

I'm definately a fan of a good detective story. I'm going to give this author a try. Thanks for the recommendation.

Jackie McGuinness said...

Thanks for this! Love finding a new author. I found a couple at the library and put them on my reading list.

Tandy | Lavender and Lime (http://tandysinclair.com) said...

Thanks for the recommendation Mae.

Iris Flavia said...

I like those stories, sick as this sounds.
I have another one on real crimes in Braunschweig. I stopped reading it as it freaked me out a bit (stupid!).
Every time I pass a certain store I "freeze".
My former boss once organized "Murderer on River Oker".
We all sat in a boat and were told real crime stories of the region (Braunschweig book author).
And then (it was without partners) I had to go home by myself.... through the park following said river.
Oh, boy, thank you for the memory!

My name is Erika. said...

These sound good Mae. Thanks for the introduction as I'm not familiar with this author. I'm off to check them out on amazon.

Divers and Sundry said...

Fascinating! It sounds like something I'd like. Thanks for the intriguing description.