The Devotion of Suspect X - Keigo Higashino

My second Higashino read, I enjoyed this one more than Journey Under the Midnight Sun. The plot is simpler and the reader is invited to participate in the crime at the start of the story. With the help of her daughter from a previous marriage, Yasuko murders her stalker ex-husband when he reappears in their lives. Secret admirer and next door neighbour, the reclusive maths teacher Ishigami, helps to dispose of the body and cover up the events of the night. He then provides mother and daughter with a series of careful instructions and alibis to throw the police off their scent. What may appear to be a relatively straightforward crime soon turns out to be otherwise when Detective Kusanagi and his physician friend, Yukawa, attempt to piece together what happened.

The concept of a crime novel where the reader is made privy to 'whodunnit' at the beginning is not a new one, Dostoyevsky does the same in Crime and Punishment, but Higashino manages to subvert the idea. There is something compelling about watching protagonists conceal their tracks to evade detection, especially when the reader occupies a privileged position whilst the police flounder in their investigation. At the same time, the reader is left to wonder if they too have also been deceived. I never quite knew where the book was going to wind up, and it proved to be something of a page turner towards the end. There are the usual clues and red herrings scattered throughout, but the end twist was not one I managed to guess. Some points of the mystery were not satisfactorily explained, but it may be that I wasn't paying enough attention. Overall, an enjoyable and recommended thriller.

Rating: 4/5