Keigo Higashino Best Books

[Martin Glow]

AfterSchool is one of the earliest successful works of Keio Higashino. To be honest, this is not his best books in terms of the creation of suspense or the complexity of plots. However, what makes me particularly fond of this book is its description of the psyche of teenage girls. He describes the secret thoughts of multiple teenage girls of different personalities with a surprising degree of nuances. This is something which I do not really expect from a male writer.

Higashino was born in the Ikuno-ku ward of the city of Osaka in Osaka Prefecture. The logographic letters that make up the family name were initially read as "Tono", but Keigo's father changed the reading to "Higashino".

Growing up in a working class area, Higashino's childhood was challenging because of the lower class to which his family belonged.[2] He attended Koji Elementary School, Higashi Ikuno Junior High School, and Hannan High School. During his high school years he started reading mystery fiction.

In 1981, he began working as an engineer at Nippon Denso Co. (presently DENSO), and married a high school teacher. He continued to write in the evenings and on weekends,[3] submitting unpublished mystery novels for consideration for the annual Edogawa Rampo Prize in 1983. In 1984, his submission, which drew on his wife's occupation, reached the final round. In 1985, at the age of 27, he won the Rampo Prize for best unpublished mystery for Hōkago (放課後, After School), drawing on experiences of the archery club at his former university. He resigned from DENSO in 1986 to start a career in Tokyo as a full-time writer.

In 1998, Higashino published Himitsu (秘密, Secret), which was adapted into a feature film and won the 52nd Mystery Writers of Japan Award for feature films in 1999. Secret was later translated into English by Kerim Yasar and published as Naoko in 2004, with a limited print run.[3] Higashino was inspired to write the story by reading a book in which a young child possessed the memories of someone who died nearby. He tried writing a short story featuring the implications of what would happen in such an instance, "but the ideas didn't fully materialize. Finally I presented it as a novel and it got picked up." A 1999 Japanese film, Himitsu, was based on the book, as was a 2007 English-language French remake,The Secret, starring David Duchovny.[2]

Higashino received the Eiji Yoshikawa Literary Prize in 2014 for Inori no Maku ga Oriru Toki (祈りの幕が下りる時, When the Curtain of Prayer Descends), the 10th book[a] to feature Detective Kyoichiro Kaga. He thought that the book would be the end of the Kaga series, as he had done what he wanted to do with it.[4]

Higashino is one of the most popular authors in Asia and, reportedly, the most popular novelist in China.[5] Translation rights for his books, like Suspect X, were sold as far afield as China, Thailand, France, Russia and Spain.[3] Both his Suspect X and Salvation of a Saint were published in 6 languages.[6] His popularity has drawn the attention of Asian academics, with papers and master's theses on his work published in China,[7] Indonesia,[8] Malaysia,[9] and Taiwan,[10] for example, and has also stimulated United States scholars.[11]

Higashino was elected president of the Mystery Writers of Japan (MWJ) in 2009, and served until 2013. From 2002 to 2007 he served on various MWJ selection committees, and fulfilled a similar role for the Edogawa Rampo Award from 2008 to 2013. In 2014, he became a selection member for the Naoki Prize.[12][13]

Higashino admitted in 2015 that his content and style had changed from his earlier writings, in which he treated motivation as the most important element.[4] In a 2011 interview, he stated that he wants his "readers to be continually surprised by my ideas."[3]

In addition to mystery novels, Higashino writes essays and story books for children. His style of writing the latter differs from his novels, and he does not use as many characters as in his novels.[citation needed] Higashino's works often include scientific elements, such as nuclear power generation and brain transplantation. Sports references, such as archery and kendo, ski jumping, and snowboarding, also occur often.

Suspect X inverts the classical whodunit structure, as the reader learns early on who the murderer is. Andrew Joyce writes in The Wall Street Journal that Higashino explores how "feelings of loyalty and the oppressive weight of human relations" are "catalysts for murder and dark pacts between neighbors or co-workers to dispose of bodies." Higashino claims that Japanese people prefer this format, in which the effects of characters' actions and intentions, in terms of emotions such as guilt and anguish, become clearer only towards the end of the story.[3]

While Higashino admits to liking Western writers, he feels most strongly influenced by Japanese authors such as Edogawa Rampo and Seicho Matsumoto. And "so my work naturally has that Japanese sense of old-fashioned loyalty and concern for human feeling." Regarding his Western readers, Higashino wants them "to read my work and come to understand how Japanese people think, love and hate. I want them to be impressed that there is a Japanese person who came up with such unusual stories."[3]

By 2018 Higashino had published 66 novels, 20 short story collections, and one picture book. In all, there were 715 works in 8 languages by Higashino worldwide in 2020, excluding 20 which were about him.[6]

The author is an award winner of the Edogawa Rampo Prize, a prize that is awarded annually to writers who have finest but unpublished mystery works. In 1985, at the age of 27, Higashino quit his job as an engineer and began a full-time writing career.

The author was awarded the Mystery Writers of Japan Award in 1999 for his novel Naoko, which was later years translated into English and published by Vertical Inc later in 2004. Later in 2006, he was listed as the 134th winner of Naoki Prize for the novel The Devotion of Suspect. Some of his novels have been nominated several times for various awards. The Devotion of Suspect X also won the 6th Honkaku Mystery Award and subsequently ranked as book number one by Kono Mystery gas Sugoi in 2006 and the Honkaku Mystery Best 10 the same year.

Apart from writing mystery novels, Keigo Higashino, the author also wrote storybook and essays for children, and his unique style of writing novels and other books differs in that he does not use many characters in other works as in his novels.

The Devotion of Suspect X is book three in Detective Galileo series by bestselling Japanese novelist Keigo Higashino. The series features Detective Galileo, also known as Manabu Yukawa is a physics professor and a police officer Kusanagi.

The two, panic and are discussing on how Yasuko Hanaoka will turn herself to the cops when someone knocks on the door. Apparently, it is Ishigami, a teacher who lives next door, and who seems willing to do anything for Yasuko including hiding the dead for her and they hatch a plot on how to cover up the crime.

On the other side, Detective Galileo, a nickname given to physicist Manabu Yukawa, who earned his nickname for his efforts in helping the police in some cases. He has got observational and Holmesian intellect skills. Back then during the college days, he was a friend and also a rival with Ishigami. Even though Yukawa is not on the case officially, his connections draw him and rather than working with Detective Kusanagi; he starts following his ideology.

After Yukawa encounters Ishigami, he is sure that Ishigami had something to do with the disappearance of Togashi. What happens next is a battle of high stakes as Ishigami does everything in his power to protect Ishigami while out thinking and outmaneuvering Yukawa, determined and most smart opponent.

The Devotion of Suspect X seems to be a mind game between two college genius rivals. A genius mathematician makes his well-calculated moves and develops a foolproof plan to mislead the police. His plans almost succeed until his greatest opponent; the physicist joins this game of hiding and seeks and pieces together the clues available. The novel presents a plot that is cleverly done with some brilliant twists and turns. The character development is ideal for this book.

The release of The Devotion of Suspect X book in 2011 was positively received globally. It was the first English language publication from the Japanese writer, Keigo Higashino and was acclaimed as ingenious, stunning and brilliant. Now Detective Galileo, the genius physicist, returns to investigate a case of almost impossible murder where facts clash with instincts and the reality as well crash with the theory.

The Salvation of a Saint is one of the thrilling murder mysteries that you will ever come across as a reader. The mystery, in this case, being, how can someone kill another person without his/her presence at the crime scene? Moreover, secondly, how can a killer dare to plan a murder for a whole year? Keigo Higashino is a master at storytelling, and if you love murder mysteries novels, then his books are worth reading.

The links beside each book title will take you to Amazon where you can read more about the book, check availability, or purchase it. As an Amazon Associate, I earn money from qualifying purchases. If you would like to link to us, Get the Code Here.

Are you a fan of psychological thrillers? A big fan of authors such as Gillian Flynn? These are our most recommended authors in the thriller genre, which is my personal favourite genre:

Her neighbor Ishigami frequents her workplace everyday as it is near the high school where he teaches. Little does she know that he harbors a secret affection for her as few words are spoken between them.

If I had to mention one tiny failing for the English language reader is that the Japanese names can be quite confusing. For instance the two police officers are named Kishitani and Kusanagi. So similar for the untrained English ear. Also, there were a few grammatical errors which I am sure are a result of the translation.

3a8082e126