Published: 10. January . 2019 ( First published in 2009)
Genre: Mystery | Thriller
Pages: 352
Publisher: Abacus
What is it about?
Detective Kyochiro Kaga of the Tokyo Police Department has just been transferred to a new precinct in the Nihonbashi area of Tokyo. Newly arrived, but with a great deal of experience, Kaga is promptly assigned to the team investigating the murder of a woman. But the more he investigates, the greater number of potential suspects emerges. It isn’t long before it seems nearly all the people living and working in the business district of Nihonbashi have a motive for murder. To prevent the murderer from eluding justice, Kaga must unravel all the secrets surrounding a complicated life. Buried somewhere in the woman’s past, in her family history, and the last few days of her life is the clue that will lead to the murderer.
Review
Before, starting with telling you how good this book is, I would like to take a moment to appreciate the writing style. Each chapter introduces a new suspect, and is a short story in itself. I am so glad I picked up his books, and in fact found myself an auto-buy author. I enjoyed Newcomer way more than Malice, and I really did enjoy Malice a lot.
Check out my review here.
Detective Kaga, as a character is so neatly presented, it made me sit back and wonder to myself how his deductions made perfect sense and how observant as a detective is he. Of course, I did predict a few scenes, but I truly believe Newcomer, as a book solidifies his character and I would love to see more books with him.
This book is not only a story about solving the mystery behind this murder of a middle aged woman living alone, but also plays with different aspects of family and relationships. I loved the fact how these then turn to be the big picture and the base of the entire novel as well.
It is a mystery novel, and I do not want to spoil it by revealing anything more. All I can is, books like these make me want to learn a new language, so I can read good books in their original language instead of a translated version. Even though, the book is really well done, there is always a fear of the essence being lost in translation.
However, I sure do recommend to read this book for the sole purpose of immersing into Japanese Literature , other than the obvious Manga’s and Haruki Murakami Books that are so very popular. Also If you love mysteries, this one has a lot of twists and with a a lot of reflections of human relationship, all that with a unique writing style.
Rating: ★★★★
I’ve read one of his works and I found it too neatly organized but a bit underdeveloped. Nevertheless, I am looking forward to his other works. I will take to mind this review of yours. 🙂
I picked his books up for the asian readathon, and his writing style is definitely different than what i usually have come across… So i am really keen on reading more work Do let me know your views on any particular book of his you have rea and think is a good enough read… I will agree his books are too neatly organized. 😛 but i kind of like it how it all wraps up