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serendipity421's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Chronic illness, Death, Infidelity, and Murder
akira_outofthegravity's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I may change the rating.
This book is not like Higashino’s other works. Where Malice was the equivalent of being slapped in the face every chapter with misdirection, this was a more subtle, calm kind of crime novel. It’s almost chilling how serene everything is.
The story covers the investigation of two crimes, the crime in which a guest of a lodge is found dead off a cliff and a separate crime some 16 years earlier where a former hostess was stabbed after an argument with an ex client. Be warned the environmental aspect plays a fairly minor role in everything considering.
Yukawa is an amazing character. Enigmatic and yet kindhearted. He is a methodical detective at heart, but values not shaking peoples lives up unnecessarily. Something we don’t see often are kind and gentle detectives. So this was a nice pace. He and Kyohei were the stars. Such a lovely dynamic, and I hope, in this book’s world, they meet up again and begin a father-son relationship.
This book is gentle, it’s amazing what scenery can do for a crime novel. I found myself almost relaxing as I would on the beaches of Hari Cove- despite the murder. But it’s gentleness just adds another layer of sinister ness to the crime, and that makes for an absolute punch of an ending. Like his other novels, this is a good book made into a great book by one detail at the end. Which I won’t spoil here. Be warned that this is a very sad book, and focuses more on solving the reasoning for the crimes than the actual incidents. Also, be aware that, although the ending is satisfying in a way, it may not be what you’re looking for. However I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I appreciate its qualities, the subtle foreshadowing and the messages it portrays. Higashino is a master at what he does, and the final twist makes this good book into a heartbreakingly great book. Tragic, yet hopeful. I loved it.
Spoilers below!
The ending totally threw me for a loop. It’s so melancholy, I’m crying just thinking about it. The lives of the characters are built on tragedy, and although Yukawa is methodical he is also kind. The real tragedy of this book is the selfishness of adults, something that Kyohei complains about many times in the book. Not being told things, being dismissed, parents not being interested. The children in this book are continually let down, and that piece of seemingly random-pre-teen-thoughts being a very prominent theme in the book really got me. Narumi was failed by her mother, and then failed by her father who left her to bear the sins of all of their actions- despite the fact that he only wanted the best for her. Similarly, Kyohei is let down by his parents, and then his uncle, whom he trusts and ultimately sets him up to “technically” be the killer. It’s such a tragic detail, and shows how precariously balanced this house of cards is. If Senba admits that he is Narumi’s father then the whole thing falls, taking friends and family and strangers with it. Similarly, if Shigehito admits it was murder, he takes Kyohei with him, as well as Setsuko and Narumi. But Kyohei is the innocent party, and this would ruin him the most. I have a feeling that Shigehito knows this, and it’s his last trump card. It’s such a detailed and layered crime, and something that really strikes me as almost poetic. Kyohei is going to realise one day that technically he killed the victim, and Yukawa pledges for Narumi to be to him what she never had. This means that although the murderers get away with it, it’s satisfying because there’s not other way for the innocents to live. If they went away for murder, innocents would suffer. I think it’s a strangely profound message, and I wish Kyohei had Yukawa in his life still. But I suppose life is a continual cycle of gaining and losing. I loved this book, in all its quiet, sad glory.
This book is not like Higashino’s other works. Where Malice was the equivalent of being slapped in the face every chapter with misdirection, this was a more subtle, calm kind of crime novel. It’s almost chilling how serene everything is.
The story covers the investigation of two crimes, the crime in which a guest of a lodge is found dead off a cliff and a separate crime some 16 years earlier where a former hostess was stabbed after an argument with an ex client. Be warned the environmental aspect plays a fairly minor role in everything considering.
Yukawa is an amazing character. Enigmatic and yet kindhearted. He is a methodical detective at heart, but values not shaking peoples lives up unnecessarily. Something we don’t see often are kind and gentle detectives. So this was a nice pace. He and Kyohei were the stars. Such a lovely dynamic, and I hope, in this book’s world, they meet up again and begin a father-son relationship.
This book is gentle, it’s amazing what scenery can do for a crime novel. I found myself almost relaxing as I would on the beaches of Hari Cove- despite the murder. But it’s gentleness just adds another layer of sinister ness to the crime, and that makes for an absolute punch of an ending. Like his other novels, this is a good book made into a great book by one detail at the end. Which I won’t spoil here. Be warned that this is a very sad book, and focuses more on solving the reasoning for the crimes than the actual incidents. Also, be aware that, although the ending is satisfying in a way, it may not be what you’re looking for. However I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I appreciate its qualities, the subtle foreshadowing and the messages it portrays. Higashino is a master at what he does, and the final twist makes this good book into a heartbreakingly great book. Tragic, yet hopeful. I loved it.
Spoilers below!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Blood, and Murder
Minor: Domestic abuse
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