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reshawty's review against another edition
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
nikey_view's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
In Newcomer, Kaga has just joined the Nihonbashi precinct as a detective. When Mineko Mitsui is found murdered in her apartment, Kaga starts to piece together a picture of Mitsui's life by tracking down the people she might have encountered on her daily routines, and uncover the origins of the items in his apartment. Kaga persistently uncovered all the backgrounds of all individuals remotely related to this case.
So.. the first thing that comes into my mind when I opened the first page of the book is "wow, this book have so many characters". And tbh I was taken aback to see the list of the characters bcs I'm afraid that I'll forget the characters and I did think that it was soo overly doing, like... you don't need to do that, just let it flows.. But then as the story goes by, it turns out it's not as bad as what I think and I find myself not in troubles so I was pretty enjoyed the whole story.
In this book we get a closer look at how Detective Kaga would act and investigate to identify suspicious clues and uncover the truth. I really like the process when Kaga went to one shop to another in Nihonbashi, met different kind of family flows at the shop. Whenever I read each chapter, I feel like I'm reading slice-of-life short stories. I really like how Detective Kaga indirectly solves their family problems. Even if the problems didn't have clear connection to the murder case, I still love the vibes of the book and it's pretty heart-warming for me. Surely it made me a fan of Detective Kaga.
And as we don't even learn the victims' names and other background details until near the midpoint of the book, and instead, we slowly learn the entire story from these shops which Kaga came to. We can rule out the suspicious thing in every chapter. In the end the culprit was someone I would never have thought of and it was interesting to see every detail come together at the end, yet it didn't made me suprised. I wonder why, but perhaps the structure of the story that made me not suprised? It can be a weakness but also a good thing. A weakness bcs it feels like an anticlimax twist, a good thing bcs Keigo did a good job in writing the story to unfold the murder case bcs it's so neatly written.
So.. the first thing that comes into my mind when I opened the first page of the book is "wow, this book have so many characters". And tbh I was taken aback to see the list of the characters bcs I'm afraid that I'll forget the characters and I did think that it was soo overly doing, like... you don't need to do that, just let it flows.. But then as the story goes by, it turns out it's not as bad as what I think and I find myself not in troubles so I was pretty enjoyed the whole story.
In this book we get a closer look at how Detective Kaga would act and investigate to identify suspicious clues and uncover the truth. I really like the process when Kaga went to one shop to another in Nihonbashi, met different kind of family flows at the shop. Whenever I read each chapter, I feel like I'm reading slice-of-life short stories. I really like how Detective Kaga indirectly solves their family problems. Even if the problems didn't have clear connection to the murder case, I still love the vibes of the book and it's pretty heart-warming for me. Surely it made me a fan of Detective Kaga.
And as we don't even learn the victims' names and other background details until near the midpoint of the book, and instead, we slowly learn the entire story from these shops which Kaga came to. We can rule out the suspicious thing in every chapter. In the end the culprit was someone I would never have thought of and it was interesting to see every detail come together at the end, yet it didn't made me suprised. I wonder why, but perhaps the structure of the story that made me not suprised? It can be a weakness but also a good thing. A weakness bcs it feels like an anticlimax twist, a good thing bcs Keigo did a good job in writing the story to unfold the murder case bcs it's so neatly written.
janeycanuck's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Wow, I loved the way this unfolded! It‘s more like a series of short stories that form part of the larger mystery but still have their own resolution. Over the course of the book, there is a subtle shift to more of a traditional narrative. It‘s just so well done, I love how each of these Kaga mysteries is a little different!
lolarama's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
booksnacks's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
pbbsalmon's review against another edition
4.0
This is a very interesting work from Keigo Higashino: stylistically distinct with familiar flavors of unexpected twists and turns. Instead of revealing the offender early in the novel and focusing on the how and the why of the murder mystery like in the Detective Galileo series or the first of this Detective Kaga series, in this book we get to have a closer glimpse into how a detective would proceed and investigate to identify suspicious clues, filter out the noise and unravel the truth. The book reads like a slice-of-life short story collection at times because we don't even know the name of the victim and other background details until closer to the midpoint of the book, and instead, we slowly learn about the all the possibly relevant details of the case that turned out to be only tangential. Along the way, so many different characters were introduced that were entirely irrelevant but their stories conveyed lessons of life on familial love and different ways of expressing / receiving love. It's amazing how in such short snippets, Higashino managed to portray such touching and realistic relationships, from grandmother-granddaughter connection, mother-in-law - daughter-in-law conflict (and underlying love), and to father/mother-son/daughter bond (spolier: even for the culprit) and husband/wife connection.
I had no idea who the suspect was and it was interesting to see every detail come together at the end, and Higashino even managed to add in another twist (about the embezzled money!). The different storylines reveal the high level of meticulousness and patience required to solve a case, and how biases can easily seep into detectives’ work through their preconceived notions (statements such as this person is irrelevant before empirically proving it). Therefore, It's quite eye-opening to see Kaga’s intentional attention to details and deduction prowess, and also humility in the profession despite his talent and intuition. This book makes me want to learn more about Kaga’s past in the next 2 books of the series.
Even though this writing structure is fresh for Higashino, it can be a little bit distracting because I would forget the characters’ names (maybe that’s why there’s a cast list in the beginning) and how their story helped rule out one suspicious detail after another. There are also characters that I would like to meet again, like the girl in the first short story (even though it could well be that I would get attached to any character that was introduced first). The summary at the end was helpful though, and learning the truth from another detective rather than Kaga himself (we didn’t get to see things from his perspective at all this time) was compelling.
Overall, I would recommend the book for 1) its fresh structure that manages to convey messages about meaning of life rather than solving the crime itself 2) how it gives close look into the investigation process and 3) its building up of anticipation to learn more about Kaga in the remainder of the series. The reason for a 4 instead of 5 is because I still feel The Devotion of Suspect X and Malice are more enthralling and convincing.
I had no idea who the suspect was and it was interesting to see every detail come together at the end, and Higashino even managed to add in another twist (about the embezzled money!). The different storylines reveal the high level of meticulousness and patience required to solve a case, and how biases can easily seep into detectives’ work through their preconceived notions (statements such as this person is irrelevant before empirically proving it). Therefore, It's quite eye-opening to see Kaga’s intentional attention to details and deduction prowess, and also humility in the profession despite his talent and intuition. This book makes me want to learn more about Kaga’s past in the next 2 books of the series.
Even though this writing structure is fresh for Higashino, it can be a little bit distracting because I would forget the characters’ names (maybe that’s why there’s a cast list in the beginning) and how their story helped rule out one suspicious detail after another. There are also characters that I would like to meet again, like the girl in the first short story (even though it could well be that I would get attached to any character that was introduced first). The summary at the end was helpful though, and learning the truth from another detective rather than Kaga himself (we didn’t get to see things from his perspective at all this time) was compelling.
Overall, I would recommend the book for 1) its fresh structure that manages to convey messages about meaning of life rather than solving the crime itself 2) how it gives close look into the investigation process and 3) its building up of anticipation to learn more about Kaga in the remainder of the series. The reason for a 4 instead of 5 is because I still feel The Devotion of Suspect X and Malice are more enthralling and convincing.
lfglws's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0