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A review by pbbsalmon
Salvation of a Saint by Keigo Higashino
3.0
This book is not as impressive and touching as The Devotion of Suspect X. The crime was planned and carried out in a meticulous, unexpected way, in the same vein as the one in Suspect X. However, the criminal's motive and the setup of the story was not as compelling. It's hard for me to empathize with Ayane compared to Ishigami.
This book would be decent if not for the biased, or sexist even, depiction of women. It's one thing that the victim is misogynist and harbors extreme views regarding children, but it's another thing for the main characters, the physicist and the detective, to use words like "female hunch", "female intuition" to describe the line of reasoning of Utsumi, the only woman in the all-male team. And there are several statements, some made by female characters themselves, that really bother me:
"Isn't that straightforward maternal instinct?"
"Only a woman could come up with a trick so illogical, so full of contradictions, and so perfect." And what is this suppose to mean? That women are calculating, scheming and illogical?
"Maybe it was something more primal, a female need to bear a child." Hmm excuse me are women just reproductive machines?
And it would be more compelling and touching if the crime had been carried out as an act of vengeance for the deceased, rather than for the selfish attainment/ secure of love or as a god-like expression of power of the criminal exerted over her prey (as in Ayane took revenge for Junko, her dear friend who she confided in with all her dreams and worries rather than deciding to commit the crime because she was tossed aside). However, I also realize that if this had been the motive, then the time when the crime happened may need to change to maintain the logic to the story (why wait a whole year and right after the dinner party when she received the request to leave the marriage?). Anyway probably the motive used in the book was based on whatever the author's interpretation of "female love" in a heterosexual relationship can mean.
Overall, I would not recommend this read. Although every detail was a piece to make the final puzzle, the way the story was told felt lengthy at times. And even though Utsumi has always been right since the beginning, I do not enjoy the fact that the author decided to first explain her reasoning with random "female intuition" rather than
give her a scene to explain her thought process, which is actually rooted in realistic observation and logical deduction (the champagne glasses and more importantly, that Ayane didn't ask around for more information when was contacted by the police).
This book would be decent if not for the biased, or sexist even, depiction of women. It's one thing that the victim is misogynist and harbors extreme views regarding children, but it's another thing for the main characters, the physicist and the detective, to use words like "female hunch", "female intuition" to describe the line of reasoning of Utsumi, the only woman in the all-male team. And there are several statements, some made by female characters themselves, that really bother me:
"Isn't that straightforward maternal instinct?"
"Only a woman could come up with a trick so illogical, so full of contradictions, and so perfect." And what is this suppose to mean? That women are calculating, scheming and illogical?
"Maybe it was something more primal, a female need to bear a child." Hmm excuse me are women just reproductive machines?
And it would be more compelling and touching if the crime had been carried out as an act of vengeance for the deceased, rather than for the selfish attainment/ secure of love or as a god-like expression of power of the criminal exerted over her prey (as in Ayane took revenge for Junko, her dear friend who she confided in with all her dreams and worries rather than deciding to commit the crime because she was tossed aside). However, I also realize that if this had been the motive, then the time when the crime happened may need to change to maintain the logic to the story (why wait a whole year and right after the dinner party when she received the request to leave the marriage?). Anyway probably the motive used in the book was based on whatever the author's interpretation of "female love" in a heterosexual relationship can mean.
Overall, I would not recommend this read. Although every detail was a piece to make the final puzzle, the way the story was told felt lengthy at times. And even though Utsumi has always been right since the beginning, I do not enjoy the fact that the author decided to first explain her reasoning with random "female intuition" rather than
give her a scene to explain her thought process, which is actually rooted in realistic observation and logical deduction (the champagne glasses and more importantly, that Ayane didn't ask around for more information when was contacted by the police).