Villain: Shuichi Yoshida

From the  Random House website:

A chilling and seductive story of loneliness, desperation, and murder, Villain is the English-language debut of one of Japan’s most popular writers. 

 A woman is killed at a ghostly mountain pass in southern Japan and the local police quickly pinpoint a suspect. But as the puzzle pieces of the crime slowly click into place, new questions arise. Is a villain simply the person who commits a crime or are those who feel no remorse for malicious behavior just as guilty? Moving from office parks and claustrophobic love hotels to desolate seaside towns and lighthouses, Shuichi Yoshida’s dark thriller reveals the inner lives of men and women who all have something to hide.

This novel had contrasting elements. This story is much more in the thriller vein than other Japanese mysteries I have read. The pacing is slow at times, but there is plenty of action at several points in the story. The tension heightens at the end.

The author focuses on the primary characters involved in the murder and the peripheral characters whose lives are affected by it. I enjoyed the way the story was told, from multiple points of view. The narrative goes back and forth between events before the murder and the search for the suspects. The story of the parents of the victim and the grandparents of one of the suspects was just as interesting to me as the story of the murder and the hunt for various suspects. This story is bleak. However, I did not find it a depressing read.

See also reviews by Bernadette at Reactions to Reading and Keishon at Yet Another Crime Fiction Blog. Keishon's post is a discussion between Keishon and another blogger with some spoilers.

One of the points that both of these reviews make was that the US cover with the gun made up of human bones bears no relation to the story. That is very true. But it is a cool cover and if I had not seen the cover in a bookstore several years ago, I probably would not have read this book.

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Publisher:   Pantheon Books, 2010 (orig. pub. 2007)
Translator:  Philip Gabriel
Length:       295 pages
Format:       Hardcover
Setting:       Japan
Genre:        Mystery
Source:       I purchased this book.

Salvation of a Saint: Keigo Higashino

This was one of the last books I read in 2014. I read it for the Japanese Literary Challenge 8 hosted by Dolce Bellezza.

Description from the dust jacket of the edition I read:

Keigo Higashino’s The Devotion of Suspect X was widely proclaimed one of the best books of the year and a finalist for the world’s top award in crime fiction. The first major English-language publication from the most popular writer in Japan, it was acclaimed by critics as “stunning,” “brilliant,” and “ingenious.” Now physics professor Manabu Yukawa –Detective Galileo – returns in a new case of impossible murder, where instincts clash with facts, and theory with reality.

When a man who was about to leave his marriage is poisoned to death, his wife becomes the logical suspect, except for one simple fact: She was hundreds of miles away when he was murdered. Tokyo police detective Kusanagi and his assistant, Kaoru Utsumi, cannot agree on a suspect. Was it his wife, his girlfriend, his business associate? Or was this a random crime? When they call upon their secret weapon, Professor Manabu Yukawa, even his brilliant mind is challenged by a crime that is implausible, methodical, and perfect.

The Japanese  crime fiction novels I have read are not thrillers, but more like character studies, looking into the how and why of the crime. This one is a locked room mystery, and although the puzzle to be solved in this one is very ingenious, I am not usually into that type of story. Nevertheless, there were many elements of the story I found interesting and entertaining.

The detectives seem to be at odds or in competition. There is a new young detective, Utsumi, bringing in new ideas. The head detective, Kusanagi, is in disagreement with her almost immediately. He is also at odds with his old friend, Yukawa. Because the two detectives have very different ideas about who the murderer is, Utsumi goes to the professor and asks for his help. He is reluctant at first, and Kusanagi is less than thrilled at his interference.

This story explores the how and why of the murder less than who did it.  It also delves into relationships and behavior of many of those involved. The importance of children in this culture is emphasized. A lot of the story revolves around the inability of Ayane to have a child, and her husband's reaction to this. The couple's friends have a new baby and are proud and happy.

Although I preferred The Devotion of Suspect X, this book was also very good. It had more aspects of a police procedural, which was a plus for me, and I liked the new young detective it introduced.

See Margot's view at Confessions of a Mystery Novelist...

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Publisher:   Minotaur Books, 2012 (orig. pub. 2008)
Translator:  Alexander O. Smith with Elye Alexander
Length:       330 pages
Format:       Hardcover
Series:        Professor Galileo, #2
Setting:       Tokyo, Japan
Genre:        Mystery
Source:       Borrowed from my husband.

Japanese Literature Challenge 8

For the eighth year,  Dolce Bellezza is hosting the Japanese Literature Challenge. This is the third year I have joined in. The challenge began June 1, 2014 and continues  through January, 2015. There is only one requirement: read one, or more, books of Japanese literature and share them with the challenge group. There is a suggested reading list here.

Each year that I have participated, I have read one book by a Japanese author. It is no surprise that both were crime fiction, and I am sure I will continue in that vein. It would be nice to read more than one book for the challenge, but that is all I need to commit to, and I like it that way.

In 2012, I read The Tattoo Murder Case by Akimitsu Takagi, a vintage mystery first published in 1948. In 2013, I read The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino.  That book is an inverted mystery; the reader knows from the beginning who committed the murder. I owe my access to Japanese mysteries to my husband, who is a fan of the genre.

The book I definitely plan to read for this year's challenge is Villain by Shuichi Yoshida. I love this cover and purchased this book for myself.

Other possibilities:
All She Was Worth (1992) 
       by Miyuki Miyabe 
The Tokyo Zodiac Murders (1981) 
       by Soji Shimada
Salvation of a Saint (2008) 
       by Keigo Higashino
Inspector Iminishi Investigates (1989) 
       by Seicho Matsumoto
Out (1997) 
       by Natsuo Kirino