Hardcover, 276 pages

English language

Published Sept. 7, 2014 by Minotaur Books.

ISBN:
9781250035608

View on OpenLibrary

3 stars (1 review)

Acclaimed bestselling novelist Kunihiko Hidaka is found brutally murdered in his home on the night before he's planning to leave Japan and relocate to Vancouver. His body is found in his office, a locked room, within his locked house, by his wife and his best friend, both of whom have rock solid alibis. Or so it seems.

At the crime scene, Police Detective Kyoichiro Kaga recognizes Hidaka's best friend, Osamu Nonoguchi. Years ago when they were both teachers, they were colleagues at the same public school. Kaga went on to join the police force while Nonoguchi eventually left to become a full-time writer, though with not nearly the success of his friend Hidaka.

As Kaga investigates, he eventually uncovers evidence that indicates that the two writers' relationship was very different that they claimed, that they were anything but best friends. But the question before Kaga isn't necessarily who, or how, …

2 editions

A reserved police procedural

3 stars

For a book about passions and someone's motivation for murder, the narrative operates at a distance from the emotions of its characters. Fairly early on, detective Kyoichiro Kaga divines from the clues (Sherlock Holmes style) who the murderer is. Much harder to suss out is the murderer's motive, and the reader is taken through several iterations of the question "but what is the real reason behind what they did?" 3.5 stars for an inventive form and drawing power to keep me interested in the layers being uncovered. But demerits for the emotion of the text not being in line with the emotion of the characters.