A Death in Tokyo (The Detective Kaga Series Book 3)

My third outing with the Detective Kaga series set in Tokyo.I just love the methodical and detailed plotting that accompanies these crime mysteries. Keigo Higashino is a great writer within this genre but their accessibility must also be down to the talented translation of Giles Murray.Kaga is a local cop who is meticulous in his questioning and thorough in his desire to understand motive within any murder enquiry.The beauty of Japan, it’s culture and customs. It’s place and people lift from these pages and Kaga’s desire to feel and breathe the crime scene and it’s environs brings the location to the fore, stimulating the senses, so full of life and colour.A businessman is seemingly the victim of a mugging that goes deadly wrong. But this wasn’t his neighbourhood. What was he doing there? And why did he get to his feet and stagger like a drunken man to the middle of Nihonbashi bridge?Are these factors significant to anyone other than Detective Kaga especially when an unemployed man close to the scene is disturbed by the police and gets run over avoiding arrest? Perhaps even less so, when where he was hiding the victim’s briefcase was found and when the suspect had taken the dead man’s wallet.All makes for an intelligent and progressive investigation which brings insight into police procedures in Japan and a glimpse into another country’s culture.Furthermore through the story I understood more the capital city’s expansion from perhaps when it was award the 1964 Olympic Games, how neighbourhoods try to hold on to their past despite incursions by expressways and high rise, while amid the development and progress older Tokyo clings on in religious shrines and tradition shops.The crime story is tragic but full of human endeavour. Good and bad are seen and lessons learnt without recourse to sleight of hand, criminal psychology and graphic horror. Just the telling of mystery wrapped up in a well told story. This is why I love whodunits. Not cos they are clever and the authors are spendthrift with the clues. Simply when they bare the human soul and psyche and when you can identify with the characters.

Detective Kaga applies hard graft and more than a little intuition and understanding of human nature, to solve a SAD case which destroys several families. The plot twists, with a seemingly simple case of murder imploding and spreading its testicles back into the past.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for an advance copy of A Death in Tokyo, the third novel to feature Detective Kyoichiro Kaga of the Nihonbashi Precinct.A man dies on the Nihonbashi bridge under the statue of a kirin. He wasn’t stabbed there but managed to stagger that far. Why? Meanwhile Fuyumi Yashima is stopped by a patrolman and runs in front of a truck. He is in a coma but he is found in possession of the dead man’s wallet and briefcase. He becomes the prime suspect in the murder enquiry, but while he remains in a coma the police must prove their case without him.I thoroughly enjoyed A Death in Tokyo, which I found completely engrossing. It might not be to every reader’s taste as it is slow and undramatic after the initial flourish, but for those who like a police procedural it is an excellent example.This is a novel about relentless investigation, a bit of lateral thinking and above all about people. Kaga spends a lot of time thinking about natural behaviour and if the scenarios being posited by his colleagues are likely. It is a simple and effective tool in establishing a route to the truth, if not the truth itself, something I found myself overlooking when trying to work things through in my mind. At the same time he puts in the hard yards walking the district while pursuing his offbeat theories. I found it compulsive reading and was astonished by the way it turned out. It was a complete surprise, but it makes sense, not just in what happens but also in the way it fits with the natural behaviour theme.The novel has a bit of an old fashioned feel in that it doesn’t give much away about the detectives’ lives outside of the job, but this is more than compensated for in the intricacies of the investigation and the fulsome descriptions of Japanese culture. The author really brings the Nihonbashi area to life and makes me want to see it for myself.A Death in Tokyo is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.

I am a big fan of Keigo Higashino but I was a bit disappointed with this book. It is okay but not as good as his previous titles.

I picked up this book to see how a Japanese writer handled detective fiction. I have to admit I didn't think it would be as good as the works from modern day American or British detective writers. I was so pleasantly wrong. This story was as complex as any as I have read and entertaining. A thoroughly good read.

This new release book is excellent!

Brilliant, nuanced, emotive and so warm. This is one of Keigo Higashino San’s best books. Kept me at the edge, had me in tears

I enjoy reading and like the way the writer expressed the story line.,

The combination of a good plot and a clear translation of it has made the read superb. Whether you peruse it or skim through it, you would find that every chapter would give you special delight.I do not like how the Japanese title is translated into English, though. Too much leap.