Newcomer
Keigo Higashino is one of the primary authors I always recommend to those who like clever, classy, classic crime, and I was delighted to discover that he had a new one. In this, the newcomer of the title is Detective Kyoichiro Kaga of the Tokyo Police Department, who has just been transferred to a new precinct in the Nihonbashi area of Tokyo. (We previously saw this very astute police detective in Malice). Kaga is promptly assigned to the team investigating the murder of a woman, and his unorthodox ways viewed with suspicion by his new colleagues. There are a huge number of suspects, but the outcome involves a very moving family-related twist – this author is not only good with the crime plots, he really paints his characters well and makes you believe in their various relationships.
His other crime titles in English – despite occasional recurring detectives all are standalones – are The Devotion of Suspect X, Salvation of a Saint, Malice and A Midsummer’s Equation, and his Journey Under a Midnight Sun is a hugely interesting epic of two intertwined people’s lives that is crimey but not in the same Golden-Age-but-modern way.
Thalia Proctor
Shortlisted for the Crime Writers' Association International Dagger Award
Spectator Best Books of 2019
'An intriguing mashup of police procedural and golden age puzzle mystery' Guardian
International bestseller Keigo Higashino returns with his latest mindbender - Newcomer - as newly transferred Tokyo Police Detective Kyochiro Kaga is assigned to a baffling murder.
Detective Kyochiro Kaga of the Tokyo Police Department has just been transferred to a new precinct in the Nihonbashi area of Tokyo. Newly arrived, but with a great deal of experience, Kaga is promptly assigned to the team investigating the murder of a woman. But the more he investigates, the greater number of potential suspects emerges. It isn't long before it seems nearly all the people living and working in the business district of Nihonbashi have a motive for murder. To prevent the culprit from eluding justice, Kaga must unravel all the secrets surrounding a complicated life. Buried somewhere in the woman's past, in her family history, and the last few days of her life is the clue that will lead to the murderer.
This is the second appearance in English of Police detective Kyochiro Kaga, the protagonist of the critically acclaimed Malice.
'Detective Kaga pursues the case of a murdered woman from suspect to suspect, through a nostalgia-tinged Tokyo of family-run shops and Ginza bar girls. Clever and charming' Sunday Times
