I'm not a big fan of whodunnits. The idea of being fed clue after clue so I can attempt to crack the case along with the detective/inspector in the story holds zero appeal for me.
But here's the thing with Keigo Higashino's Malice: the first sentence of the publisher's blurb reads: “Acclaimed bestselling novelist Kunihiko Hidaka is found brutally murdered in his home on the night before he was to leave Japan and relocate to Vancouver.” Ah, thinks I, a bestselling novelist is the victim of a brutal murder, this mystery surely incorporates much about novels, authorship, publishing, reading and writing – for me, topics holding special appeal.
After both reading the book and listening to the audio book, I'm here to report I wasn't disappointed; if anything, my expectations were exceeded – this mystery novel features the many facets of what it can mean to be a bestselling author.
And once I started reading, I was completely and totally hooked. Keigo Higashino does a masterful job of handling all the elements critical for a good whodunnit – atmosphere, setting, crime, sleuth, villain, narrative momentum, foreshadowing, red herrings, satisfying ending.
Additionally, a special call-out for the way Mr. Higashino develops his characters and varies the novel's rhythm by rotating first-person narrators, the inclusion of backstory and, most especially, the author's impeccable timing.
For added spice, bestselling novelist Kunihiko Hidaka isn't the only writer gracing the pages of Malice. There's also Hidaka's best friend, Osamu Nonoguchi, published author of children's books and an aspiring novelist himself, a man who just so happened to be a teacher some years back at the same school where Kyoichiro Kaga, the detective assigned the murder case, was also a teacher.
No more from me since the layers of mystery begin right in the first chapter. Every reader deserves to be introduced to the details of the case, fresh, free from anything remotely suggesting a spoiler. However, before calling it quits, one more tidbit: we find out on the first pages someone poisoned a next door neighbor's cat, a beautiful cat like the one pictured above. How dreadful!
If you're after a good mystery where authorship and bestselling novels play a central role, Malice is your book.
Japanese novelist Keigo Higashino, born 1958
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