Review by Booklist Review
Star detectives (and cousins) Kyoichiro Kaga and Shuhei Matsumiya (last seen in Newcomer, 2018) are partnered on a task force investigating the puzzling stabbing of a manufacturing executive. The victim, Takeaki Aoyagi, staggered to Tokyo's Nihonbashi bridge and died against the famed Kirin statues. Nearby, down-on-his-luck Fuyuki Yashima is found with Aoyagi's belongings and is hit by a truck while fleeing the police. Kaga and Matsumiya discover a startling connection between the victim and their suspect: Fuyuki was fired from one of Aoyagi's factories after he was injured on the job. The media seizes on the revenge theory, and when it's revealed that Aoyagi's company has been covering up workplace safety issues, the scandal sparks a tide of public outrage. Kaga, however, has too many unanswered questions to buy the revenge theory, and his dogged canvassing of Nihonbashi's vendors unravels an emotional story of buried guilt and a father's lessons in redemption. Parallels between the case's resolution and Kaga's conflicts about honoring his own father's death highlight Higashino's masterfully constructed tale.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In Higashino's disappointing third mystery featuring Insp. Kyoichiro Kaga (after 2018's Newcomer), Kaga helps his homicide detective cousin, a member of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police, investigate the murder of Takeaki Aoyagi, a supervisor at Kanseki Metals, who was knifed in an underground passageway before staggering onto a nearby bridge and dying. The subsequent discovery of Aoyagi's wallet on the person of Fuyuki Yashima, a former Kanseki Metals employee, makes Yashima the logical suspect, with theft his apparent motive. This find, however, came only after Yashima, spotted by a cop hiding in a park, was hit by a truck when he fled into the street and was left in a coma. Kaga's digging suggests that Yashima may be innocent, despite the circumstantial evidence against him, and that the killer targeted Aoyagi for reasons other than theft. Higashino does his usual fine job of imbuing even walk-on characters with depth, but this entry, unlike his best work, lacks the logical and fair surprises that are his trademarks, and will prompt few to gasp in astonishment at the final reveals. Higashino falls short of his own high standards. (Dec.)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Takeaki Aoyagi appears to be sleeping on the Nihonbashi Bridge, but when a police officer approaches, he sees a knife sticking out of his chest. As police search the neighborhood for witnesses, they came upon Fuyuki Yashima, who, when they attempt to question him, flees and gets hit by a truck. Yashima had Aoyagi's wallet and briefcase, and it seems like an open-and-shut case. Detectives Kaga and Matsumiya are part of the investigating team. Ace detective Kaga is not convinced Yashima killed Aoyagi--the connection between the two men was thin. Yashima, a temporary worker, reported to Aoyagi at the metal plant where they worked. When Yashima was involved in a workplace accident, he was fired. Did he ask for his old job back, and Aoyagi refused? Yashima's girlfriend said he would never hurt anyone, but perhaps something provoked him. There could also be another motive for murder that the detectives have missed as Kaga doggedly searches for the truth. VERDICT This solid police procedural, the third in the Kaga series (after Newcomer), stands alone. Despite a less than compelling plot, fans of smart detectives with less observant, more laid-back sidekicks (à la Holmes and Watson) will enjoy this book through all its twists and turns.--Ed Goldberg
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
The fatal stabbing of a prominent businessman in the heart of Tokyo unleashes a fury of scandals. No sooner has Takeaki Aoyagi, head of production at Kaneseki Metals, collapsed on the Nihonbashi Bridge than police spot a possible suspect fleeing the scene. Struck by a car before they can catch him, Fuyuki Yashima turns out to be carrying Aoyagi's wallet; the dead man's briefcase is found nearby. Yashima can say nothing in his own defense because he's in a coma. So Inspector Kyoichiro Kaga and his cousin, Detective Shuhei Matsumiya, of the Tokyo Metropolitan homicide squad, have to be satisfied with questioning Yashima's live-in lover, Kaori Nakahara, who's three months pregnant. Yashima, she tells them, had been unemployed since losing his job with Kaneseki Metals under circumstances that turn out to implicate Aoyagi in a shameful coverup and give Yashima a perfect motive for his murder. Though Yashima's death gives them an excuse to close the case, Kaga and Matsumiya persist in digging deeper and find evidence that Aoyagi had been making the circuit of the Seven Lucky Gods, leaving a flock of origami cranes at the Kasama Inari Shrine. What was his motive for his pilgrimage, and what other foul secrets lie beneath it? Though the alternative explanations for Aoyagi's murder, unfolding in strict succession, have little to do with one another, Higashino unfolds them with the force of a powerful indictment against the corruption that seems to pervade his great city. The dark side--make that sides--of Tokyo, masterfully revealed. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
