Marilyn's Mystery Reads

Keigo Higashino, the Japanese author whose books were read around the globe, died on July 23 at age 68.

Mr. Higashino, one of my favorite authors, wrote over 100 novels in the genres of mystery, science fiction, and parody.  His works appeared in over 40 countries and were translated into English, French, Chinese, and Korean, among other languages.

His most famous creation is Detective Galileo, featured in The Devotion of Suspect X, a physicist whose name is actually Manabu Yukawa and who helps police solve murder cases.  The Devotion of Suspect X was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 best mysteries of all time.  However, my favorite character is Detective Kaga of the Tokyo police force, a man my husband refers to as the Japanese Columbo.  

Portraying the human condition was at the heart of his writing, he noted.  On a television program in 1999, Mr. Higashino said, “Whenever I write a novel, what I really want to portray is human nature.”

Mr. Higashino admitted that he was not an avid reader as a child.  When he won the Naoki Prize in 2006, he commented, “What I always think about is wanting to write novels that even my book-hating self from back then would enjoy reading.”

I have reviewed seven of his books on this blog, the most recent being Guilt on March 20th.  His final novel,  Eternal Memory, will be published this month.  I think that’s a fitting title to Mr. Higashino’s legacy.

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