My Review: Salvation of a Saint
Author: Keigi Higashino
If you enjoy finding out HOW a crime is solved after the fact and you pretty much know the perp then you will definitely enjoy this book. By the end of the first chapter you will know who committed the murder. By the end of the 2nd chapter, you will know what happened to the victim (as we always do). And you will have to read close to 300 pages to find out how the victim was murdered. The novel continues on with the detectives going about their regular work, questioning anything that moved. It’s feels like an old-fashioned crime novel.
It is well written, cunning and interesting in parts. But all in all it treads along covering ground again and again. The detectives are as interesting as those related to the story directly. There are a few sudden elements but they seem anticlimactic and do not raise tension and expectations. There are really no surprises here except those that pertain to the analysis of the crime. The core narrative doesn't have the complexity to drive the novel; it would have been more gripping had it been a short story or a novella.
The crime revolves around the death of a CEO by poisoning, and the investigation turns up no evidence of the source of the substance. It is quickly determined that this was not a case of suicide. The wife, usually a prime suspect, was thousands of miles away, and the mistress is also cleared. A junior detective stubbornly pursues the case, finally turning to the professor when neither her nor partner makes any progress in solving the murder. And then the fun begins.
Almost 80% of the dialogue during the detective work is related to the water used to make the coffee and how the poison got into the water. Over and over and over the participant in the investigation ask each other, "How did the poison get into the water for the coffee?" I think I have become too jaded with straight forward detective work after watching all those crime procedurals. There was no aha moment when I found out how it happened because it was solution was so simple.
It is indeed a diabolically clever mystery, a bit like a Japanese Agatha Christie novel, in other words every bit as tried and true and done before.
Verdict: The basic premise of the novel did not sit well with me so I might be a tad judgmental because the victim comes across as a sort of an effeminate jerk but the women fall for him hook, line, and sinker. One woman killed herself because of him and the other married him knowing all this. This more than anything makes the book unacceptable to me personally. I would suggest this book with reservation to only those who are classic mystery buffs
This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com.
If you enjoy finding out HOW a crime is solved after the fact and you pretty much know the perp then you will definitely enjoy this book. By the end of the first chapter you will know who committed the murder. By the end of the 2nd chapter, you will know what happened to the victim (as we always do). And you will have to read close to 300 pages to find out how the victim was murdered. The novel continues on with the detectives going about their regular work, questioning anything that moved. It’s feels like an old-fashioned crime novel.
It is well written, cunning and interesting in parts. But all in all it treads along covering ground again and again. The detectives are as interesting as those related to the story directly. There are a few sudden elements but they seem anticlimactic and do not raise tension and expectations. There are really no surprises here except those that pertain to the analysis of the crime. The core narrative doesn't have the complexity to drive the novel; it would have been more gripping had it been a short story or a novella.The crime revolves around the death of a CEO by poisoning, and the investigation turns up no evidence of the source of the substance. It is quickly determined that this was not a case of suicide. The wife, usually a prime suspect, was thousands of miles away, and the mistress is also cleared. A junior detective stubbornly pursues the case, finally turning to the professor when neither her nor partner makes any progress in solving the murder. And then the fun begins.
Almost 80% of the dialogue during the detective work is related to the water used to make the coffee and how the poison got into the water. Over and over and over the participant in the investigation ask each other, "How did the poison get into the water for the coffee?" I think I have become too jaded with straight forward detective work after watching all those crime procedurals. There was no aha moment when I found out how it happened because it was solution was so simple.
It is indeed a diabolically clever mystery, a bit like a Japanese Agatha Christie novel, in other words every bit as tried and true and done before.
Verdict: The basic premise of the novel did not sit well with me so I might be a tad judgmental because the victim comes across as a sort of an effeminate jerk but the women fall for him hook, line, and sinker. One woman killed herself because of him and the other married him knowing all this. This more than anything makes the book unacceptable to me personally. I would suggest this book with reservation to only those who are classic mystery buffs
This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com.
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