Synopses & Reviews
Acclaimed bestselling novelist Kunihiko Hidaka is found brutally murdered in his home on the night before hes planning to leave Japan and relocate to Vancouver. His body is found in his office, a locked room, within his locked house, by his wife and his best friend, both of whom have rock solid alibis. Or so it seems.
At the crime scene, Police Detective Kyochiro Kaga recognizes Hidakas best friend, Osamu Nonoguchi. Years ago when they were both teachers, they were colleagues at the same public school. Kaga went on to join the police force while Nonoguchi eventually left to become a full-time writer, though with not nearly the success of his friend Hidaka.
As Kaga investigates, he eventually uncovers evidence that indicates that the two writers relationship was very different that they claimed, that they were anything but best friends. But the question before Kaga isn't necessarily who, or how, but why. In a brilliantly realized tale of cat and mouse, the detective and the killer battle over the truth of the past and how events that led to the murder really unfolded. And if Kaga isn't able to uncover and prove why the murder was committed, then the truth may never come out.
Malice is one of the bestselling—the most acclaimed—novel in Keigo Higashinos series featuring police detective Kyochiro Kaga, one of the most popular creations of the bestselling novelist in Asia.
Review
Praise for Malice:“Keigo Higashino combines Dostoyevskian psychological realism with classic detective-story puzzles reminiscent of Agatha Christie and E.C. Bentley.”—Wall Street Journal “Keigo Higashino again proves his mastery of the diabolical puzzle mystery with Malice, a story with more turns, twists, switchbacks and sudden stops than a Tokyo highway during Golden Week.”—The New York Times Book Review
“This smart and original mystery is a true page-turner… will baffle, surprise, and draw out suspicion until the final few pages. With each book, Higashino continues to elevate the modern mystery as an intense and inventive literary form.” —Library Journal (starred review)
“Fiendishly clever… Higashino offers one twist after another… Readers will marvel at the artful way the plot builds to the solution.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“The creator of Detective Galileo (Salvation of a Saint, 2012, etc.) returns with another fiendishly clever Chinese—make that Japanese—box of a whydunit… If you still miss the days of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, you cant do better than this fleet, inventive retro puzzler.” —Kirkus Reviews
More praise for the books of Keigo Higashino:
“[A] howdunit, rather than [a] whodunit… While readers of classic mysteries will be delighted with the elegant solution, the book will also appeal to fans of procedurals that carefully develop the relationships among the investigative team members.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) on Salvation of a Saint
“Adds up to an impossible crime in the best classic tradition, told with such skill that you'll barely notice the absence of an English drawing room.” —Denver Post on Salvation of a Saint
“This intricate, sophisticated story will pique the interest of the most avid mystery readers…. Higashino has taken the art and craft of mystery writing to a new level of excellence.” —Library Journal (starred review) on Salvation of a Saint
“Ingeniously plotted…the brilliance of this scheme cant be fully appreciated until the conclusion of the story.” —Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review on The Devotion of Suspect X
“Genius…intense reading [with] a really surprising psychological twist at the end.”—Alan Cheuse, NPR on The Devotion of Suspect X
About the Author
KEIGO HIGASHINO is the bestselling, best-known novelist in Japan and around Asia, with television and film adaptations of his work in several languages and many prestigious awards. Hes the author of
The Devotion of Suspect X, the English translation of which was the finalist for the Edgar Award for best novel, and
Salvation of a Saint. He lives in Tokyo, Japan.
Jeff Woodman is the winner of multiple Earphones Awards, and he was named the 2008 Best Voice in Fiction & Classics as well as one of the “Fifty Greatest Voices of the Century” by AudioFile magazine. His credits include Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, The Life of Pi, and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Some of his non-fiction works include Dr. Perricone's 7 Secrets to Beauty, Health and Longevity and The Intellectual Devotional: American History.