![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
Review: Keigo Higashino - Salvation of a Saint (2008)
This was another short mystery by Keigo Higashino. I was more impressed with the Devotion of Suspect X, but this was still an intriguing mystery, and I would still recommend it to those looking for a good short detective novel.
Spoilers.
Story
This is how the crime played out. Yoshitaka was a guy who only got into relationships with the goal of having a baby. He'd gotten together with Junko and cruelly broke up with her when they didn't have kids. Yoshitaka had then gotten together with Ayane, who was Junko's friend. Ayane found out about Yoshitaka's morals and treatment of Junko and worked out a plan.
She inserted poison into a water filter and for a year, prevented anyone from using it. When she decided that it was time to take revenge (i.e. Yoshitaka's behaviour as a scummy human hadn't changed), she'd just go away and let the water filter be used, leading to Yoshitaka's death. As Yukawa said, the crime was hard for detectives to figure out at first because Ayane had committed murder by doing nothing (going away). They only caught her with proof that she'd tried to get rid of evidence (by using up the water in the water filter).
There was some sideplot in this novel but it was minimal. It was mostly about Kusanagi's spat with Yukawa and differences in ideas with Utsumi.
Similar to the Devotion of Suspect X, we kind of already knew who the culprit was from the get-go, so it was really more of a how than a who mystery. In this case, there really only were two options (Hiromi and Ayane), but the writing heavily implied that it was Ayane, so it was just a matter of Kusanagi, Utsumi, and Yukawa figuring out how that worked.
I did wish the novel spent less time figuring out how the poison got into Yoshitaka's coffee, but I suppose it had to have taken that much of the narrative. I just kind of wish we'd learned more about the people in question too.
Translation
The translation of this book by Alexander O. Smith was terrific as usual. Everything about it was very smooth and it had its own charm that helped set up the atmosphere.
Characters
Mita/Mashiba Ayane
Ayane was the culprit in this book. She was a very calm and collected woman. Throughout the investigation, she was very friendly towards the detectives, and also protected Hiromi quite a bit despite Hiromi technically betraying her trust. However, Ayane's attitude does make sense. She knew a year ago that her husband was a terrible man. Though Yoshitaka and Junko weren't married, Ayane still felt terrible about how he broke up with her, so I think Ayane felt some sympathy for Hiromi. In any case, her grudge against Yoshitaka was stronger than any hate she might've had for Hiromi. Basically, Ayane was calm because she'd decided a year ago that she was going to kill him.
Even when Ayane realized she'd been found out, she seemed very calm. I think she didn't care that she was found out, because her main goal was just to give Yoshitaka the end he deserved.
As mentioned, Ayane protected Hiromi a lot, and even encouraged her to protect her unborn child, which implies that she bore little resentment towards her ex-apprentice.
Mashiba Yoshitaka
We learned that Yoshitaka was an orphan, so he was desperate for a family that he was related to. He wanted a family so badly that he went through women one after another if they couldn't get married.
Though I sympathize with his want for a family, we can't deny that he was a huge asshat.
Wakayama Hiromi
Hiromi was Ayane's (ex-)apprentice, and Yoshitaka's secret lover. At the time of Yoshitaka's death, they'd been seeing each other for a few months, but throughout the novel we saw that she loved him deeply.
Hiromi also carried a lot of guilt for being the other woman in Ayane's relationship. Though Ayane seemed not to hate her at all, she knew that she'd done wrong, and that drove her to quit her job working with Ayane.
At the end of the book, Hiromi decided to keep the baby as well.
Ikai Tatsuhiko
Tatsuhiko was Yoshitaka's coworker and "friend." We saw throughout the novel that despite technically being something like a best friend, they were kept at arm's length with each other. They were definitely only friends in order to keep up an image.
Tatsuhiko served as a "witness" for Ayane and Yoshitaka's false first meeting, but he was able to provide other information on Yoshitaka's dating habits.
It's clear that after Yoshitaka's death, Tatsuhiko proceeded as usual, just worrying about his job and his new family.
Kusanagi Shunpei
Kusanagi was the lead detective. In this case, he was hesitant to suspect Ayane because there was just no way to connect her to the case, and his only other suspect was Hiromi.
Kusanagi was the one who proceeded to dig up Yoshitaka's old personal relationships in hopes of a lead.
Kusanagi and Yukawa were supposedly in the middle of a fight, which was why he was not the one to approach Yukawa. However, during the case, they went back to being friends.
Yukawa Manabu
Yukawa was the genius detective who helped Kusanagi and Utsumi with their case. Despite technically being a physicist, his area of knowledge seemed pretty vast, but like, we're not supposed to question it, okay.
Kishitani
Kishitani was also in the last book. I think he's just supposed to be a "typical bumbling detective" character and that's it.
Utsumi Kaoru
Utsumi was the new bright young detective in the department. She was the one who never stopped suspecting Ayane. As well, she had an eye for details, though it was usually chalked up to her being a woman and not that she was just a good detective :/
Themes
I suppose I should talk about the meaning of the title, "Salvation of a Saint." This was really only referenced briefly near the end of the book. I think the Saint was technically Ayane, as she was the only person who was preventing Yoshitaka from dying. But she was not able to salvage herself by the end of the novel, as justice was served. (Sorry, this is the best that I got ^^;;)
Overall
This was still a pretty decent novel. I like these bite-sized mysteries from Keigo Higashino that don't veer too far from the case (and focus on the subplots or the detective characters too much).
Spoilers.
Story
This is how the crime played out. Yoshitaka was a guy who only got into relationships with the goal of having a baby. He'd gotten together with Junko and cruelly broke up with her when they didn't have kids. Yoshitaka had then gotten together with Ayane, who was Junko's friend. Ayane found out about Yoshitaka's morals and treatment of Junko and worked out a plan.
She inserted poison into a water filter and for a year, prevented anyone from using it. When she decided that it was time to take revenge (i.e. Yoshitaka's behaviour as a scummy human hadn't changed), she'd just go away and let the water filter be used, leading to Yoshitaka's death. As Yukawa said, the crime was hard for detectives to figure out at first because Ayane had committed murder by doing nothing (going away). They only caught her with proof that she'd tried to get rid of evidence (by using up the water in the water filter).
There was some sideplot in this novel but it was minimal. It was mostly about Kusanagi's spat with Yukawa and differences in ideas with Utsumi.
Similar to the Devotion of Suspect X, we kind of already knew who the culprit was from the get-go, so it was really more of a how than a who mystery. In this case, there really only were two options (Hiromi and Ayane), but the writing heavily implied that it was Ayane, so it was just a matter of Kusanagi, Utsumi, and Yukawa figuring out how that worked.
I did wish the novel spent less time figuring out how the poison got into Yoshitaka's coffee, but I suppose it had to have taken that much of the narrative. I just kind of wish we'd learned more about the people in question too.
Translation
The translation of this book by Alexander O. Smith was terrific as usual. Everything about it was very smooth and it had its own charm that helped set up the atmosphere.
Characters
Mita/Mashiba Ayane
Ayane was the culprit in this book. She was a very calm and collected woman. Throughout the investigation, she was very friendly towards the detectives, and also protected Hiromi quite a bit despite Hiromi technically betraying her trust. However, Ayane's attitude does make sense. She knew a year ago that her husband was a terrible man. Though Yoshitaka and Junko weren't married, Ayane still felt terrible about how he broke up with her, so I think Ayane felt some sympathy for Hiromi. In any case, her grudge against Yoshitaka was stronger than any hate she might've had for Hiromi. Basically, Ayane was calm because she'd decided a year ago that she was going to kill him.
Even when Ayane realized she'd been found out, she seemed very calm. I think she didn't care that she was found out, because her main goal was just to give Yoshitaka the end he deserved.
As mentioned, Ayane protected Hiromi a lot, and even encouraged her to protect her unborn child, which implies that she bore little resentment towards her ex-apprentice.
Mashiba Yoshitaka
We learned that Yoshitaka was an orphan, so he was desperate for a family that he was related to. He wanted a family so badly that he went through women one after another if they couldn't get married.
Though I sympathize with his want for a family, we can't deny that he was a huge asshat.
Wakayama Hiromi
Hiromi was Ayane's (ex-)apprentice, and Yoshitaka's secret lover. At the time of Yoshitaka's death, they'd been seeing each other for a few months, but throughout the novel we saw that she loved him deeply.
Hiromi also carried a lot of guilt for being the other woman in Ayane's relationship. Though Ayane seemed not to hate her at all, she knew that she'd done wrong, and that drove her to quit her job working with Ayane.
At the end of the book, Hiromi decided to keep the baby as well.
Ikai Tatsuhiko
Tatsuhiko was Yoshitaka's coworker and "friend." We saw throughout the novel that despite technically being something like a best friend, they were kept at arm's length with each other. They were definitely only friends in order to keep up an image.
Tatsuhiko served as a "witness" for Ayane and Yoshitaka's false first meeting, but he was able to provide other information on Yoshitaka's dating habits.
It's clear that after Yoshitaka's death, Tatsuhiko proceeded as usual, just worrying about his job and his new family.
Kusanagi Shunpei
Kusanagi was the lead detective. In this case, he was hesitant to suspect Ayane because there was just no way to connect her to the case, and his only other suspect was Hiromi.
Kusanagi was the one who proceeded to dig up Yoshitaka's old personal relationships in hopes of a lead.
Kusanagi and Yukawa were supposedly in the middle of a fight, which was why he was not the one to approach Yukawa. However, during the case, they went back to being friends.
Yukawa Manabu
Yukawa was the genius detective who helped Kusanagi and Utsumi with their case. Despite technically being a physicist, his area of knowledge seemed pretty vast, but like, we're not supposed to question it, okay.
Kishitani
Kishitani was also in the last book. I think he's just supposed to be a "typical bumbling detective" character and that's it.
Utsumi Kaoru
Utsumi was the new bright young detective in the department. She was the one who never stopped suspecting Ayane. As well, she had an eye for details, though it was usually chalked up to her being a woman and not that she was just a good detective :/
Themes
I suppose I should talk about the meaning of the title, "Salvation of a Saint." This was really only referenced briefly near the end of the book. I think the Saint was technically Ayane, as she was the only person who was preventing Yoshitaka from dying. But she was not able to salvage herself by the end of the novel, as justice was served. (Sorry, this is the best that I got ^^;;)
Overall
This was still a pretty decent novel. I like these bite-sized mysteries from Keigo Higashino that don't veer too far from the case (and focus on the subplots or the detective characters too much).