“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.”
NO MAJOR SPOILERS
I’m actually confused what to say about this novel. It is weird, disturbing but at the same time intriguing and definitely something which you won’t put down too easily.
I already got some glimpses into the Japanese way of life thanks to reading ‘Salvation of a Saint’ & ‘Devotion of Suspect X’ by the same author but this one provides an even more in depth knowledge about their weird sense of love, humour, friendship and almost everything else. I know this is a pure work of fiction but it’s such works of fiction only through which I was acquainted with so many different countries in different eras. Let me just say this, I would rather be in War torn Europe of the 20th century rather than modern day Japan. I was particularly shocked by what the school going teenagers did in the novel- would make our roadside romeos seem like Saints.
But then that also means that Keigo is one hell of an author who is making us see and feel the ugly side of things rather than painting just a rosy picture. Actually, no doubt about the author’s brilliance after having read 3 of his works. There wasn’t too much detective work involved in this one as such; it was more of a description of events over a period of 20 yrs and the obsession of a police detective to solve a seemingly unsolvable murder.
The climax was sudden and abrupt and left me wondering whether it was a happy ending or a sad one.
Many people won’t like this novel at all while others will love it.
Go for it if you want something off beat, can tolerate Japanese idiosyncrasies and prefer emotionally charged thrillers rather than action packed ones. (there’s plenty of weird action though)
Rating- A confused and liberal 4/5 .
Reviewed by:
Aditya Singh
Added 16th January 2018
