Salvation of a Saint

A translation of  Keigo Higashino's 2008 novel Salvation of a Saint is set for publication by Minotaur Books in October 2012 in the U.S and then February 2013 in the U.K by Little Brown, the translation is again by Alexander O. Smith who previously translated Higashino's, The Devotion of Suspect X.     

A brief synopsis is up over at Powell's Books,

Keigo Higashino at Wikipedia  

The Devotion of Suspect X

Originally appearing in Japan as Yogisha X no kenshin in 2005, and winning the Naoki Prize of that year, The Devotion of Suspect X has recently been published by Minotaur Books in the U.S and is also forthcoming by Little Brown in the U.K., the translation is by Alexander O.Smith and Elye J. Alexander. Unlike Naoko that has at it's centre a fantastical idea, The Devotion of Suspect X opens with a description of events that lead up to a murder and then presents to the reader the perspective of the police investigation from the moment that the body is discovered and then follows the investigation as they decipher clue by clue, deduction by deduction the circumstance and culprits of the crime, and behind this a cryptic game of cat and mouse between two geniuses. There's a blank in the narrative between the initial aftermath of the murder and the discovery of the body, which the novel is used to slowly unveil to the reader. Ishigami, a private high school maths teacher leaves for work on his bike stopping off at a boxed lunch store on the way, working at the boxed lunch shop is his neighbour, Yasuko Hanaoka, a single mother who has a daughter, Misato. Yasuko had been divorced a few years earlier from her husband Shinji Togashi, although Togashi is not Misato's father, Yasuko's boss jokingly implies that Ishigami fancies Yasuko, that's why he stops by everyday. Out of the blue Shinji Togashi enters the store and begins to harass Yasuko into meeting again, after repeatedly asking him to leave her strength of will gives way and she says she'll meet him after work. When they meet again Yasuko reiterates that she doesn't want to see him again and that he should stop pestering her, despite Togashi saying he is a changed man, Yasuko leaves abruptly. After Yasuko has been home for a while Togashi starts ringing her doorbell, knowing that what he probably wants is money she reluctantly lets him in on the proviso that he leaves after she has given him 20,000 Yen. But on his way out Misato in a rage fuelled by some his comments smashes him over the head, in retaliation he lunges at her, fearing that he will kill Misato Yasuko strangles him with the kotatsu cord. At first Yasuko is going to hand herself into the police but Misato tries to persuade her out of it, the conversation is disrupted by her neighbour Ishigami knocking at the door asking what the noise was about. Yasuko at first manages to disguise the fact of what has happened from him, but Ishigami calls again later revealing that he had actually heard everything, and to Yasuko and Misato's surprise he offers them his help in covering up the murder.

The narrative turns to the police detectives Kusanagi and Kishitani who get a report of a body being found, an attempt has been made on the body to make identifying it impossible, and nearby police find clothes that have been partially burned and a stolen bicycle, these are the circumstances that the detectives slowly piece together. Through their enquires and forensics they learn the identity of the man as being Shinji Togashi. The detectives inform Yasuko of the murder and while they are at her building they bump into her neighbour Ishigami who they also talk to, through a letter in his mailbox Kusanagi notices that Ishigami used to attend Imperial University. Another central character to the police investigation is Yukawa, (whose nickname is Galileo - the name of the Japanese T.V serialization of this novel), a professor of physics, who Kusanagi sometimes refers to for help in solving cases, Yukawa also attended Imperial University and as the case progresses he comes into contact again with Ishigami, as a friend, and at a distance as a suspect. Whilst at university Ishigami earned the nickname 'The Buddha', as he was always hunched over his work trying to solve mathematical problems. The main corpus of the novel traces the police as they try to break the alibi of Yasuko and Misato, which was given to them by Ishigami, who keeps tabs on Yasuko and Misato by phoning them from a public phone booth every night. After time Yasuko begins to wonder why Ishigami helped them the way he has. As the narrative holds back from giving a vital clue and doesn't reveal the chain of events between the murder and the finding of the body the suspense is brilliantly drawn out, and just like in the earlier novel Naoko/Himitsu, Higashino has a great skill at shifting the parameters of these novels at the crucial moments, keeping the reader guessing until the last few pages have been turned.

Naoko by Keigo Higashino

 

Naoko was originally published by Bungei Shunju in 1998 under the title Himitsu, (Secret), and it won the Mystery Writers of Japan Award the following year. Like Kotaro Isaka many of Higashino's novels have been adapted to film, you can see a trailer for Himitsu here, his latest book translated into English, The Devotion of Suspect X was directed by Hiroshi Nishitani and released in 2008 starring Masaharu Fukuyama, who recently appeared in Ryomaden. Naoko was translated by Kerim Yasar and published by Vertical Inc back in 2004.

The narrative of the novel comes from Heisuke who works at a factory engineering automotive parts, he returns from work on what seems to be a day like any other, although his wife Naoko and daughter Monami have travelled to Nagano to attend a funeral of a cousin. Switching on the TV his attention is caught with the news of a crash involving a bus that's shuttling people on skiing holidays, knowing that his wife and daughter are on a bus similar to the one mentioned his worst fears are confirmed when Naoko and Monaki's names are mentioned among the casualties. Not long after arriving at the hospital Naoko passes away, Monami remains in a coma, when Monami regains consciousness it appears that Naoko's spirit/personality has transferred to Monami's body, she tells Heisuke of events that are known only between Naoko and him . Heisuke is caught between grieving for his wife and then his daughter, as they begin to adjust to this phenomenonal event Naoko decides to return to attend Junior High to pick up school where Monami had left off. Heisuke attends a meeting amongst family members of the victims to discuss compensation with the bus company, they discover that the driver crashed due to overwork and through this he meets the driver's wife, Seiko Kajikawa. Escorting her home after she slips over he notices that their home is not at all luxurious, Seiko continues to work at a firm contracted with Heisuke's, to provide for her daughter, Itsumi. Heisuke is puzzled as to where the driver's earnings were going as he was putting in so much overtime. The novel follows the two plots of Heisuke following the clues as to where the money was going, and also the events unfolding between himself and Naoko/Monami. Naoko is determined to study hard and do her best for Monami which causes tension between her and Heisuke, Heisuke frustrated as the physical side of their relationship has come to an abrupt end finds himself  increasingly drawn to Monami's room tutor, Ms Hashimoto, Naoko discovers a photo of her tucked as a bookmark that Heisuke was reading, but things come to an end when Monami moves on to her next school.

Seiko Kajikawa discovers money orders her husband made to a Noriko Negishi who lives in Sapporo, which at first adds to Heisuke's perplexity, but he gets the chance to follow the lead later when he gets sent to Hokkaido on business. Tension begins to increase when Heisuke begins to suspect that Naoko is having an affair with Haruki Soma, a boy at her High School tennis club, Heisuke's paranoia and suspicions reach new heights when he taps their phone to listen in to his wife's conversations. Heisuke learns from Itsumi that Seiko Kajikawa has passed away, Itsumi gives Heisuke a clock that belonged to her father, Heisuke takes it to a jewellers to have it repaired and they discover a photo of a young boy when they remove the casing. The novel is a taught exploration of jealousy emanating from it's strange parenthesis, and Higashino constantly moves the boundaries of these as the novel progresses towards it's uncertain ending. There's a possible little reference to Soseki's I Am A Cat too, when Heisuke pretends to be looking for a copy in Monami's room, later a cat is seen in the garden, who's watching who?. I'm looking forward to reading The Devotion of Suspect X soon.

 

Naoko at Vertical Inc