The Devotion of Suspect X (容疑者Xの献身)
Decide its fate
The record
Time
An eveningA season352 pages, about 7 hours: about the length of a typical book on the shelf.
Getting in
Walk right inSteep climbOne review reports finding no hook in chapter one’s opening pages, before the murder.
What it gives
Plot and actionIdeas to live byIn 15 reviews from critics and book blogs, 15 credit the plot and 2 credit the ideas or a change in how they live.
One of a kind
Others do thisNothing else doesOne critic pairs it with Natsuo Kirino’s Out, on the shelf at 400 pages.
The case for it
on the detective
“has much to recommend it, including a droll Columbo-like sleuth”
Unsigned review · Kirkus Reviews, 2010 on the clues
“the clues were there all along in plain sight”
a book blog on the plotting
“one of the best plotted crime novels I’ve ever read”
a book blog on the translation
“In this brutally laconic translation, cold logic battles warm hearts”
Unsigned review · Publishers Weekly, 2010
The case against
on the pacing
“the tale slows to a crawl at times”
four stars · a book blog on the character names
“I know some readers have trouble with foreign names”
a book blog on the characters
“The characters are two-dimensional, with important avenues left unexplored”
a book blog on Yasuko’s daughter
“Higashino fails to enter the mind of Misato”
Naomi Hirahara · Criminal Element, 2011
