A tour de force crime novel from one of the international masters of the form, where a simple murder case questions the simple notions of good and evil, guilt and redemption.
Homicide Detective Godai of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department is assigned to investigate the death of a lawyer, Kensuke Shiraishi, whose body was found on a Central Tokyo riverbank. His investigations leads him to one Tatsuro Kuraki, who claims to have had limited contact with Shiraishi - but, surprising the investigators, Kuraki not only confesses to the lawyer's murder, but another one from thirty years ago - for which another man was arrested and died in custody before trial. This brings unexpected resolution to two cases but there is one problem: to Detective Godai the confession rings false.
And Godai is not the only one who cannot accept Kuraki's explanation of both murders and his professed motives. The confessed murderer's son and the victim's daughter both feel strongly that both the act and the motive claimed are untrue. As Godai investigates further, he discovers that the relation between the murder of thirty years ago and the recent one is complex, raising multi-faceted questions of guilt and innocence.
Guilt is a rich novel about crime and its aftereffects on those left behind by both the victim and perpetrator, a twisting, compelling work that will surprise and astonish.
Keigo Higashino's latest novel translated into English was written in 2021 and set in 2017. For a few years now, I noticed that the newer books do not have the same vibe as the older ones. I believe it is the translation problem. I prefer the books translated by Alexander O. Smith because his translations are closer to the Japanese culture and manner of speaking, IMHO.
The newer books have Western style conversations using cheap words and plenty of cussing even from someone not expected to use cuss words. In this new novel, there are 5 total F words which I never read in 10 previous books. I'm not sure if the author himself included those words to introduce this new detective series and I'm a bit disappointed. I guess I have to get used to it. The book now reads like a dime store mystery novel although it is redeemed by the great plot and characters, thus saving the book from a 2 star rating. I also like that he excoriates detestable social media and tabloid journos calling them the newest scourge of society.
Recommended for Keigo Higashino readers.
