The Devotion of Suspect X (容疑者Xの献身)

⚖The case for it

An inverted mystery of mathematical perfection. We know who committed the crime; the genius is watching the killer create an alibi so elaborate that detective Galileo must solve a completely different crime to crack it. Higashino brought the Japanese honkaku mystery tradition into the 21st century. The Galileo series is Japan's best-selling crime series, and the 2012 Edgar shortlist marked its Western breakthrough.

— the canon

✕The case against

In translation, at least, the prose is flat as a case file, and the characters are chess pieces: Yasuko exists to be protected and admired, less a woman than a motive. Ishigami's devotion is stalking wearing a halo, and the novel never quite notices. You stay for the trick, which is genuinely brilliant, and for nothing else.

— the honest librarian