Shinzanmono

My recent bedtime reading was Shinzanmono (新參者) of Keigo Higashino (東野圭吾).

AL gave me this book some months ago but I had very little to read it – Higashino is never my favorite author, and the cover appears somewhat hardcore and mechanical.

But, thank goodness, I am happily wrong again. The sordid murder of Mitsui Mineko (三井峰子) turns out to be the best detective fiction I ever read in the past four or five years – and, remind you, I had Byakuyakō (白夜行) and The Confession (告白) during this period. When most of us believe that classical detective stories had died with Agatha Christie and Ellery Queen, Higashino proved beyond doubt that he could do the same – maybe with a little thoughtful trick as well.

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To me, the most memorable scene of the story, however, has nothing to do with logic and deduction. It was the mini-lecture that Kaga Kyoichiro (加賀恭一郎) gave to one of his witnesses:

“The duty of a detective does not only involve solving the case. If there are other people affected psychologically, they could also be considered victims. Exploring all possible means to help victims of this kind is yet another duty of the detective.”

Much substance for a physician to reflect, I’m afraid.