The Devotion Of Suspect X [Paperback]

Meticulous...a thriller hung on obsessional love and impeccable logic which drags you along with a teasing “how did he do it” logic...there's a tremendous sense of the more down-at-heel Tokyo neighbourhoods...and the ending is a killer twist (Metro )

The finale is both chilling and moving, and confronts emotions that crime fiction rarely covers. You realise that The Devotion of Suspect X is not simply an extraordinary thriller but a love story. A strange one, it is true, but a love story nonetheless. It will linger long in the memory (Independent on Sunday )

Intricate and beguiling...if you like riddles inside enigmas, it will please you no end (Guardian )

Imaginative plotting...an erudite and quietly subversive police procedural that builds to a twisting finale that encapsulates the brutal fatalism of the great noir novels (Irish Times )

The plot is taut and intriguing...this psychological driver sets it apart from more run-of-the-mill crime thrillers...Agatha Christie would be mightily impressed (Financial Times )

Beautifully judged prose...we are hooked even before the author pulls off another coup... Anyone who regularly writes about the crime genre is repeatedly asked: what's the next trend? If there were more genre authors in Japan as accomplished as this, the answer would be simple: Japanese crime fiction (Independent )

Read the book that sold over two million copies in Japan and became a national obsession

Yasuko lives a quiet life, working in a Tokyo bento shop, a good mother to her only child. But when her ex-husband appears at her door without warning one day, her comfortable world is shattered. When Detective Kusanagi of the Tokyo Police tries to piece together the events of that day, he finds himself confronted by the most puzzling, mysterious circumstances he has ever investigated. Nothing quite makes sense, and it will take a genius to understand the genius behind this particular crime… One of the biggest-selling Japanese thrillers ever, and the inspiration for a cult film, The Devotion of Suspect X is now being discovered across the world. Its blend of a page-turning story, evocative Tokyo setting and utterly surprising ending make it a must-read for anyone interested in international fiction.

Yasuko lives a quiet life, a good mother to her only child. But when her ex-husband appears at her door without warning one evening, her comfortable world is shattered.

When Detective Kusanagi of the Tokyo Police tries to piece together the events of that night, he finds himself confronted by the most puzzling, mysterious circumstances he has ever investigated. Nothing quite makes sense...

One of the biggest-selling Japanese thrillers ever, and the inspiration for a cult film, The Devotion of Suspect X is now being discovered across the world. Its blend of page-turning story, evocative Tokyo setting and utterly surprising ending make it a must-read for anyone interested in international fiction.

'An extraordinary thriller. It will linger long in the memory' Independent on Sunday

'Intricate and beguiling...if you like riddles inside enigmas, it will please you no end' Guardian

'The ending is a killer twist' Metro

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Keigo Higashino was born in Osaka. He started writing novels while still working as an engineer at Nippon Denso Co. He won the Edogawa Rampo Prize for writing at age 27, and subsequently quit his job to start a career as a writer in Tokyo.