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    Salvation of a Saint: A Detective Galileo Novel
    Salvation of a Saint: A Detective Galileo Novel
    Salvation of a Saint: A Detective Galileo Novel
    Audiobook9 hours

    Salvation of a Saint: A Detective Galileo Novel

    Written by Keigo Higashino

    Narrated by David Pittu

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    From the author of the internationally bestselling, award-winning The Devotion of Suspect X comes the latest novel featuring "Detective Galileo."

    In 2011, The Devotion of Suspect X was a hit with critics and readers alike. The first major English language publication from the most popular bestselling writer in Japan, it was acclaimed as "stunning," "brilliant," and "ingenious." Now physics professor Manabu Yukawa—Detective Galileo—returns in a new case of impossible murder, where instincts clash with facts and theory with reality.

    Yoshitaka, who was about to leave his marriage and his wife, is poisoned by arsenic-laced coffee and dies. His wife, Ayane, is the logical suspect—except that she was hundreds of miles away when he was murdered. The lead detective, Tokyo Police Detective Kusanagi, is immediately smitten with her and refuses to believe that she could have had anything to do with the crime. His assistant, Kaoru Utsumi, however, is convinced Ayane is guilty. While Utsumi's instincts tell her one thing, the facts of the case are another matter. So she does what her boss has done for years when stymied—she calls upon Professor Manabu Yukawa.

    But even the brilliant mind of Dr. Yukawa has trouble with this one, and he must somehow find a way to solve an impossible murder and capture a very real, very deadly murderer.


    Salvation of a Saint is Keigo Higashino at his mind-bending best, pitting emotion against fact in a beautifully plotted crime novel filled with twists and reverses that will astonish and surprise even the most attentive and jaded of listeners.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Audio
    TranslatorAlexander O. Smith
    Release dateOct 2, 2012
    ISBN9781427221346
    Salvation of a Saint: A Detective Galileo Novel
    Author

    Keigo Higashino

    Born in Osaka and currently living in Tokyo, Keigo Higashino is one of the most widely known and bestselling novelists in Japan. He is the winner of the Edogawa Rampo Prize (for best mystery) and the Mystery Writers of Japan, Inc. Prize (for best mystery), among others. His novels are translated widely throughout Asia.

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    Reviews for Salvation of a Saint

    4/5

    238 ratings18 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Salvation of a Saint by Keigo Higashino is a spellbinding mystery and the second in the English translation of the “Detective Galileo” series. Higashino has once again written an intelligent suspense thriller about a troubled marriage that ends in the poisoning death of the husband with evidence pointing at one main suspect: his wife. The problem is that the wife of the slain businessman has a rock solid alibi and things are not at all as they seem in this tale as Detective Kusanagi discovers. When the detective calls on Professor Yukawa (Detective Galileo), the renowned physicist finds the mysterious poisoning a challenge to unravel. In this fast-paced psychological thriller, Higashino establishes his mastery of attention-grabbing writing and I must admit Salvation of a Saint, just as Higashino’s previous book, The Devotion of Suspect X, kept me awake late. Without any reservations I recommend Salvation of a Saint to all readers, especially mystery fans.
    • 4/5
      Pretty good and way better than The Devoution of Suspect X. Mustery is solid, you actually get to see police working on the case and the final revelation did not disappoint. Characters are also more solid with very little to no drama about them.
    • 4/5
      I wasn’t sure if anything could be as good as “Devotion of Suspect X” ….but this was so much fun!

      I love the way this author creates such complicated characters and even more complicated scenarios.

      A completely absorbing “impossible” crime for Detective Galileo to help unravel!
    • 4/5
      "Salvation of A Saint" is a fun book, but not perfect. It's a rare murder mystery in which you know, or seem to know, who the killer is right in the beginning. It is an almost perfect murder, which is why "Inspector Galileo" enters the game. He applies scientific methods to figure out the logic, and the method of the murder. I feel his character has been inspired by Sherlock Holmes.The book, however, petered out towards the end, because I felt Keigo Higashino did not know how to pin the proof onto the murderer. However, from there, we understand the underlying motive of the murder, and why the saint achieved salvation. This is a good book. It is enjoyable and keeps you engaged through the narrative.
    • 3/5
      I've now read several Japanese mysteries by this author and enjoyed them all. This one was no exception.Ayane and Yoshitaka have been married for one year. Prior to their marriage, Yoshitaka had told Ayane that his purpose in marrying was to have children, and that if she was not pregnant within one year he would divorce her. The time has come: Ayane is not pregnant, a year has passed, and Yoshitaka tells her he will file for divorce. Ayane asks to go visit her parents in the north first. The day after she leaves, Yoshitaka dies, and it is discovered that he has been poisoned by arsenic.Ayane is a "perfect" woman, and the main detective on the case is almost falling in love with her. She is also the person with a motive for murdering Yoshitaka, and the primary suspect. The problem is, how did the arsenic get into Yoshitaka's coffee when Ayane was hundreds of miles away.A nice police procedural, with the extra little touch of interest for me that the character of Ayane is a famous Japanese quilter, with her own quilting school. I love Japanese quilts, which are usually incredibly intricate, and often sewn by hand. This was only a small part of the book, but it was authentic, and I enjoyed it.3 stars.
    • 4/5
      The end is given at the beginning but read on anyway. A real treat this one if you like a mystery. You know who has done it but not how and the female lead is busy cracking the code to the solution and the murder by the other female lead.

      This is by the guy who wrote The Devotion of Suspect X which is one of the best crime novels I have read.
    • 4/5
      Really enjoyed this book even though it was translated from Japanese. The characters are wonderful.
    • 4/5
      Excellent. Higashino writes compelling characters, and plays on your sense of fair play and empathy.
    • 4/5
      Eigentlich steht schon am Anfang fest, wer den Ehemann getötet hat!! Hochraffiniertes Spiel! Aber als Leser will man es nicht fassen! Erst der Physiker erlärt ....
    • 3/5
      Good plot. it was really interesting in most places, especially towards the end. But some places it felt as if it was dragging a little.
    • 4/5
      Slow to start but about halfway through came the tipping point and then it raced to an exciting finish. A bit like an episode of Columbo!
    • 5/5
      I absolutely love the two books from this series that have been translated and I long for more. Salvation of a Saint was just as good as The Devotion of Suspect X. Along with the returning cast from the previous novel, it was nice to see Utsumi in action (I like her in the TV show, if not the Suspect X film). This story focuses on a death by poisoning and as with Devotion, there's a twist at the end that keeps things interesting (although it's not nearly as dramatic). My favorite character remains Detective Kusanagi, although I spent much of this book yelling at him for being an idiot (I really wish we got more of him in the TV show). Overall, another enjoyable and engrossing mystery that ended up in my favorites collection. Someone really needs to translate more of his Detective Galileo work.
    • 3/5
      My second read by Higashino after The Devotion of Suspect X. While The Devotion of Suspect X was compact and intense, this one diffracted quite a bit. Far too many coincidences and the female detective was quite annoying.3/5
    • 3/5
      This mystery is actually a howdunit (with some whydunit elements) rather than a whodunit. Yoshitaka Mashiba asks Ayane, his wife, for a divorce because she has not become pregnant during their first year of marriage. Two days later, while Ayane is visiting her parents, he is found dead by his lover, Hiromi Wakayama. The cause of death is arsenous acid in his coffee. The case is investigated primarily by Kusanagi, the lead detective, and Kaoru Utsumi, the new female recruit, but when the investigation leads nowhere, the help of a physicist, Manabu Yukawa, is requested. The identities of both the victim and the killer are revealed to the reader in the opening chapter. What is not known is how the murder was done. For a time, it seems as if the perfect crime has been committed since the main suspect has an iron-clad alibi; only the assistance of Yukawa allows the case to be solved. There are several similarities with the Sherlock Holmes stories of Arthur Conan Doyle. Yukawa is certainly the Holmes character with his breadth of knowledge; he is not just an expert in physics but understands human psychology as well. He even sounds like Sherlock with statements like, “’’An imaginary solution is one that, while theoretically possible, is practically impossible.’” The case is really a variation of a locked room mystery that made me think of “The Adventure of the Speckled Band.” This is a meticulous police procedural, but I wanted more character and relationship development. Kusanagi emerges as a plodding investigator with little personality; virtually nothing is known about his life outside of work. The feisty Utsumi shows promise at the beginning when she makes some very astute observations but then she is slowly reduced to a female detective fighting for recognition since her theories are often scoffed at and dismissed as mere female intuition by her male counterpart. Only Yukawa realizes her potential: “’Kusanagi doesn’t know what he’s got.’” There are a few problems with the book. One is that the author withholds information from the reader; for example, it is more than half way through the book before it is revealed that, “’there is another kind of water available.’” Another difficulty is Kusanagi’s “special affection” for the main suspect; there is insufficient explanation for his attraction. Because the reader knows the perpetrator from the beginning, he/she pays particular attention to the actions and words of that character; as a result, some of the clues to the solution are rather obvious. More problematic, the explanation of the how and why is far-fetched. We are told that the murderer is smart and patient, but the modus operandi stretches credibility.Readers who prefer narratives focusing on plot rather than character will enjoy this book, although they may be disappointed with the ending.
    • 4/5
      I liked this one. It's an enjoyable variation on a traditional mystery. Here, the reader knows who did it, but not how. So we watch the detectives try to figure it out, with the help of a Sherlockian physics professor they consult. The book isn't particularly good at giving us a sense of of contemporary Japan -- it could almost have been set anywhere in the developed world. But the detectives are interesting and the mystery is ingenious.
    • 4/5
      This is only the second detective story I have read set in Japan. It is amazing, the many difference in the tone and writing of the various stories set in different countries. The British mysteries are very detailed, slower moving and atmospheric. The Nordic mysteries are very stark, the writing blunt and somewhat colder somehow. The Japanese seem to like puzzle mysteries, very matter fact writing, with very little emotion shown. I find it quite fascinating just as I found this novel. It is more of a how did they do it and how do we prove it type of story. Love the character of the psychics professor who helps the police dept. with unsolvable crimes and has an unquenchable curiosity. The story was very good and I will definitely read this authors next offering.
    • 4/5
      Salvation of a Saint is the third novel by Keigo Higashino to be translated into English (and the third that I have read), following Naoko and The Devotion of Suspect X. Salvation of a Saint is the fifth book in Higashino's Detective Galileo series (The Devotion of Suspect X is the third). But, like many mystery series, the individual Detective Galileo volumes are largely able to stand on their own. Salvation of a Saint was first published in Japan in 2008. Alexander O. Smith and Elye J. Alexander's English translation was released in 2012 by Minotaur, the mystery and suspense imprint of St. Martin's Press. I enjoyed both Naoko and The Devotion of Suspect X immensely; I was very excited to learn that Salvation of a Saint was being released in English. Even though technically published out of order, I am very glad to have the opportunity to read more Detective Galileo.When Yoshitaka Mashiba is found poisoned in his home, the Tokyo police have their work cut out for them. It doesn't appear to be a suicide and yet he doesn't seem to have made any enemies, either. The only person with a clear motive is Yoshitaka's wife, Ayane, except that she was in Hokkaido visiting her parents at the time of his death. The more the detectives investigate, the more is revealed about the Mashibas' personal lives. Detectives Kusanagi and Utsumi have developed plenty of theories explaining Yoshitaka's death, but they still need to find the evidence to support them. Eventually Utsumi calls upon Manabu Yukawa, a physicist who has helped to solve past cases, earning him the nickname of "Detective Galileo." Even though he isn't interested in working with the police after having a falling out with Kusanagi, Yukawa is intrigued by what at first appears to be the perfect crime.It's fairly clear, to the readers at least, who the culprit in Salvation of a Saint actually is. In this way, Salvation of a Saint is similar to The Devotion of Suspect X. However, each novel is filled with their own unexpected story twists. It's not just important who committed the crime in Salvation of a Saint; much of the mystery focuses on how the person was even able to pull it off. Even the motive behind Yoshitaka's murder is revealed to be much more complicated and involved than initially thought. Once again, Higashino has written and engaging and compelling scenario. I didn't find it to be as emotionally hard-hitting as The Devotion of Suspect X, but Salvation of a Saint was still surprising. The novel is a clever page-turner. Once I started reading it, I didn't want to put the novel down. I picked up on all of the clues that Higashino dropped and felt compelled to finish the book quickly in order to discover how they all fit together.Salvation of a Saint isn't an action-packed thriller. In fact, there is a lot of dialogue and discussion as the investigators work things out. But, the novel is still intellectually invigorating and very satisfying. I'm quite fond of Professor Yukawa. The series may take its name from him, but he's almost a supporting character. I particularly enjoyed the scenes that he shared with Detective Kusanagi. The two may have their problems, but they're old friends. Their good-natured ribbing greatly amuses me. I'd actually like to know more about their relationship, which I can only assume has been addressed in more detail in earlier volumes of Detective Galileo. Granted, there is still enough in Salvation of a Saint to get a good sense of their friendship. I'm sincerely looking forward to their return in the next Detective Galileo novel scheduled to be released in English, A Midsummer's Equation.Experiments in Manga
    • 5/5
      My second Japanese mystery novel and once more a great success. How to solve the "perfect crime"? Not sure if really perfect but certainly extremely difficult - the investigators knew the murder was poisoning but couldn't figure out how. A great journey as to how they solved the case. Common to my other Japanese novel the women seemed to be somewhat subservient to the (again) nasty hubby - perhaps an issue in Japan?