Book review- Salvation of a Saint by Keigo Higashino

I have recently become a Keigo Higashino fan after reading his book the Devotion of suspect X and watching the Galileo drama series. Salvation of a Saint is another novel in the Galileo Series that has been translated into English. The third full novel in the series, A Midsummer's equation will be translated in the future, I think. I can't wait!

The basic premise of Salvation of a Saint is the murder of businessman Yoshitaka in his apartment. He was poisoned after his wife left to meet her parents. Once again, we see detective Kusanagi and professor Manabu (aka Galileo), but joining them this time is rookie cop Utsumi Kaoru. I have seen Kaoru's character in the drama where she was the one who is always seeking professor Manabu's help rather than Kusanagi, and received more screen time. I was very happy to see her in this book. She adds a much needed 'female' dimension to the novel.

Like the previous book, most of the book consists of talking to suspects, visiting places and tracing leads connected to the time. Galileo comes up with a few theories that need to be discarded in the beginning. I really liked that he was failing and trying again, rather than everything just coming to his as a solved mystery at the end of the book.

From the beginning of the book, the murderer is known, so the focus is on proving how the murderer committed the murder since the murderer has an airtight alibi. However, I felt that the motive for murder was pretty weak.

The characters are also a bit boring when compared to Devotion of Suspect X where I found Ishigami's character quite intriguing. Ayane's character is among the better ones but I really liked Utsumi Kaoru's enthusiasm and drive. She trusts her feminine intuition completely, but is not illogical.

Overall, this book was a very solid mystery novel that will keep you turning pages. This is also in the same genre of 'intellectual mystery' where the detective figures out a very complicated method of murder with just their brains. I really like these types of mysteries. They are somewhat similar to Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes but set in modern times.

Galileo 2 drama is going to be airing in spring, by the way and I can't wait!

Ratings

Plot-5
Characters-3
Story-4
Style-4.7

Pros
Great writing style that keeps you turning pages
Interesting plot thatw ill keep you guessing
Great conclusion

Cons
Characters are not very interesting
The whole situation seems a bit 'mundane' and 'ordinary' rather than 'spectacular'

NOTE- Images do not belong to me and have been taken from Google image search