Log in

Kwaidan Book Club: The Devotion of Suspect X

  • Sat, September 08, 2018
  • 16:00 - 18:00
  • Tubby & Coo's Mid-City Book Shop

***NOTICE: BOOK CLUB WILL BE MEETING ON THE SECOND SATURDAY OF SEPTEMBER (RATHER THAN THE SECOND SUNDAY)***

For the month of September, we will be reading and discussing “The Devotion of Suspect X” by Keigo Higashino, who won Japan's Naoki Prize for Best Novel with this “stunning thriller about miscarried human devotion, a bestseller in Japan.” ―Publishers Weekly (starred review)

*Please help support Tubby & Coo's Mid-City Book Shop by ordering your copy through them. Make sure to mention that it is for the Kwaidan Book Club (Japan Society of New Orleans's Book Club) for a special discount!


ABOUT THE BOOK:
Yasuko Hanaoka is a divorced, single mother who thought she had finally escaped her abusive ex-husband Togashi. When he shows up one day to extort money from her, threatening both her and her teenaged daughter Misato, the situation quickly escalates into violence and Togashi ends up dead on her apartment floor. Overhearing the commotion, Yasuko's next door neighbor, middle-aged high school mathematics teacher Ishigami, offers his help, disposing not only of the body but plotting the cover-up step-by-step. 

When the body turns up and is identified, Detective Kusanagi draws the case and Yasuko comes under suspicion. Kusanagi is unable to find any obvious holes in Yasuko's manufactured alibi and yet is still sure that there's something wrong. Kusanagi brings in Dr. Manabu Yukawa, a physicist and college friend who frequently consults with the police. Yukawa, known to the police by the nickname Professor Galileo, went to college with Ishigami. After meeting up with him again, Yukawa is convinced that Ishigami had something to do with the murder. What ensues is a high level battle of wits, as Ishigami tries to protect Yasuko by outmaneuvering and outthinking Yukawa, who faces his most clever and determined opponent yet.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
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), the Mystery Writers of Japan, Inc. Prize (for best mystery) among others. His novels are translated widely throughout Asia. 

ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR:
ALEXANDER O. SMITH has translated a broad variety of novels, manga, and video games, for which he has been nominated for the Eisner Award, and won the ALA's Batchelder Award (for his translation of Miyuki Miyabe's Brave Story), and been recognized for his localizations of the video games Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy XII. He lives with his family in Vermont.

CONTACT US

Telephone: (504) 408-0963
E-mail: japansocietynola@gmail.com

PO Box 56785
New Orleans, LA 70156-6785

"Japan Society of New Orleans" is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization 

Powered by Wild Apricot Membership Software