Newcomer

Detective Kaga has something of Columbo about him, zeroing in on the awkward inconsistency with seemingly artless accuracy. In a series of chapters that could almost be short stories, Kaga pursues the case of a murdered woman from suspect to suspect, through a nostalgia-tinged Tokyo of family-run shops and Ginza bar girls. Clever and charmingAn intriguing mashup of police procedural and golden age puzzle mystery. When fortysomething divorcee Mineko Mitsui is discovered strangled at her home, Detective Kyoichiro Kaga [...] begins tracing items found in the dead woman's flat to shops in the neighbourhood, using a mixture of Sherlockian deduction and legwork to lead him to the killer. What initially appears to be a chain of short stories coalesces into an investigation, as Kaga, in a delightfully low-key style, painstakingly builds up a picture of the dead woman's past and the events of the last days of her lifeThis charming, gentle mystery, with its dogged, insightful investigator whose unorthodox approach spreads calm rather than confusion, is a thing of joyHigashino is the ideal choice for anyone who fancies an elegantly written traditional murder mystery in a fresh and fascinating settingKyoichiro Kaga joins an illustrious list of much-loved fictional detectives . . . The plot [of Newcomer] is as intricate and delicately poised as an antique three-sided clock Kaga encounters during his investigations. A charming, evocative and rewarding readFor those who like their crime fiction layered with riddles within enigmas, [Keigo Higashino] is a masterA unique take on the genre . . . mesmerising . . . this is a different kind of mystery novel. A delight to readOne new mystery that stands out this year is Newcomer . . . its plotting is so unusual: a criminal investigation conducted through a series of tangential vignettes, each one connected by a wonderful sense of small-scale humanity