Newcomer

Newcomer by Keigo Higashino, 342 pages

A woman is found strangled in her apartment in Tokyo. Nobody in the neighborhood really knows her, and she hasn't spoken to her son or ex-husband in ages. So how do you figure out who killed her and why? That's the job of Kyochiro Kaga, a police detective who is, like the murder victim, a newcomer to the area. Detective Kaga sets about retracing the woman's routines, visiting the same shops she did, going on the same walks, and getting to know the neighbors. Kaga's unorthodox sleuthing is told in an equally unorthodox way — through short vignettes that focus on the shops and restaurants in the neighborhood, with Kaga solving their smaller mysteries along the way. Kaga is a charming character, one that is kind, unassuming, and undoubtedly brilliant. There's something of Agatha Christie in this story, and I enjoyed watching how it all wove together in the end.