Malice

Kyoichiro Kaga

By: Keigo Higashino

Narrated by: Jeff Woodman

Acclaimed best-selling novelist Kunihiko Hidaka is found brutally murdered in his home on the night before he's planning to leave Japan and relocate to Vancouver. His body is found in his office, a locked room, within his locked house, by his wife and his best friend, both of whom have rock solid alibis. Or so it seems.

At the crime scene, Police Detective Kyochiro Kaga recognizes Hidaka's best friend, Osamu Nonoguchi. Years ago when they were both teachers, they were colleagues at the same public school. Kaga went on to join the police force while Nonoguchi eventually left to become a full-time writer, though with not nearly the success of his friend Hidaka. As Kaga investigates, he eventually uncovers evidence that indicates that the two writers' relationship was very different that they claimed, that they were anything but best friends. But the question before Kaga isn't necessarily who, or how, but why.

In a brilliantly realized tale of cat and mouse, the detective and the killer battle over the truth of the past and how events that led to the murder really unfolded. And if Kaga isn't able to uncover and prove why the murder was committed, then the truth may never come out. Malice is one of the best-selling - the most acclaimed - novel in Keigo Higashino's series featuring police detective Kyochiro Kaga, one of the most popular creations of the best-selling novelist in Asia.

©1996 Keigo Higashino (P)2014 Macmillan Audio

Excellent piece of work!

just loved it! so many subltle twists and turns, the story keeps you in check till the very end.

Intriguing Plot

This is my third book by this Japanese author, and I have enjoyed every single one of them. I wish that more of his books would be translated to English. Although this is part of a series, it works as a stand alone; this is the first one in this series I read and I didn't feel I missed anything by not reading the prior books.

The thing that I like about this author's books is that unlike the traditional mystery/thriller stories, his books are not a "who-dun-it." You generally know WHO the killer is at the beginning of the book. What you don't know, and what is unraveled through logic as the story progresses, is the motive and/or the method. When I first started reading these books, I didn't think there could be much there since the killer was identified early; I was certainly wrong! There are still plenty of twists and turns, along with intrigue and mystery.

You Need to Listen to This

The twist in the end is crazy. I have never thought this was the truth, and Keigo Higashino has been so genius on plotting everything in front of the audience. I bet that you have heard so many twists in other shows and books, but this ending is definitely one of the best you don’t want to miss.

Worth reading; the previous two books were better

I like Higashino. In my opinion he is the classiest of all thriller writers. His detectives solve mysteries based on logic and deduction: coincidence and chance play absolutely no role in the process. His plots are to mystery writing what chess is to sport.
Higashino also tells you the name of the murderer right in the beginning in his novels. The fun comes when the detectives try to solve the murder. There are layers upon layers of deception. No James Bond stuff like car chases and people jumping off roofs. Some might consider his books a little boring.
This particular book is, in that sense, just like his previous two. A man is killed, the killer is found quickly, and the detective now has to discover the motive.
Higashino makes the entire process interesting. The characters are very well developed. The pace is adequate: not at all fast, but no too slow either.
Higashino's earlier two books were better. But this is worth reading too.

entertaining

What did you like best about Malice? What did you like least?

I have listened to two other of Keigo Higashino's books. They were absolutely brilliant. Clever and surprising. This one not as good, so that was a disappointment. I enjoyed reading about the process of writing, a story about writers. The mystery was secondary and I wasnt 'bursting' to find out what really happened.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The story got a bit tedious in parts. Not enough dialogue or character development.

Which scene was your favorite?

I enjoyed the beginning of the book most of all.

Was Malice worth the listening time?

It was worth the listening time.

Any additional comments?

Devotion of Suspect X by the same author is a million times better than Malice

Good Story, Terrible Narrator

it was a very good story with many twists and turns but the narrator was pretty awful. He has a flat monotone voice with no character differentiation, and I found myself having to relisten multiple times since his voice was so boring that my mind wandered. Not good.

Amazing Plot

Great combination : clever but not too confusing! The narrator was easy to understand and had a great pace.

Too complicated

Unusual structure for a crime story. Reader is told in the first few minutes that there was a murder and who did it. The rest of the book is the reader is taken down rabbit holes with the detective trying to solve the crime.

Not one of his best

Overall I liked the story and the mystery was good. But the way most of the story was told as narration was disappointing.

Intriguing, But . . .

This was my first book by Keigo Higashino featuring the Japanese detective, Kyoichiro Kaga. I am not sure why I chose this book because I don't enjoy books where the discovery of the "murderer" is known too early in the story. My fave listens are police procedurals that are true whodunnits.

Despite that set-up, Higashino still gave me a whodunnit by making the motive for the murder the true mystery. Why would someone kill a famous author as he is packing to leave the country to live in Canada? It was so smart of the author to leave hidden clues in written accounts the murderer provides instead of going through the standard interrogation. Kaga is my kind of detective - diligent and creative.

Many of the reviewers say Higashino's earlier books are much better. If that is the case, I will give another one a try. I wish there had been more narrative about life in Japan. This story could have been set anywhere. I don't feel I learned much about Kaga and his life. The narrator was OK -- slow and steady.