A Midsummer's Equation: A Detective Galileo Mystery (Detective Galileo Series, 3) Hardcover – February 23, 2016

A Japanese police procedural with the help of physicist Yukawa, know as Detective Galileo. A charming procedural, likable characters, and plenty of clues. I enjoy all the books in this series. Highly recommended.

What I love about the Detective Galileo books is how thorough the investigations are. The detectives do real police work, even the boring parts where they question people and the lead is a dead end. This one features neat little science lessons by Professor Yukawa to a pre-teen boy that turn out to be integral to the case. There are so many pieces and clues for the reader to put together and see if they can pinpoint the identity of the murder before the great reveal. This is really an old-school detective novel that makes the reader think. It's slow in parts, but that's just detective work and not every lead is a winner. There's a huge cast of characters, so it's a little hard to remember who's who, but everyone pales in comparison when Yukawa is on the scene. He's just magical.

An ex-cop is found dead in a remote coastal area, and his death begins to look suspicious. The local cops make mistakes, the prefectural police are baffled, and even a few Tokyo detectives investigate. We end up with swarms of detectives buzzing around the accident — or was it murder? The cause of death is a surprise. And the pleasant family running the inn where the ex-cop stayed may know more than they admit.Only one man sees through the confusion — physics professor Yukawa. The police often consult him on complex cases. He’s been nicknamed Detective Galileo. He’s good at solving problems because he’s a scientist. Scientists want to know.Yukawa is staying at the same run-down little inn where the dead man was staying. He seems to spend most of his time helping the family’s fifth-grade relative with homework. By the end of the story, we will know the history behind two murders, though most of the cops won’t — and young Kyohei will have most of his summer homework done.The various lines of investigation are absorbing, and the personal dramas that unfold are quite touching. The plot is full of twists.Keigo Higashino is one of my favorite Japanese authors.

A well read friend and John LeCarre devotee recently introduced me to Higashino’s crime novels. Higashino is a master of the genre, weaving intricate and beguiling plots and complex events into canvases of extraordinary depth and texture. His character development is fascinating, bringing to life in a brilliantly nuanced style both the lead investigative characters as well as the characters underlying the events and storyline.The series of novels featuring the cerebral “Detective Galileo” are spell binding - as are Higashino’s other novels. These books are so compelling and thought provoking that you do not want to finish them. One additional note: Although originally written in Japanese, the English translations of Higashino’s work is so seamless and nuanced, it is difficult to believe that the novels were not originally written in English.

Higashino is one of my favorite authors and I couldn't wait to read his latest. Unfortunately, this book was much more formulaic than previous books.The action takes place in Hari Cove, a resort town on the ocean struggling to survive against more glamorous destinations. Professor Yukawa, aka Detective Galileo, is staying at a local inn, paid by a company to attend a conference for which the company is trying to sway the locals to back their plan to drill for minerals on the sea floor. Narumi, the inn owners' daughter, is an active environmentalist, a member of a local group dedicated to banning the project.Also staying at the inn is Mr. Tsukahara, at first assumed to be an employee of the drilling company as he was seen attending the first public meeting of the drilling company vs. the group of environmentalists. During the first night, Mr. Tsukahara appears to have gone missing from the inn and is found the following morning at the bottom of a sea wall, apparently the victim of an accident. Of course, there is more to this event than a simple accident and the action expands in all directions. At this juncture this book became a bit difficult to follow. Admittedly, some of the confusion may stem from unfamiliarity with Japanese names, of which there are many. Local detectives, forensic workers, Tokyo detectives, conference personnel on both sides of the drilling issue and various locals are woven into the story along with parties to an event many years' before.The narrator for part of this novel is Kyohei, an adolescent smart aleck who is taken under the wing of Yukawa and the two have some fun with science amidst the mayhem. Kyohei is staying at the inn as his parents are away on business and he has the usual know it all attitude of 5th graders everywhere. He learns some valuable lessons along the way, which almost redeems this book.Although there are hints along the way as to what events led to Tsukahara's demise off the sea wall and why, the answer, when it comes, had me shaking my head as it strained credulity in almost every conceivable way. Mr. Higashino can do a lot better and, if this is your first experience reading this author, please read one of his earlier works! The Devotion of Suspect X and Malice are superior novels of suspense.

Higashino has a sense of fair play, but he still knows how to sneak a few surprises into the mix, and when a certain truth was revealed, I felt like I'd been punched in the stomach. This is the third novel I've read by this author, and I'm looking forward to reading his Malice in the near future. He has a way of dropping clues without making the web easy to unravel.

I appreciated the subtlety of the plot...the layers surrounding and underpinning the mystery. Even more so, I appreciated the humanity that was presented through the various characters. The author does not write a typical murder mystery; he writes one truly worth reading.

Always a surprise and twist from this author . He describes Japanese culture very well and makes me feel like I am there looking for clues.