Newcomer    by Keigo Higashino Order:  USA  Can Minotaur, 2018 (2018) Hardcover, CD, e-Book      Reviewed by Hilary Williamson Keigo Higashino, author of excellent and unusual Japanese mysteries (including The Devotion of Suspect X, A Midummer's Equation, and Under the Midnight Sun) now brings us another extraordinary read, Newcomer (translated from Japanese by Giles Murray). Tokyo Police Department Detective Kyochiro Kaga was recently transferred to a precinct in the city's Nihonbashi business district, where he's a newcomer. When a woman there is murdered, he assists in the investigation, carefully steering it from the sidelines. The mystery reads like a series of interconnected short stories, as readers get to know the neighborhood community and all its subtle inter-relationships, alongside this Japanese Sherlock Holmes. With each revelation of a link between an individual and the murder victim, we wonder where we - and Kaga - are heading next. As in Higashino's previous novels, Newcomer is all about the ripples that spread out from an act of violence, resulting in both intended and unintended consequences. Kaga steadily gathers up subtle clues (from bakery pastries to a child's spinning top) and follows them to the killer. Along the way, he does what he can to help the innocent. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Mystery books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews