A Death in Tokyo

A Mystery (The Kyoichiro Kaga Series, Book 3)

By: Keigo Higashino

Narrated by: P.J. Ochlan

Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

In the Nihonbashi district of Tokyo an unusual statue of a Japanese mythic beast—a kirin—stands guard over the district from the classic Nihonbashi bridge. In the evening, a man who appears to be very drunk staggers onto the bridge and collapses right under the statue of the winged beast. The patrolman who sees this scene unfold, goes to rouse the man, only to discover that the man was not passed out, he was dead; that he was not drunk, he was stabbed in the chest. However, where he died was not where the crime was committed—the key to solving the crime is to find out where he was attacked and why he made such a super human effort to carry himself to the Nihonbashi Bridge. That same night, a young man named Yashima is injured in a car accident while attempting to flee from the police. Found on him is the wallet of the murdered man.

Tokyo Police Detective Kyoichiro Kaga is assigned to the team investigating the murder—and must bring his skills to bear to uncover what actually happened that night on the Nihonbashi bridge. What, if any, connection is there between the murdered man and Yashima, the young man caught with his wallet? Kaga's investigation takes him down dark roads and into the unknown past to uncover what really happened and why.

©2011 Keigo Higashino; translation copyright 2022 by Giles Murray (P)2022 Tantor

Great whodunit, odd narration

A great mystery without the exploitative details of most of the crime genre. The narrator does not sound like a real person, which bothered me a lot at first. I ended up getting used to their robotic intonation, thankfully. Hoping for another Detective Kaga mystery in the future.

Interesting book, terrible narration

The performance for the narrator has an unnatural, annoying and hard to follow intonation, like a bad auto generated robotic voice.
The dialogue is read properly so this was on purpose, not the fault of the voice actor. It ruins the book, it took me forever to finish though I love Higashino. The story, as usual is very well developed, but I'd rather recommend the printed/digital book.

Good story, very odd narration

This is a good story, not his best but better than some others from Higashino. It has a well defined atmosphere set in Japan. There is a really odd narration here that spoils the enjoyment; while the dialogue voices are excellent, the third person narration is done to sound like it was computer generated and quite annoying.

Good who-done-it

Though crimes were committed, it was a relief to not have to read sordid, sick details of most murder mysteries. The narrator was great, but since the translation was obviously done by a Brit, so the narration would have benefited being read by someone with a British accent.

Exceptional!

law-enforcement, procedural, Japan, murder, murder-investigation, thriller, suspense, due-diligence, cultural-differences, cultural-exploration, cultural-heritage, relationship-issues, relationships, religious-practices, family, family-drama, family-dynamics, teenager, false-conclusions, unputdownable*****

What is best here--the investigation, the insight into Japanese life and customs, insight into religious practices? Maybe all of the above plus just how alike people (esp law enforcement) are regardless of all else.
The procedural is exceptional and detailed. The red herrings are more than unusual and the twists are beyond diabolical. Walk the streets of Tokyo with Kaga (Nihonbashi Precinct) and his cousin Matsumiya (Homicide Division) Tokyo Metropolitan Police detectives as the steadily and doggedly pursue the truth and the RIGHT murderer.
I requested and received an ebook copy from St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books via NetGalley. Thank you! And many thanks to translator Giles Murray (Japanese to English).
Even so, I went ahead and paid for the audio so that I could hear the Japanese words correctly. Just like the last one! I feel that voice actor P.J. Ochlan is marvelous, gives surety with pronunciations, and is right about using a "cop voice" rather than a Japanese accent.

one of the best!

this is one of best police procedurals I have read, and ihave read so many! what I really enjoyed is Keigo Higahino does not follow the usual predictable formula used by so many best seller authors: gory murder with details, sex thrown in as if it's a requirement, this novel is as much a mystery as it is about what drives people to do what they do. love this author's practical clear writing style. Narration is excellent. and this B book is a keeper! put it on your reading list, you won't be sorry!

This was an engaging book from beginning to end. It was a moving story and truly enjoyable.

I liked everything about this book, especially the characters and the interactions between the investigators.

I think the narrator is AI

The story was great but the narrator has odd speaking style that sounds like AI. You can get past that so don’t let it stop you.

Excellent production

The story is compelling.The presentation is flawless. I really enjoyed this narrator, too. Highly recommend this Higashino audiobook.