Invisible Helix: Keigo Higashino weaves another elegantly knotted mystery

A murder and the relationships that lead to it

And intricate plots, surprise twists and Galileo, are all present in Higashino’s latest, Invisible Helix. The book, like so many of Higashino’s works, revolves around a murder. And equally like so many of his works, it begins like a simple, melancholy tale as a young mother abandons her child at an orphanage. We then move forward in time and the body of a young man is found in the ocean near Tokyo. Closer inspection reveals that he was shot. Suspicion immediately falls on his girlfriend, with whom he had been living for a while, and who, rather mysteriously, is nowhere to be found, even though she has a perfect alibi (in best Higashino tradition). Chief Inspector Kusanagi and Detective Inspector Kaoro Utsumi make inquiries, and discover that the dead man actually used to violently assault his girlfriend, which makes her a prime suspect in his murder. Of course, it is not that simple. As Kusanagi and Utsumi dig deeper, another character emerges – a lady with whom the suspect seems to have run away after the murder of her boyfriend.

As they try to find out more about this new character, they come across a name in the bibliography of one of the books written by her- Manabu Yukawa, Detective Galileo himself, a legend in the police force, and with whom they have worked before (Kusanagi has actually studied with him at college). The two reach out to Yukawa, who is away from the university and nursing his ill parents. Yukawa agrees to help them but with some reservations – “You really are pinning your hopes on the flimsiest of leads! Flimsier than the filaments of a spider’s web,” he warns them.

As the investigations proceed, a new character enters the fray, and suddenly you understand the significance of the mother who abandoned her child at the very beginning of the book. As Yukawa gently untangles a knotted cluster of relationships – some true, some false and some hidden – the identity of the murderer and the reason for the murder become seemingly obvious. Only, this is Keigo Higashino, so there are a few twists and turns along the way, and by the time you reach the final page, you realise that the book is as much about relationships and their complexity as about a murder investigation. Hence the title – Helix is the structure of a DNA, and the book uncovers hidden strands of relationships between seemingly different characters.

Not a page-turner, but quietly elegant

Those expecting a tense, suspense-laden page-turner on the lines of The Devotion of Suspect X are likely to find Invisible Helix a little on the slow side. Its 350-odd pages do not exactly fly past, and we would advise most newcomers to Higashino’s world to be patient with the book. Even Yukawa enters the scene more than fifty pages into the story and is not a very strong presence for most of it. Invisible Helix also gives us a whole new perspective of Yukawa (who is actually never referred to as Detective Galileo even once in the book). Although still a genius with a deep understanding of human nature, he is also shown as a caring son – his mother has dementia and he tries his best to help his father take care of her, even while arguing with him. He is as much a man of the world as a super detective.

Invisible Helix does not have any memorably strong characters or dramatic conversations, partly because the spotlight is shared by so many. This is Higashino in almost Ruth Rendell mode – gently elegant and quietly stirring rather than shocking. Even though he keeps shifting between different time periods and character perspectives, he does so at a leisurely pace, and his denouement and twists will surprise rather than stun you. Invisible Helix is not the sort of book that you will keep reading through the night. You will read it, think, put it down and go back to it again. And when you have finished it, you will find yourself thinking about the characters and why they acted in the way they did, and what love and concern can make one do.

We do not think that Invisible Helix is the best book in the Detective Galileo series (most prefer the famous The Devotion of Suspect X, while the intricately plotted Silent Parade is our favourite), but it certainly is one of the most elegantly written mysteries of the year. Read it if you love your mysteries to be suspenseful rather than spectacular, and if you prefer the tension of thought over action in the field. Invisible Helix ends with Kusanagi and Yukawa doing a fist bump. We would have done the same with the author.