Three crimes that span over 2 decades brilliantly woven together with a cast of complex characters. I wasn’t sure what to expect jumping into my first Keigo Higashino Novel, but I will say I wasn’t disappointed! Normally Mystery/Thriller is not a genre I usually pick up, but having grown up watching the Galileo Japanese drama on TV, my interest was piqued and so I decided to give it a chance.

In the U.S. this is considered the 4th book in the Detective Galileo Series, however in Japan it is actually the 9th book. I was worried about picking up a book in the middle of the series but it wasn’t an issue for me at all. These books are written well where you can pick them up out of order and jump in without much background. Detective Galileo, or Manabu Yukawa, who the series is named after is not actually a detective, but a Physics professor, who has friends who are members of the Tokyo metropolitan police. When there is an unexplained situation “Galileo” is called in to come up with a logical solutions.

Higashino included so many twists in the story. I loved seeing the layers of the story slowly peeled away to show different characters backstories. As more information on characters is presented, the reader is surprised to realize they really don’t know what is going on and their previous notions aren't what they though. With all of these layers the plot is too complex to describe without giving away some spoilers. However, as a fan of the Japanese television drama series I will say I wasn’t disappointed.

If you are a fan of mystery I would encourage you to pick this novel up. There is a large cast of characters that provide so many twists to the plot, you will be continuously guessing who did “it” and what “it” actually was.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Keigo Higashino never fails to amaze. All his works, as with Silent Parade, immerse readers into an intense, yet realistic, account of mystery and suspense, and I was on the edge throughout the book's entirety. I cannot recommend this book enough.

I am a huge fan of Keigo Higashino's novels. This is the fourth addition to his Detective Galileo mysteries, and I have loved them all For those new to his work, Higashino is one of the top-selling fiction authors in Japan. His first novel in 1985 when he was only 27 but have only recently begun being translated and published in the US. The first novel is the Detective Galileo series was The Devotion of Suspect X was the second highest selling book in Japan the year it was published. It was also my introduction to Higashino in 2011, and I have been a fan ever since.

In Silent Parade, as well as the prior three novels in the series, the two primary characters are Chief Inspector Kusanagi, assigned to the homicide unit of the Tokyo Police and his old friend, a nerdy physics professor that is known as Detective Galileo (real named Manabu Yukawa). When Kusanagi is truly stumped on a case, he consults with his friend Detective Galileo to get his unique insights and perspective on the crime. They are both clever and interesting characters and their cases are reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes mysteries.

Silent Parade is about two murders which took place twenty years apart. The first victim was a young girl, and the police had what they thought was an airtight case against the suspect. The suspect, however, never spoke a single word to the police nor did he speak in his own defense during his trial. Consequently, the suspect was released due to lack of evidence. In the present, a young woman on the brink of becoming a singing star goes missing and three years later her body is discovered in the ashes of the burned down house of a known hoarder. The main suspect was the same individual as in the 20-year old case because the burned down house belonged to his aunt. He had also been known to harass the latest victim who worked as a waitress at her family's restaurant, but once again, the police lack any concrete evidence.

There are myriad characters involved in the latter case, including family members, their friends, the young woman's boyfriend, and the couple behind her budding singing career. It becomes a complex case when, during an annual neighborhood parade, the primary suspect is found dead. Conveniently, all the individuals who could have played a role in the suspect's death have rock-solid alibis. It will take all of Detective Galileo's wits to solve the crime.

I highly recommend Silent Parade and the entire Detective Galileo series to serious mystery readers. I love the setting in Japan and all of the customs and idiosyncrasies therein. My thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. I hope to see more of Keigo Higashino's novels being translated and published in the future.

A thank you to Netgalley for sharing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I always look forward to a new book by Keigo Higashino, so I was pretty excited to see that this was on the horizon. I have enjoyed all his novels to date and believe that he is incredibly adept when it comes to crafting engaging mysteries that come with plenty of surprises (yet aren't overly obtuse and/or leave the reader unsatisfied.) My only complaint this time around was that I had a hard time keeping up with the characters. However, this is probably more a result of it being my relax and fall asleep to kindle audio (narrator had a nice voice for it.)

What a fun puzzle of a mystery Silent Parade turned out to be! I enjoyed this most recent Detective Galileo installment for its quirky characters, its sense of place, and the unpredictability of the plot from beginning to end.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for a chance to review the book!

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books for an advance copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Though last to be translated into English, Silent Parade was my first Detective Galileo novel of the series. It's a very well-written murder mystery full of twists until the very end. It does have some similarities with Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie, and Hercule Poirot's name is mentioned twice even, but the aforementioned twists take the story to a different path from Christie's book. I liked how the story was told from the different points of view belonging to several people related to the murder, not only from the detectives' eyes. It was definitely a page-turner, and the different narrations spiced things up, working with the misleading tactics well enough that the twists could come later as a shock to their readers.

All in all, I enjoyed the book very much and planning to delve into the previous Detective Galileo novels soon.

Japan, law-enforcement, murder, murder-investigation, procedural, secrets, consultant, psychological, psychopath, thriller*****

I'm not complaining about the free ebook, but as I only speak English fluently, I will be getting other books by this author in audio (believe me, the TTS just isn't the thing). That's not any sort of criticism of the translator! It's so interesting to read about other law enforcement agencies in the safe context of fiction. And that goes for the due diligence of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department and the deductive reasoning of the brilliant physicist who sometimes assists with the really tough cases. Like this one. Court systems are just as thorny in Japan and this murderer is just too smug. I can't just say that the plot is twisty, it's a diabolical double helix! Great read! Now I'm off to get an audio for book one and beyond so I can get the names right in my head.
I requested and received a free ebook copy from St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

This is the fourth installment in the Detective Galileo series. Having enjoyed the previous books, I was happy to receive an advanced reading copy of this one.

The skeletal remains of Saori Namiki are found three years after her disappearance. They are found in the home of a woman connected to Kanichi Hasunuma, a man suspected of murdering a young girl over two decades earlier, though he was not convicted because of lack of evidence. DCI Kusanagi of the Tokyo police is determined not to let that happen again. Then another death occurs and there are a number of suspects with motives but all have an alibi. Manabu Yukawa (a.k.a. Det. Galileo), a physics professor, is consulted and he uncovers hidden relationships and tragic events that led to murder.

Dr. Yukawa will remind readers of Hercule Poirot; certainly they share the same intelligence and ability to see clues and connections the police miss. Yukawa, however, has more kindness and compassion. There’s a type of locked room mystery and the reader may think of Murder on the Orient Express. In fact, the Agatha Christie novel is directly referenced so the parallels are intentional.

The book is typical of Higashino’s mysteries: lots of twists and turns, secret relationships among characters, connections between past and present events, a detailed final reveal. Yukawa comes up with theories which are modified when new information comes to light. A reader will think s/he knows the truth until a new clue suggests s/he doesn’t.

An additional element I enjoyed is the insight into Japanese culture. Saori’s family owns a restaurant so references to Japanese cuisine are frequent. The custom of gift-giving is mentioned: when Yukawa is invited for a drink, he comments, “’You invited me for a drink, but I see no sign of a gift.’” Readers also learn about the Japanese judicial system; for instance, the statute of limitations for certain crimes becomes relevant.

Though there are clues and foreshadowing, most readers will not be able to unravel all the complexities. The book certainly maintained my interest throughout. I look forward to further translations of Higashino’s novels.

Note: I received a digital galley from the publisher via NetGalley.

In Silent Parade, two girls disappear twenty years apart.

The first girl’s body is found cut into pieces, burned and buried in the woods. A suspect is arrested who refuses to talk to the police. Because the case is based on circumstantial evidence, the suspect is found not guilty and freed.

Twenty-three years later, the second girl’s body is found. Unambiguous evidence links the same suspect to her murder too. The police arrest the suspect, but he is let out of jail to await trial. While out, he is killed. All of the obvious suspects have seemingly unbreakable alibis. The police bring in famed physicist and part-time consulting detective Galileo to find the killer’s killer.

Just like with The Devotion of Suspect X, Silent Parade is a sterile police procedural set in an unusual setting. Character development is almost non-existent. However, the plotting is skillfully done. It is a true challenge to solve—especially discovering the motive. 4 stars!

Thanks to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

The Story: Two murder cases with twenty years apart and the only suspect dies unexpectedly during the annual Kikuno Story Parade. Not only his death was suspicious, all the possible suspects with the best motives have rock solid alibis. Detective Chief Inspector Kusanagi of the Homicide Division of the Tokyo Police once again turns to his physicist friend Professor Yukawa also known as Detective Galileo to help solve this baffling case.

My thoughts: Ooh-wee! Higashino has done it again with this latest installment of Detective Galileo series! I've been waiting forever for this fourth book and did not disappoint! Totally worth the wait!

So after reading this author's previous three books, I thought I was smart enough to solve this case but nope. It was masterfully crafted with a LOT of twists! I gasped, my jaw dropped and was completely blown away by how well-plotted this book was! I absolutely loved the logical thinking and deduction process used by Professor Yukawa in solving the case. It was like Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot plus a lot more layers of mysteries and twists!

This was a slow-burn mystery with a lot of characters - both from the past and current case - are introduced into the story. But thank goodness for the list of characters in the beginning which helped a lot!

I think this book works fine as a standalone but you may miss out on the backstory of Yukawa and Kusanagi's friendship. The first book - Devotion of Suspect X - was incredible, so you may want to start right from the beginning anyway!

In a nutshell, READ THIS BOOK!

Pub. Date: Dec 14th, 2021

***Thank you St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books and NetGalley for this gifted review copy. All opinions expressed are my own.***

This is a complex and complicated mystery of two murders- that of young Saori and subsequently of Hasunuma, suspected of the crime. Saori, a talented singer, disappeared one day, leaving behind a grieving family and customers at her parents restaurant. And then her body is found in the burnt out remains of a house owned by Hasunuma's stepmother, whose own corpse is also there. There are lots (lots) of characters in this novel, both law enforcement and family and to be honest, the law enforcement officers, even Yukawa, tended to blur for me. What was clear was that Hasunuma had evaded justice multiple times by refusing to speak, at all, but this time, when Saori is murdered, someone decided to take matters into their own hands. It's a clever murder (no spoilers) and know that nothing will be clear until almost the end, which has a bit of a surprise. Those characters that do stand out (Saori's father, her boyfriend, her teacher) are terrific. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. It requires patience- it's a slow burn and reveal- but it's a good read for fans of the genre.

• Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books and NetGalley for providing this Advance Reading Copy. Expected publication date is December 14, 2021.

Detective Galileo is back to investigate several murders, decades apart. In Silent Parade, a beautiful and musically gifted young girl disappears. Her remains are found three years later among the ashes of a burned out house. There was a suspect who kept returning to taunt the girls family but was never indicted due to lack of evidence. This prime suspect ends up dying during a popular annual street festival. Detective Chief Inspector Kusanagi turns to his old friend, Physics professor and police consultant Manabu Yukawa, aka Detective Galileo, to help solve the string of almost impossible-to-prove murders.

Apparently—and with good reason—Keigo Higashino is big in Japan. I am delighted to have crossed paths with Higashino and his "Detective Galileo." And that delight is significantly increased by knowing that there are three more Detective Galileo books I can start looking for now and that more may appear in the future.

The Detective Galileo of the title is not actually a detective. Manabu Yukawa is a professor of physics who happens to have friendships with several members of Tokyo's police. They turn to him as a sounding board from time to time, and he has a Holmesian ability to sniff out which details really matter in a case and where they lead. He'll ask a few question or suggest an inquiry and dead-end cases begin to seem solvable. Like the original Holmes he's formal and distant, a puzzle of a man, but his ethics and intelligence are complex and leave him with a surprisingly large circle of friends.

Silent Parade examines two similar murders separated by twenty years. The suspect in the first of these crimes was tried, but not convicted, because his refusal to respond to investigators' questions left prosecutors with only circumstantial evidence that the the jury found inadequate. He's now the leading suspect in the second crimes, again refuses to speak, and appears to be getting away with murder once more.

The victim this time is a young woman who, on the brink of launching a promising singing career, disappeared. Three years after that disappearance, her body has been identified, and an entire community—family, regulars at the family's restaurant, and the music professionals who were nurturing her career—are immensely frustrated that her killer may escape justice yet again. So, when the suspected murderer dies under unusual circumstances, new suspects abound.

The solution to this mystery is complicated and remains unclear until the final chapters of the book. When Yukawa unravels it from a distance, readers are genuinely surprised. If you like mysteries that are more than cozy, but not dripping in gore, and that keep you wondering to the very end, you'll want to spend time with Yukawa, the Galileo Detective.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.

Detective Galileo is back in Higashino's latest enthralling mystery which is very reminiscent of Agatha Christie.

The eldest daughter of Yutaro and Machiko Namiki, Saori, went missing. She had a beautiful voice (concert quality) and was absolutely stunning. Three years later her body is discovered in a derelict house in the outskirts of a neighboring village.

The storyline covers all of the characters in the village. Some of them have known Saori since she was a small girl.

Kanichi Hasunuma is a stranger to the village and is disliked by everyone. He is abrasive and obnoxious. The Namiki’s own a restaurant and put up with his bullying every day. He was seen more than once pinching her buttocks and then laughing or smirking at her displeasure. The whole village suspects Hasunuma has done something to Saori but they have no proof or witnesses.

The writer builds an integral detective investigation. Each character in the story is proven to have a solid alibi. When the corpse of Hasunuma is discovered in a closed room the plot thickens.

I marveled at the intricacies of the various methods and thought processes utilized to complete the crimes. 4.5 stars - CE Williams

I always look forward to new English translations of Keigo Higashino's intricately plotted mystery novels. Silent Parade is the latest volume to be translated from a series featuring the brilliant physics professor and sometimes police consultant Dr. Manabu Yogawa, also known by his nickname Detective Galileo, who first appeared in The Devotion of Suspect X.

Silent Parade begins with a deeply moving portrait of a grieving family that has been upended by the disappearance of their nineteen-year-old daughter three years ago. When her body is finally found, it only brings up more questions and no answers, especially when the location of the body is found to have a connection with the suspected killer of twelve-year-old girl several years earlier. So begins another brilliant work full of twists and turns.

This book was harder to read for me personally than The Devotion of Suspect X because it deals with the violent deaths of teenage girls. As the mother of a girl myself, I already have enough anxiety about all the dangers that lurk in the world without reading stories about cruel and dangerous men evading justice, and I found this story to be considerably darker than Devotion. However, as mystery stories go, this one is first rate. Higashino is an incredibly talented storyteller and crafter of seemingly impossible crimes. I look forward to more translations of his works!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

First off, if you have not heard of the amazing Detective Galileo series before, definitely check it out! I have been a huge fan of this series and the author ever since I started reading Japanese mysteries in translation earlier this year. I have read all of the previous books in this series, and I have been reading the rest of the author's books that have been translated into English. When I saw that a new book in the series was coming out, I knew I needed to add it to my TBR right away. Thank you again to the publisher for this opportunity!

Silent Parade by Keigo Higashino is the newest book in the Detective Galileo series, and it rivals every Sherlock Holmes story or Agatha Christie mystery that I have ever read. If you're a fan of mysteries, you won't want to miss this book! The story revolves around a man who has been tried and convicted in the court of public opinion. He was suspected in the murder of a young girl 20 years ago, but was released due to lack of evidence. Now, he's involved again in the murder of another girl. Will there be enough evidence to convict him this time? How was the murder even accomplished and why? Will Professor Yukawa AKA Detective Galileo be able to solve the case?

Here is a chilling excerpt from Chapter 1 of the book, which introduces the murdered girl:

"CCTV footage from a camera outside the local convenience store showed Saori walking along the street. She was alone and holding her phone up to her ear, suggesting that she was talking to somebody.
The police got her call history from the cell phone company. At the time of the footage, no outgoing call was being made from Saori’s phone. In other words, Saori had received a call from someone else. Unfortunately, her cell phone company didn’t charge for incoming calls and didn’t keep a record of them.
Worried that Saori might have been the victim of foul play, the police did everything they could; they even dragged all the local rivers.
They didn’t find Saori. It was as if she had vanished in a puff of smoke."

Overall, Silent Parade is an amazing mystery that will appeal to fans of Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie. It was a wild ride and an enjoyable read from beginning to end. I thought I knew what was going to happen, but I was wrong. There were plenty of surprises at the end that I did not predict, and the how and why of the murders were also pleasant surprises. One thing I love about detective mysteries is how the author will give hints about what happened, and then, at the end, the detective will reveal everything along with all of the accumulated evidence. The author follows the formula here, but at no point was I bored. I think this book is an examplar of how to write a detective mystery. If you're intrigued by the excerpt above, or if you're a fan of the mystery genre, you won't regret checking out this book when it comes out in December!

A man who got away with murder 20 years earlier by remaining silent under interrogation is once again suspected of a similar crime with insufficient evidence against him - much to the dismay of the detectives and the victims' loved ones.

This is the most recently translated entry in the Detective Galileo series, featuring a Japanese scientist who dabbles in crime solving like a “modern-day Hercule Poirot.” The solution has similarities to one of Poirot's most famous cases, but there are several original twists to keep one guessing. The case involves a classic "locked room" mystery with a few potential scientific solutions.

There is a large cast of characters, with a helpful list at the front to keep track.
Much of the action takes place at an annual neighborhood parade and in a local restaurant, lending interesting cultural details to the story.

Higashino's books are a good choice for those who like mysteries in a classic style with an international setting beyond the US and UK.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the review copy.

3.5 stars, rounded up to 4. I have read most of the books in this story and enjoyed them very much. Silent Parade does not reach the standard set by its predecessors. The characters seemed to have lost their energy and instead slogged their way through what should have been a most ingenious case. Despite this and despite the often clumsy translation, Silent Parade is still an acceptably fine mystery novel. I hope Higashino returns with a stronger entry that is worthy of the earlier books in the series..

This is not the first entry in the Detective Galileo series, but it is my introduction to it, so there are recurring characters and relationships that were already established but were new to me. That wasn’t a problem, since the writing and dialogues are clear enough to understand where the characters are coming from. I loved the twists and turns of the story. When remains are found in a house linked to a suspect that evaded arrest in the past, CI Kusanagi from the Tokyo Police tries to catch the guy this time. The guy is so slippery that it seems like he’s going to get away with it once more when he dies in mysterious circumstances during a famous parade. It’s impossible for one person to have done it, but could more than one be involved? The dead girl was loved by everyone and her family has many friends. Some quotes from an Agatha Christie classic made me think that I knew where it was going, but I was wrong. Manabu Yukawa, also known as Detective Galileo, comes up with possible theories. The story put me in an unusual position because I liked the cops, but I was rooting against them. If the victim’s family murdered the bad guy, I wanted them to get away with it. All the characters, the detectives and the suspects, were so relatable and likable, it was hard to root for one side against the other. But the final solution was really unexpected and rounds out the perfect whodunit.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/#St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books!