What caught me to this book was the title – “Suspect X”. Suspect X, was it referring to a specific suspect or a random suspect from a bunch of suspects? Then I thought about the word ‘devotion’ in the title and decided it should perhaps be talking about a single specific suspect, from a random bunch of suspects. Devotion could mean only one thing, in such a title. Honestly, despite the obviousness of the title, the narration unraveled a plot that unfolded at a decent pace and kept me turning the pages at full speed. Before I opened the book, after reading the back drop of it, I let my imagination unfold and I can honestly say that I was not very far off with my guesses. However, what kept me hooked to it was the beauty of the tale and the logical flow of the story.
Ishigami is a Math teacher. He lives and breathes Math. Considered one of the most brilliant Mathematician, there are few who can unravel his genius at problem solving. He walks to this daily deli were his neighbor Yasuko works, to pick his every day lunch. Despite being neighbors, they hardly exchange a word. Yasuko and Misato stay in a small apartment, next door to Ishigami, when one day, Yasuko’s abusive ex-husband Togashi visits. The conversation between Yasuko, Misato and Togashi escalates to a fight, with Togahshi ending up dead. While Yasuko and Misato try to fall over each other, over who has to surrender to the cops, Ishigami knocks on Yasuko’s door, asking about the commotion. His rare genius of a mind understands the situation in one quick glance and offers them his help.
When the cops identify a corpse to be Togashi, they come calling onto Yasuko’s door step. And coached by the brilliant Ishigami, they follow a script to tell a tale that Kusanagi, the detective cop, cannot find a fault with. Despite all that, Kusanagi has a nagging feeling that something was off. He talks to his consultant physicist and college mate, the brilliant Yukawa, who incidentally went to college with Ishigami. Though there are no obvious loopholes in the tales of the suspects Yasuko and Misato, when Yukawa talks to his friend Ishigami, he suspects something else.
From there on, starts the dance in the shadows of two genius minds who out challenge each other. While the what and who is obvious in the story, the comeuppance for the crime goes till the wire and the conclusion, trust me, will either make you scream, “Bloody Hell” or “WTH?”
But, if you enjoy the brilliant detection, this book is definitely worth the time.
