"Invisible Helix" By Keigo Higashino: Review/Giveaway

Review by Lorie Lewis Ham

Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win a copy of the book and a link to purchase it.

I enjoy reading anything set in Japan, especially mysteries and manga. I would love to visit someday, but until then, I can visit via books and anime. When I discovered Keigo Higashino’s Kyoichiro Kaga series I was quickly drawn in and enjoyed every last one. Sadly, that series came to an end, so when I was offered the chance to read his latest Detective Galileo book, Invisible Helix, I of course said yes. This is book 5 in the translation versions of this series.

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Amazon description:

The body of a young man is found floating in Tokyo Bay. But his death was no accident—Ryota Uetsuji was shot. He'd been reported missing the week before by his live-in girlfriend Sonoka Shimauchi, but when detectives from the Homicide Squad go to interview her, she is nowhere to be found. She's taken time off from work, clothes and effects are missing from the apartment she shared. And when the detectives learn that she was the victim of domestic abuse, they presume that she was the killer. But her alibi is airtight—she was hours away in Kyoto when Ryota disappeared, forcing Detectives Kusanagi and Utsumi to restart their investigation.

But if Sonoko didn't kill her abusive lover, then who did? A thin thread of association leads them to their old consultant, brilliant physicist Manabu Yukawa, known in the department as "Detective Galileo." With Sonoko still missing, the detectives investigate other threads of association—an eccentric artist, who was Sonoko's mother figure after her own single mother passed; and an older woman who is the owner of a hostess club. And how is Sonoko continuing to stay one step ahead of the police searching for her? It's up to Galileo to find the nearly hidden threads of history and coincidence that connect the people around the bloody murder- which, surprisingly, connect to his own traumatic past—to unravel not merely the facts of the crime but the helix that ties them all together.

I came to this book with a bit of a different perspective having not read the others in the series. To me the main character was Detective Kusanagi as we follow him more than the “Detective Galileo” who is supposed to be the featured character in this series. Galileo is friends with and a former college classmate of Kusanagi (and according to some other reviews I looked at they often seem to compete to see who solves the case first). In  Invisible Helix, he isn’t brought into this case until several chapters in, but he does definitely help them connect the dots of this complicated mystery.

What I enjoyed most about his book was the glimpse into how police work is done in Japan, and getting to once again “visit” Japan. I loved it when it turned out that Kusanagi was a regular at hostess clubs as I have enjoying learning about those in anime and manga. That the culture of these clubs played a role in the mystery itself was fascinating.

While there were plenty of twists and turns and unexpected connections in this complicated mystery, I didn’t enjoy it as much as Keigo’s other series. Perhaps if I went back and started with book one that would help. But it was still an interesting mystery with well-developed and complex characters. I enjoyed this “trip” to Japan.

To enter to win a copy of Invisible Helix , simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line "helix,” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen April 5, 2025. US residents only and you must be 18 or older to enter. If entering via email please include your mailing address in case you win. If entering via comment please include your email address so we can contact you. You can read our privacy statement here if you like.

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You can click here to purchase this book.

Lorie Lewis Ham is our Editor-in-Chief and a contributor to various sections, coupling her journalism experience with her connection to the literary and entertainment worlds. Explore Lorie's mystery writing including her latest mystery novel One of You, the latest Tower District Mystery, at Mysteryrat's Closet.

Disclosure: This post contains links to an affiliate program, for which we receive a few cents if you make purchases. KRL also receives free copies of most of the books that it reviews, that are provided in exchange for an honest review of the book.