by Keigo Higashino
This book starts with a young Japanese woman murdering her ex-husband with the assistance of her daughter. Her husband had been hounding her since the divorce. As they are trying to figure out what to do with the body there is a knock on the door. They hide the body under the table and answer the door.
Their next door neighbour, a mathematics teacher is at the door. He has heard the noise and figured out what happened. He offers to help them dispose of the body and coaches them about setting up an alibi when the police come.
A naked disfigured body is found near the river. His finger prints have been removed also. Some partially burned clothes are found in a garbage can nearby. The police are able to identify the man as the woman's husband based on the id in the partially burned clothes.
The rest of the story is a cat and mouse tale with a police detective and a university professor, amateur sleuth, trying to solve the crime. They suspect the ex-wife did it but later figure out that the neighbour has a crush on the woman and may be the one who did it.
Eventually the neighbour confesses but in a plot twist we discover he killed another person, planting the husband's id and clothes in the bin nearby. He also disposed of the husband's body somehow. When the woman finds out that the neighbour has confessed she is distraught, then her daughter attempts suicide. Finally the truth comes out.
At first I thought the book would be pretty straightforward but it kept you guessing til the end.
A great mystery!
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