The Silent Parade (Keigo Higashino)

The Silent Parade is a complex, multi layered plot with many characters and subplots within a large plot. It is about a crime that is discovered 3 years after it has been committed but that crime uncovers layers from the past, going back to another crime committed two decades ago, with many people impacted in several different ways. It brings forth the mastery of Higashino and his ingenuity as an author of the detective/ mystery genre.

Two bodies are discovered burnt in a ramshackle rundown house overflowing with junk and things that should have been disposed off years ago. One body belongs to the old woman who owned the house but lived like a recluse with no contact with the world. Autopsy tells the detectives that she had died more than 3 yeas ago, most probably of natural causes. The other body discovered is that of a 19 year old girl, who has been missing for 3 years now. There is no reason for this girl to be in this district, far away from her home. Her family is devastated, they have been mourning for three years but the discovery of the body is a sort of a closure for them. Now all they want is to avenge the death of their child. The old lady’s step son has been accused in another gruesome murder 21 years ago but was not charged because he kept quiet throughout the trial and no conclusive evidence was ever found - the victim in that case was a child and yet another set of devastated parents. The same law enforcement team is put together to try and see if this time around they are able to build a case against this child murderer who made a clean escape last time.

While Detectives Kusanagi and Utsumi try to piece together the crime and bring enough evidence to convict the hated murderer this time, it once again seems that staying silent is going to help him evade punishment. But someone has other plans, because on the day of the famous annual parade that is held in this town, the murder suspect is found murdered. Is it revenge? But even if this was a much deserved end to a despicable character, the police has a job to do. There are many people with a good reason to commit this murder but not surprisingly, all of them have water tight alibis - the dead girl’s parents, her boyfriend, her mentors. Will the detectives, with assistance from Detective Galileo aka Prof Yukawa, be able to resolve this conundrum? 

I must confess that the plot is so complex that it is only on the second read that I fully got it. I had forgotten so many details from my first read, that it was enjoyable this time around, as it was the first. Pls read this at a stretch or large chunks at a time, because there are too many elements and characters and it is easy to miss the details or mix things up. As usual the master will keep you hooked till the end.