The Final Curtain

Keigo Higashino's The Final Curtain was actually somewhat underwhelming. Like his other mysteries featuring Kaga as protagonist, this one emphasizes emotional trauma and turmoil. The big theme here is relationships between parents and their children, with the allure of The Final Curtain coming from its revelation of Kaga's own past. This was, naturally, a major reason we had to read the entire novel. But, the actual mystery here was less interesting. There was only one real suspect(s?), but uncovering what actually happened in the case of a double homicide in Tokyo forces Kaga, and his son, to delve into the past of Kaga's mother and a theater director. Perhaps due to the personal emphasis on Kaga's mother, this novel was a little longer than the other ones we have read by Higashino (about 390 pages). Instead of the suspense driving us to read it all in one go, we actually found our interest waning as it became increasingly predictable how the case would close.