Coffee Session

Salvation of a Saint (published in Arabic as جلسة قهوة) by Keigo Higashino is a masterclass in inverted detective fiction from the renowned Japanese mystery author. The plot unfolds when wealthy businessman Yoshitaka Mashiba coldly informs his wife, Ayane, that he is leaving her due to her inability to bear him a child. Shortly after, Yoshitaka is found dead in his home, poisoned by arsenic laced in his coffee. Naturally, Ayane is the primary suspect, but she possesses an airtight alibi: she was hundreds of miles away visiting family when the murder occurred. As Detective Kusanagi and his partner Kaoru Utsumi clash over Ayane's innocence, they turn to Professor Manabu Yukawa—the brilliant physicist known as "Detective Galileo". Yukawa must decipher a seemingly impossible method of murder, turning the novel into a tense psychological game of wits, betrayal, and cold revenge.

Because it offers an exceptionally clever "how-dunit" puzzle with Higashino’s trademark meticulous plotting, psychological depth, and brilliant deductive reasoning.

For fans of Japanese crime fiction, locked-room mystery lovers, readers of the Detective Galileo series, and anyone who appreciates intellectual battles between investigators and brilliant culprits.