Murder in Japan

Newcomer, a mystery by Japanese writer by Keigo Higashino, features Det. Kyochiro Kaga of the Tokyo Police Department. His style is deceptively laid back, so people underestimate him, but he does some intricate and surprising investigating and of course, solves the case! The author is hugely popular in Japan, and also wrote The Devotion of Suspect X, the English translation of which was nominated for the 2012 Edgar Award for Best Novel and the 2012 Barry Award for Best First Novel.

Winter in New York

Isabel Allende's new book In the Midst of Winter, is a sweeping novel about three very different people who are brought together in a story that journeys from present-day Brooklyn to Guatemala in the recent past to 1970s Chile and Brazil. In the Midst of Winter begins with a minor traffic accident--which becomes the catalyst for an unexpected  love story between two people who thought they were deep into the winter of their lives. Richard Bowmaster--a 60-year-old human rights scholar--hits the car of Evelyn Ortega--a young, undocumented immigrant from Guatemala--in the middle of a snowstorm in Brooklyn. What at first seems just a small inconvenience takes an unforeseen and far more serious turn when Evelyn turns up at the professor's house seeking help. At a loss, the professor asks his tenant Lucia Maraz--a 62-year-old lecturer from Chile--for her advice. These three very different people are brought together in a  story that moves from present-day Brooklyn to Guatemala in the recent past to 1970s Chile and Brazil, sparking the beginning of a long overdue love story between Richard and Lucia. Tender and surprising, this is a lovely read.