Gosho Aoyama's Detective Picture Book #62:
One of the best things about being multilingual is the ability to read books that are not translated or readily available in English. Keigo Higashino is one of the best writers in Japan, and he has written many books ranging from mystery novels to children's books to comics. Mystery thrillers and detective fictions are his most frequent genres, and he has earned, amongst others, the Edogawa Rampo price, the Honkaku Mystery Award, and the Mystery Writers of Japan Award.
The most famous detective that he created is the physicist, researcher, and university professor Manabu Yukawa, who is more of a scientist than a detective. Yukawa went to college with Police Detective Shunpei Kusanagi, who comes to him for pointers on his tough cases. Because of his ingenious deductions, he was nicknamed Detective Galileo. It is notable that the police in these stories are far from bumbling or incapable; Kusanagi is competent and has a good grasp of human foibles. It is only when encountering highly intelligent murderers and carefully planned schemes that he needed the brilliant mind of Yukawa. Kusanagi is also accompanied by a sharp and reticent police detective named Kaoru Utsumi, whose observant nature and suspicious outlook on cases resembles Ai Haibara.
Similar to Shinichi Kudo, Manabu Yukawa has a prickly personality, an almost boyish excitement for mysteries, lack of social graces, and a soft spot for children. However, Yukawa doesn't put the truth or justice first, but carefully considers the best solution for the people involved even if it means the crime goes unpunished. He is very passionate about math, physics, the sciences, and their roles in pushing humans forward, something as a former math major I really appreciated. In the books, Yukawa doesn't have a love interest, but if there is one it would probably be science.
Some spoilers ahead:
Yukawa's most admirable quality is probably his thoughtfulness and care. Because he has few friends, he treasures his relationships, although in many occasions this is the cause of his pain. In The Devotion of Suspect X, after a friend confesses to the murder, Yukawa miserably deduces the true solution and encourages the real culprit to turn herself in. To do that, he divulges his deductions to Kusanagi under the condition that if he comes to the police with the story, they can no longer be friends. This case hurt Yukawa deeply and made him hesitant to join later investigations. Only when Utsumi reveals that Kusanagi fell in love with a suspect in Salvation of A Saint did Yukawa involve himself out of curiosity and concern.
Interestingly, like Shinichi with the Detective Boys, Yukawa is good with kids and often ends up teaching them about the wonders of science. Unfortunately, this soft spot gets him plunged into deeper mysteries. In The Forbidden Magic (not yet published in English), when his former mentee Shingo plots to use the railgun they built for revenge, Yukawa passionately defends him to Kusanagi, insisting that Shingo knows science should not be used for murder. When Yukawa takes control of the railgun, he tells Shingo that if he wants to, Yukawa will help him shoot the man who abandoned his sister to die, seeing it as a way to take responsibility for creating the gun in the first place. In A Midsummer's Equation, after figuring out that the child he mentored was exploited for murder, Yukawa protects him and asks Kyohei's cousin who went through a similar experience to be there for him when he realizes the truth.
In the Detective Galileo series, I recommend The Devotion of Suspect X and A Midsummer's Equation. For Keigo Higashino mysteries, you should check out the Detective Kyoichiro Kaga series and other standalone novels such as The Murder in Mansion Hakuba. (Note that some of these books might not be available in English)
