The Devotion of Suspect X

The Devotion of Suspect X is the American debut of Keigo Higashino, a best-selling Japanese crime novelist.  Yasuko Hanaoka is a single mother working hard to create a better life for her daughter after finally escaping her abusive ex-husband. That quickly changes when he tracks down Yasuko at her new place of employment. When he drops in on Yasuko at her apartment things quickly get worse and he ends up dead. Yasuko's neighbor Ishigami, a math genius, overhears the situation and steps in to help create the perfect alibi.

Faced with solving the apparent crime and not able to crack nor complete believe Yasuko's alibi, Tokyo Police Detective Kusanagi turns to his friend, the brilliant physicist Manabu Yukawa. After hearing the details of the case, Yukawa discovers that Ishigami is a long-lost friend from school, and if not for this connection between two geniuses, the true details of the crime may never have been discovered.

While you know from the beginning that Yasuko Hanaoka killed her ex-husband, that doesn't prevent you from being shocked at the conclusion and the depth and detail of the alibi Ishigami worked so hard to create. I listened to this book, and while I found some parts to be a little slow in the beginning, I still find myself thinking about it and hope that more of the author's work is translated.