I finished it yesterday, however, I waited to allow some time for my sporadic thoughts to coalesce.
At first glance, it's a generic murder mystery like the last one I read. I guessed the direction it was taking in the last act and was able to guess how it all went down. But like last time, I didn't feel cocky at doing so. Maybe it's the years behind me but I guess I have started to look at such stories with a different perspective.

Death in Tokyo and Midsummer Equation felt lackluster in comparison to Malice, Devotion and Salvation. While the latter were comparatively black & white and had a clear sense of vindication for the readers, the former tended to blur the lines. I didn't feel that exhilaration at having guessed the murderer but something that was much more akin to emptiness.

In Midsummer Equation, we didn't get a specific bad person at the end. We just found an old man who did a bad thing to protect his family.

Death in Tokyo dealt with a bunch of high schoolers who didn't know any better and in wake of their naivete, left behind 3 families utterly destroyed.
There's an unborn child would grow up without a father.
2 widows who'd never see their significant other. A traumatized daughter who attempted suicide. 3 guys who will never recover psychologically. And a family with their only son in a coma.

Murder is not mysterious. It's traumatic. Repercussions metastasize. It's a contagion without discrimination and without a cure and it will stay that way till the end of time because the lesson of history is that no one ever learns.

Higashino's writing has not stagnated. It's just become a lot more personal than it used to be in my opinion. While it may not stractch that usual itch in some, it'll certainly give you a different viewpoint.

P.S : Original title of the book is Kirin No Tsubasa which literally translates to : The Wings of the Kirin.

Who thought that something as banal as Death In Tokyo was more appropriate? Like where's the poetry in that?