One downside to mentally planning what you want to write in a review before you’ve written the review is that you may end up forgetting to write the review. Yes, that’s a lot of words to say: I thought this out in my head but have (probably) forgotten things. But we will see if I manage to write something that makes sense!

I read Silent Parade because I watched the latest Galileo movie, which is based on this book. If you haven’t watched the movie, basically, this story is about a man who is suspected of killing a teenager. This suspect, who refuses to say anything, subsequently turns up dead after a town festival/parade. Detectives Kusanagi and Utsumi call upon their own friend, Professor Yukawa to help solve this case.

The first thing that surprised me about the book is how faithful the movie was to it. If you’ve watched the movie, you pretty much know the whole plot of the book and all the characters. I always had the impression that Utsumi was made for the series, but now I see I was wrong – she’s in the book and the role she plays is pretty much the same as what she does in the movie.

As with the movie, I found the mystery to be a bit predictable. In fact, the book is pretty much the same as the movie. However, I did feel like the movie telegraphed things a bit too much so what felt obvious in the movie was a bit more subtle in the book.

The second thing that surprised me was how small things can make a difference. One grip I had about the movie was that we never really got an in-depth exploration of the characters’ relationships. Well, I did not get what I wanted here, but it was interesting that I went from disappointment that the movie was similar to the book to contentment at being able to understand the characters better. Having their POV chapters made a difference because I was able to get under their skin for a while; I remember feeling like I understood the people of Kikuno a lot better compared to when I watched the film.

Overall, this was an interesting experience! In my limited experience, the movie tends to differ from the book quite a bit (looks at Percy Jackson) so it was surprising to see what a faithful adaptation this was. Although I adore the stars of the Galileo series, I have to admit that in this instance, I prefer the book. The insight that point of view chapters give made the story more moving compared to watching it in a movie. Of course, I’ll still have to admit that my favourite Higashino book so far is Newcomer, because it surprised me in a great way – that was truly a mystery with a lot of heart.