After School

This can be called the debut work of Keigo Higashino.
It seems to be an important work where all his subsequent work styles were formed.

The classic puzzle of a locked-room murder is presented with a purely logical and mechanical solution.
I think this engineering-based solution based on physical laws and the use of tools is an influence of the author's background as an engineer.

The author intentionally presents motives that are difficult for adults' common sense to accept, dramatically showing the special psychological state of the closed society of high school girls.
The damage to purity is a fear that threatens existence itself and becomes a principle of action that transcends the law.

Isn't an incomprehensible motive precisely the psychological gap and disconnection of communication that cannot be filled between generations?
The setup where one meets ruin at the very moment they succeed in solving a bizarre mystery seems to be a message that intellectual ability alone cannot prevent the catastrophe of human relationships.