「ウインクで乾杯」
最初にノベルスで出た時のタイトルは『香子の夢ーコンパニオン殺人事件』だったそうだ。文庫化されたのは1992年5月なのかな？『東野圭吾公式ガイド 作家生活40周年』に書いてある。
コンパニオン、そうそう、なんか流行ってたよね。私は30代後半だった。夜会巻とかね。笑
全体の感想としては、殺人事件が題材だけど、柴田が爽やかで、香子もおちゃめなので、楽しく読めた。
最後の締めは、「少女フレンド」とか「マーガレット」とか、「なかよし」とか「りぼん」とかに掲載されているお話っぽいテイストを感じた。ちょっと古すぎますか？ 私の感想。笑
私はこの話の最後の2行、好きだな。
さて、「華屋」ってどこかで聞いたことがあるぞ。「白夜行」か「幻夜」だ、と思って調べてみたら、やっぱり「幻夜」に登場していた。
社長は新海冬美と結婚するんじゃなかったのか？あの時の社長は誰だっけ？
AIで調べたら、「幻夜」に登場する華屋の社長は秋村隆治だった。「ウインクで乾杯」では西原正雄だ。
『幻夜』は2004年に単行本として出版されているので、「ウインクで乾杯」よりだいぶ後だな。
健三の件があって、会社も12年の間にいろいろ変わっていったのかもね。それとも単に繋がっていないのだろうか？
東野さんに聞いてみたい。
さて、ストーリーでは、私はずっと高見俊介が怪しいと思っていたし、三枚目キャラの健三が主犯だとは思わなかった。（大ネタばれ）
香子の性格もそうだし、さらに言えば被害者の女性たちもジメジメしていなくて、ストーリーが暗くならない。それも肩が凝らずに読めることに繋がっているのかな。
でも丸本や伊瀬は良いとして、佐竹のキャラは私には印象が薄かったな。最後の最後でようやく輪郭がはっきりしたけれど。
伊瀬の動機もちょっと残念だった。あんなところにメッセージを書くくらい思慮深い人なら、犯罪だとわかった時点で手を引くのではないだろうか。というより、そもそも殺さないだろう。
と思ったのは、私だけだろうか？
なんて、いろいろ言ってますけども〜、
全体としては、気軽に読める作品として好きでした。以上。
Cheers with a Wink
Apparently, when it was first published as a novel, the title was Kyoko's Dream: The Companion Murder Case. It looks like the paperback edition came out in May 1992. At least that's what it says in Keigo Higashino Official Guide: 40 Years as a Writer.
Companions... right, those were kind of a thing back then, weren't they? I was in my late thirties.
And those fancy updos, too. 😂
As for my overall impression, yes, it's a murder mystery, but Shibata is such a refreshing character and Kyoko is so playful that I ended up enjoying it all the way through.
The ending somehow reminded me of stories that used to appear in magazines like Shojo Friend, Margaret, Nakayoshi, or Ribon.
Is that comparison showing my age? 😂
But I really like the final two lines:
"Shibata bent his right arm and offered it to her. Kyoko broke into a bright smile and took hold of his arm."
Now then, the company name "Hanaya" sounded familiar.
It must have been from Journey Under the Midnight Sun or Genya, I thought. So I looked it up, and sure enough, it appeared in Genya.
Wasn't the president supposed to marry Fuyumi Shinkai?
And who was that president again?
According to AI, the president of Hanaya in Genya was Ryuji Akimura. In Cheers with a Wink, it's Masao Nishihara.
Since Genya was published as a hardcover in 2004, it came out quite a bit later than Cheers with a Wink.
Maybe after the whole Kenzo incident, the company changed a lot over those twelve years.
Or maybe the two stories aren't connected at all.
I'd love to ask Higashino-san someday.
As for the mystery itself, I suspected Shunsuke Takami the whole time, and I never expected Kenzo—the comic-relief character—to be the mastermind. (Major spoiler alert.)
Kyoko's personality helps, too. And come to think of it, even the female victims aren't portrayed in a gloomy or depressing way, so the story never becomes overly dark.
I think that's part of what makes it such an easy read.
Marumoto and Ise worked fine as characters, but Satake didn't leave much of an impression on me. His role became clearer right at the very end, but until then, he felt a bit thin.
I was also a little disappointed by Ise's motive.
If he's thoughtful enough to leave a message in a place like that, wouldn't he have backed out once he realized it was a crime?
Actually, come to think of it, he probably wouldn't have killed anyone in the first place.
Or is that just me?
Anyway, that's enough of me rambling. 😆
Overall, I liked it as a light, enjoyable read.
That's all.
