东野圭吾是日本推理小说作家。其代表作有《白夜行》、《嫌疑人X的献身》、《解忧杂货店》，均被改编为影视作品。
1999年，他的作品《秘密》获第52届日本推理作家协会奖，2006年《嫌疑人X的献身》获134届直木奖，东野圭吾从而达成了日本推理小说史上罕见的“三冠王”。
2017年4月，第11届中国作家富豪榜重磅发布，其中“外国作家富豪榜”里，东野圭吾以2200万元的年度版税收入，问鼎外国作家富豪榜首位。
东野圭吾的推理小说表达了的是对于饱受死亡威胁的心灵的慰藉。他笔下的卑微者与现代化的社会形成对立，并且反抗科技理性。
他的作品揭示了片面张扬工具理性所带来的悲苦。在一个被死亡阴影笼罩的“规范社会”，他塑造了一种值得人们仰望和追求的生命境界。
在艺术手法上，东野认为“小说首先应该是一个好故事，一个让人喜欢听下去的好故事”。东野的叙事手法灵活多变，有的采用“听取案件一一实验一一给出解释一一破案”模式，有的采用多线平行交叉式结构，有的甚至全篇没有一处对话、单以日记和手稿的形式构建小说。
在叙述视角上不断变换，采用了非聚焦、内聚焦和外聚焦的视角。除此之外，小说还涉及灵魂出窍、穿越等不合常理的情节，在注重文学性的同时不失趣味性。
以下句子来自东野圭吾的经典作品：
The relationship between teacher and student is based on illusion. The teacher is under the illusion that he is teaching something, and the student is under the illusion that he is being taught. What’s important is that this shared illusion makes both teacher and student happy. Nothing good is gained by facing the truth, after all. All we’re doing is playing at education.
老师与学生之间的关系基于一种幻觉——老师以为他在传授一些什么，学生以为他在接受一些什么。重要的是，这种共同的幻觉让两者都高兴。毕竟任何美好的东西都不可能通过直面真相来获得。我们所在做的，只是把教育当儿戏罢了。
Sometimes, all you had to do was exist in order to be someone's saviour.
有时候，你需要做的是：好好活着，成为别人的救世主。
Even when you’re at the top, there’s always something higher.
即使你已经站在顶峰，但一山还比一山高。
I would propose that every woman has a little darkness under the surface.
我认为每个女人的漂亮皮囊底下都有一丝黑暗在涌动。
I love you more than anything else in this world. That's why your words were like a knife stabbing me in the heart. That's why you have to die, too.
我爱你胜过世界上的其它一切。这是为什么你的一字一句让我心如刀绞，也是为什么你必须死！
When you wander in the dark too long, you start to see things that aren’t really there.
在黑暗里的时间太久，会看到本不存在的幻象。
It’s more difficult to create the problem than to solve it. All the person trying to solve the problem has to do is always respect the problem’s creator.
制造问题比解决问题难得多。所有解决问题的人需要做的，就只是尊重问题制造者而已。
Curiosity is the fuel that powers the engine of human advancement.
好奇心是燃料，推动人类进步的引擎。
You are my only sunshine in the infinity of darkness.
长冗黑暗里，你是我唯一的阳光。
I have no fear of losing the sun. I have never had it in the first place.
我从来就没有太阳，所以不怕失去。
There's no such thing as the sun in my sky. It's always in the dead of night. But it's not that dim, since something takes the place of the sun. Although it does not glow so brightly as the sun does, it would suffice for me. And with that glimmer of light, my nights would turn into days.
我的天空里没有太阳这样东西。我的天空总是黑夜，但并不暗，因为有东西代替了太阳，它虽然没有太阳那么明亮，但是对于我来说已经足够了。凭着这份光，我能把黑夜当成白天。
You are what I was before.
现在的你，就是那时的我。
Demons won't spare you because you are a child.
你是个孩子，但恶魔不会因此放过你。
Those who killed the demons are doomed to be soiled by demons' blood, turning themselves into their kind.
弑魔者，必定也会被恶魔的鲜血所玷污，让自己也变成恶魔。
