The Decagon House Murders: Yukito Ayatsuji (Pushkin Vertigo)

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As much as I enjoy this book, I admit there is a big fat dead giveaway early in the story al la la out of the seven students, one student had gone up to the island earlier than the rest...you know what that means, right? so it isn't all that hard to guess who is the killer. But if the whodunnit part is reasonably well done, the how-he-done-it -- painstakingly then spelled out -- is kind of a mess. This is definitely an interesting and strange mystery that will keep you hooked. The characters are remarkable, the story is intriguing, and I loved reading about how things pan out. Shimada Soji also explains in his Introduction that this novel triggered a revival of the " honkaku mystery"-form -- orthodox, old-style puzzlers, the detective-work in them based on logical reasoning (as opposed to the: "realism of the social school of mystery fiction" one of the characters had complained about), in a new, more modern guise.

I)t was a pleasant surprise to read Yukito Ayatsuji's landmark 1987 mystery (...) and discover a real depth of feeling beneath the fiendish foul play. (...) This is a homage to Golden Age detective fiction, but it's also unabashed entertainment." - Sarah Weinman, The New York Times Book ReviewThe dénouement was fiendishly clever... An engaging, entertaining mystery with a puzzle fit for the most ardent of armchair detectives

Clodhopping prose and clunky exposition don't succeed in spoiling the pleasure of trying to guess the identity of the culprit, or the highly ingenious solution." - Laura Wilson, The Guardian On the other hand we see how 2 former members of the Mystery Novel Research Association are getting strange letters and start a little investigation. The atmosphere on the island and in Decagon House was chilling and unsettling, and the art was fantastic, really expressive. I especially loved the architecture. I said this was going to be a spoiler-heavy review already but I am about to go into end-game spoilers so read at your discretion But about a year ago, the Blue Mansion burned down, killing all the family members. However, the dead people were found to have sedatives, so they are believed to be murdered.This one's like a 3.7 popped up to a 4 by the ending. Speaking of which, crikey! While not the best Japanese crime novel I've ever read, had I been eating something when the big reveal of this story came along, I probably would have choked because of the huge gasp that involuntarily came out of me. As soon as that cleared, the first words out of my mouth were "holy sh*t." I don't have that reaction very often; even though there have been many times I've been truly surprised at the unmasking of the who, this one absolutely takes the cake. For the first four days of the action, chapters alternate between those set on the island and those set on the mainland. Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. November 22, 2019. Archived from the original on July 29, 2021 . Retrieved July 29, 2021. The Decagon House Murders is one of the most enjoyable classic crime novels I've ever read. An evocative island setting, a perfectly constructed puzzle, and an entirely satisfying solution. It'll keep you guessing until the very end.