The Bizarre House Mysteries Series

A twisty and ingenious stand-alone classic Japanese murder mystery from the author of The Decagon House Murders

Can the brilliant Kiyoshi Shimada solve the mystery of this bizarre house before all those trapped in its labyrinth are dead? Can you guess the solution before he does?

Miyagaki Yōtarō is one of Japan’s most famed mystery writers, but several years ago he put down his pen and left the Tokyo literary world for a life of seclusion in the remote Labyrinth House, built by the notorious architect Nakamura Seiji. When four of the country’s most exciting up-and-coming crime writers are invited to the  house for Yōtarō’s birthday party, they are honoured to accept. But no sooner have they arrived than they are confronted with a shocking death, then lured into a bizarre, deadly competition with each other…

As the competition proceeds, and murder follows murder, the brilliant Kiyoshi Shimada investigates. Can he solve the mystery of the house before all those trapped in its labyrinth are dead? And can you guess the solution before he does?

Readers of Japanese crime classics and fans of clever puzzle mysteries, such as Magpie Murders, Eight Detectives, and The Appeal will love the 3rd stand-alone book from the author of Decagon House Murders and Mill House Murders – Japanese crime classics that have dazzled readers with their ingeniously constructed plots and solutions. The whole book is like a magic trick, with one of Ayatsuji’s trademark breathtaking reveals at the end.

“A psychological-mystical thriller built on Agatha Christie-type stopwatch sequences and John Dickson Carr-style locked-room conundrums…  No one can accuse Mr. Ayatsuji of not sustaining the eerie mood of his strange story until its very last sentence.”  — The Wall Street Journal

A hugely enjoyable, page-turning classic Japanese mystery with an ingenious conclusion from the author of The Decagon House Murders, translated into English for the first time

Don’t miss this beautifully constructed, highly entertaining and atmospheric murder mystery–its propulsive plot makes for a compelling, page-turning read.

As they do every year, a small group of acquaintances pay a visit to the remote, castle-like Water Mill House, home to the reclusive Fujinuma Kiichi, son of a famous artist, who has lived his life behind a rubber mask ever since a disfiguring car accident.

This year, however, the visit is disrupted by an impossible disappearance, the theft of a painting and a series of baffling murders.

The brilliant Kiyoshi Shimada arrives to investigate. But will he get to the truth, and will you too be able to solve the mystery of the Mill House Murders?

“Ayatsuji’s brilliant and richly atmospheric puzzle will appeal to fans of golden age whodunits… Every word counts, leading up to a jaw-dropping but logical reveal” — Publishers Weekly
 
A hugely enjoyable, page-turning murder mystery sure to appeal to fans of Elly Griffiths, Anthony Horowitz, and Agatha Christie, with one of the best and most-satisfying conclusions you’ll ever read. A classic in Japan, available in English for the first time.

From The New York Times Book Review:
 
“Read Yukito Ayatsuji’s landmark mystery, The Decagon House Murders, and discover a real depth of feeling beneath the fiendish foul play.
 
Taking its cues from Agatha Christie’s locked-room classic And Then There Were None, the setup is this: The members of a university detective-fiction club, each nicknamed for a favorite crime writer (Poe, Carr, Orczy, Van Queen, Leroux and — yes — Christie), spend a week on remote Tsunojima Island, attracted to the place, and its eerie 10-sided house, because of a spate of murders that transpired the year before. That collective curiosity will, of course, be their undoing.
 
As the students approach Tsunojima in a hired fishing boat, ‘the sunlight shining down turned the rippling waves to silver. The island lay ahead of them, wrapped in a misty veil of dust,’ its sheer, dark cliffs rising straight out of the sea, accessible by one small inlet. There is no electricity on the island, and no telephones, either.
 
A fresh round of violent deaths begins, and Ayatsuji’s skillful, furious pacing propels the narrative. As the students are picked off one by one, he weaves in the story of the mainland investigation of the earlier murders. This is a homage to Golden Age detective fiction, but it’s also unabashed entertainment.”