The Decagon House Murders

by Yukito Ayatsuji

Goodreads Synopsis:

The lonely, rockbound island of Tsunojima is notorious as the site of a series of bloody unsolved murders. Some even say it’s haunted. One thing’s for sure: it’s the perfect destination for the K-University Mystery Club’s annual trip.

But when the first club member turns up dead, the remaining amateur sleuths realise they will need all of their murder-mystery expertise to get off the island alive.

As the party are picked off one by one, the survivors grow desperate and paranoid, turning on each other. Will anyone be able to untangle the murderer’s fiendish plan before it’s too late?

My Rating:

☆☆☆☆☆

"What mystery novels need are – some might call me old-fashioned – a great detective, a mansion, a shady cast of residents, bloody murders, impossible crimes and never-before-seen tricks played by the murderer. Call it my castle in the sky, but I’m happy as long as I can enjoy such a world. But always in an intellectual manner."

"In my opinion, mystery fiction is, at its core, a kind of intellectual puzzle. An exciting game of reasoning in the form of a novel. A game between the reader and the great detective, or the reader and the author. Nothing more or less than that."

Dates Read:

First Read: October 30, 2022
Reread: October 12, 2024

Initial Publication Date: September 1987

Translation Published: December 2020

Author Origin: Japan (Kyoto)

Tone (via NovelistPlus): Suspenseful, Atmospheric

Writing Style (via NovelistPlus): Compelling

Major Characters:

Students on the Island: Ellery, Leroux, Poe, Van, Carr, Agatha, and Orczy.
Students on the Mainland: Kawaminami & Morisu
(Amateur) Detective on the Mainland: Shimada Kiyoshi

Personal Notes:

This is one of my favorite novels of all time! By far, the best murder mystery I've ever read, and my favorite of the genre, by a long shot. An amazingly done locked-room mystery inspired by the classic Agatha Christie novel And Then There Were None.

While the first 100 pages were slow-paced (by necessity, as the narrative was built and characters introduced) once the murders began, I just couldn't put the book down. Everything about it was just so interesting - the character's nicknames, the setting and house itself, the dual narratives with the students on the island and the detectives on the mainland, the murders themselves, and that final plot twist! Impeccable vibes!

This would be a great book to read while listening to the Nancy Drew: The Curse of Blackmoor Manor soundtrack. I know, because that's exactly what I did. I remember I also read the first 100 pages or so in the afternoon, before going out to meet my family for my birthday celebration dinner, and then coming straight home to finish the book that evening. It was the day before Halloween, too; the perfect time of year to read this novel.

I already know I'll be rereading this one!

October 2024 Edit: Just finished rereading this one, and it was just as good - if not better - the second time around! Still one of my favorite novels!

Contextual Notes:

"Honkaku stories have more in common with a game of chess than some modern thrillers, which can be filled with surprise twists and sudden reveals. In honkaku, everything is transparent: no villains suddenly appear in the last chapter, no key clues are withheld until the final page. Honkaku writers were scrupulous about 'playing fair', so clues and suspects were woven through the plot, giving the reader a fair chance of solving the mystery before the detective does." (Quote source.)

"Although Souji Shimada's 1981 debut with The Tokyo Zodiac Murders is oftentimes credited as the first true shinhonkaku detective novel, The Decagon House Murders is widely given credit for launching the boom in shinhonkaku-style novels that came to dominate the 1990s." (Quote source.)

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