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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
mysterious
medium-paced
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
This book is a love letter to mystery novels but especially And Then There Were None.
The set-up takes around half the book, but once the first person dies it doesn't let up for a second. It's meta upon meta upon meta — interesting to read as a standalone, but with the context of murder mystery meta the mind game is truly underway, and if you've read And Then There Were None the homage is truly complete. You can figure out the ending if you're paying very close attention, but it's still a delightful journey, well-constructed, and very obviously crafted with love.
The set-up takes around half the book, but once the first person dies it doesn't let up for a second. It's meta upon meta upon meta — interesting to read as a standalone, but with the context of murder mystery meta the mind game is truly underway, and if you've read And Then There Were None the homage is truly complete. You can figure out the ending if you're paying very close attention, but it's still a delightful journey, well-constructed, and very obviously crafted with love.
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The members of a university mystery club take a trip to Tsunojima Island, site of a set of grisly, unsolved murders, to put their amateur sleuthing skills to the test - when one of them is murdered, they realise they are being picked off themselves…
I haven’t really read any Japanese murder mysteries because for some reason I thought they tended towards the gory, and I enjoy murder mysteries for the puzzle factor rather than the grisly details. But my interest was obviously piqued by the blurb’s mention that this was inspired by Christie’s And Then There Were None… and it turns out it wasn’t especially gruesome.
I was hooked and I did not figure the solution out until the very last second. Actually, that’s not quite true - I correctly guessed whodunnit near the start, but immediately dismissed my reasoning as too basic. I certainly didn’t figure out how it was all done. Familiarity with And Then There Were None isn’t necessary nor particularly helpful (clearly), but it does add an extra layer of appreciation whilst reading the book - clever little references abound.
The problem with being inspired by a specific Christie is that, as a reader, it’s hard not to compare and Ayatsuji doesn’t quite match Christie’s brilliance. To be clear, this is still very good with an ingenious solution, and although it leaned slightly towards the verbose, I’ll certainly be reading more of Ayatsuji’s murder mysteries.
An ingenious, twisty closed-room murder mystery.
slow-paced
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Wow. This kept me guessing right up until I end.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced