2.37k reviews for:

The Decagon House Murders

Yukito Ayatsuji

3.84 AVERAGE

grusinskaya's review against another edition

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i was fully hoping from the beginning that the difference in how the characters were referred to, by the english nicknames on the island and their japanese names on the mainland, would be a relevant plot point. if the real names of the people on the island were ever mentioned on the mainland chapters, we would have no way of connecting the name to the person, after all. so i was very satisfied when that revealed itself to be maybe the most important element in holding the mystery together for the reader. seems to be a mystery dependent on being a story you read, for if you could witness the events of both the island and the mainland with your eyes, the trick would be immediately obvious. but i'm aware there are both manga and television adaptations of this book, so i'm also interested to know how this element is tackled on visual mediums.

on a second note, these characters smoked a lot. at one point it felt like 3/4 of the descriptions were them either smoking a cigarette, offering a cigarette to someone else or putting out a cigarrette. i was able to predict the poisoned one because of this, i had started paying a lot of attention to the cigarettes after a while because it would be absurd to me if all that smoking didn't lead to a plot point down the line. if i had made a chart of all the characters and the brand of cigarettes they had with them, i would have been able to make the connection between the culprit on the island and on the mainland way sooner. the clue was there, he smoked seven stars!

all of that said, i expected the architecture of the decagon house would play a bigger part on the logistcs of the murders, on facilitating the crime, and on the overall tense atmosphere, more than just on vague mentions of the white walls making you dizzy or something. the culprit not making use or even knowing of the secret rooms and passages was something of a letdown. when you think about it, it didn't need to be a decagon shaped house at all. it could have been a regular house and it would have made no difference. and lastly, the back and forth by boat the culprit had to do seemed a bit comical to me.

merlethewurl's review against another edition

4.25

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

suzeroonie's review against another edition

4.5

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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A very good, tight murder mystery. If you liked Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None,” you’ll love this. The only thing keeping it from being a 5/5 is that it’s almost *too* similar. 

rosaloess's review against another edition

4.0

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

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A really good “locked room” puzzle for fans of classic mysteries. 

mettebergo's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

mr_lighthouse's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

tonisaurus's review against another edition

4.0

dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

flickyspene's review against another edition

4.0

mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

stormthief77's review against another edition

5.0

mysterious

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

warrior_lily's review against another edition

4.0

dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes