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A review by aoki_reads
The Decagon House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji
5.0
THIS BOOK WAS SO MUCH FUN! Reading The Decagon House Murders felt like playing a game in your brain. Typically, I’m not a cozy mystery girlie— but this book had me page turning for real. So damn enjoyable.
I’m not gonna lie, I’ve yet to read an Agatha Christie book— don’t kill me though, friend. But because she is mothaaa of the murder mystery genre, I’m very familiar with And Then There Were None— the very book this book pays homage to. And Yukito Ayatsuji does an amazing job at giving us a seriously good, fun, and twisted mystery to solve.
I’m really into Japanese lit., so I’m familiar with the particular movement referred to as honkaku— which plays off of Golden Age detective fiction. It’s a genre surrounding “fair play”, where the clues are all laid out in the text so that the reader can solve it, even if it may be difficult. Since I’ve never actually read honkaku, I decided to pick up The Decagon House Murders, and what a fire first introduction to the genre.
Yukito Ayatsuji writes a locked room mystery about seven mystery-loving university students who decide to take a week long trip to the mysterious and uninhabited island of Tsunojima to stay at the infamous Decagon House. This oddly structured space was built by an architect and inhabitant nearly twenty years ago as an annex to his home— the Blue Mansion. But just six months before this current student trip, the home was burnt down— and the architect, his wife, and two house servants living on the island were all brutally murdered. But this doesn’t deter the seven young mystery lovers from visiting the island— because it’s actually why they want to visit. So when everyone finds out that one of their own Mystery Club member’s uncles has access to the island, they jump on the opportunity to go.
And I mean they really shouldn’t have went because of course, and no spoilers here,— everyone starts to die.
Really, I could get all intricate on the details in this book but there are so many layers. So many tools, clues, hints, ideas, concepts, red herrings, and accusations are laid out for the reader. This book is an ‘intellectual puzzle’ with so many minute pieces and details. Mind you, we’re solving this puzzle from two perspectives and from two different groups— the mainland crew and the island crew (you’ll see what that means). So, there are a lot of overlapping opinions and theories between characters.
But for real, everything about this book is a vibe. From the character names— Ellery, Leroux, Agatha, Poe, Van Dine, Orczy, and Carr (all ode to famous Western mystery writers) to the complete academic vibe within the story itself was amazing. A murder mystery about a group of students obsessed with murder mysteries? Couldn’t do it better.
I was guessing andguessing with this book. And while I had ideas or felt close to solving something— there was always more. I was continuously frustrated and always questioning myself— which is a compliment to the author. And just when I knew I cracked the case— Ayatsuji said, “No, you did not guess correctly— no winner here, love..” That big reveal? I see why this is one of the most famous Japanese honkaku novels to date.
The Decagon House Murders was just so good. Go read it. I’m a fan. Entertaining, wild, tricky, redeeming— just yes. The only thing I kinda didn’t like was the lack of character development. I felt like Ellery (I think we can all agree) is the only one who stuck out as our star detective. But it wasn’t enough for me to dock a star. Otherwise? *chefs kiss*
I’m not gonna lie, I’ve yet to read an Agatha Christie book— don’t kill me though, friend. But because she is mothaaa of the murder mystery genre, I’m very familiar with And Then There Were None— the very book this book pays homage to. And Yukito Ayatsuji does an amazing job at giving us a seriously good, fun, and twisted mystery to solve.
I’m really into Japanese lit., so I’m familiar with the particular movement referred to as honkaku— which plays off of Golden Age detective fiction. It’s a genre surrounding “fair play”, where the clues are all laid out in the text so that the reader can solve it, even if it may be difficult. Since I’ve never actually read honkaku, I decided to pick up The Decagon House Murders, and what a fire first introduction to the genre.
Yukito Ayatsuji writes a locked room mystery about seven mystery-loving university students who decide to take a week long trip to the mysterious and uninhabited island of Tsunojima to stay at the infamous Decagon House. This oddly structured space was built by an architect and inhabitant nearly twenty years ago as an annex to his home— the Blue Mansion. But just six months before this current student trip, the home was burnt down— and the architect, his wife, and two house servants living on the island were all brutally murdered. But this doesn’t deter the seven young mystery lovers from visiting the island— because it’s actually why they want to visit. So when everyone finds out that one of their own Mystery Club member’s uncles has access to the island, they jump on the opportunity to go.
And I mean they really shouldn’t have went because of course, and no spoilers here,— everyone starts to die.
Really, I could get all intricate on the details in this book but there are so many layers. So many tools, clues, hints, ideas, concepts, red herrings, and accusations are laid out for the reader. This book is an ‘intellectual puzzle’ with so many minute pieces and details. Mind you, we’re solving this puzzle from two perspectives and from two different groups— the mainland crew and the island crew (you’ll see what that means). So, there are a lot of overlapping opinions and theories between characters.
But for real, everything about this book is a vibe. From the character names— Ellery, Leroux, Agatha, Poe, Van Dine, Orczy, and Carr (all ode to famous Western mystery writers) to the complete academic vibe within the story itself was amazing. A murder mystery about a group of students obsessed with murder mysteries? Couldn’t do it better.
I was guessing andguessing with this book. And while I had ideas or felt close to solving something— there was always more. I was continuously frustrated and always questioning myself— which is a compliment to the author. And just when I knew I cracked the case— Ayatsuji said, “No, you did not guess correctly— no winner here, love..” That big reveal? I see why this is one of the most famous Japanese honkaku novels to date.
The Decagon House Murders was just so good. Go read it. I’m a fan. Entertaining, wild, tricky, redeeming— just yes. The only thing I kinda didn’t like was the lack of character development. I felt like Ellery (I think we can all agree) is the only one who stuck out as our star detective. But it wasn’t enough for me to dock a star. Otherwise? *chefs kiss*