toriamos 's review for:

The Decagon House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji

4.0

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: Yes

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There was a lot that I really liked about this book. I think the decagon house is such a beautifully interesting location for a locked room mystery, and it was used to excellent effect. I thought all the characters were interesting on the island, and I loved watching each of them react to their reality and cope with it differently. I thought the storyline on the mainland was just as interesting as the island, and I loved how the emphasis of the investigation into the blue mansion murders provided a red Herring for not just kawaminami but the reader as well. And then of course the twisted at the end, using the nicknames that you've so gotten used to to disguise the killer from the reader.
I really like a mystery you can look back on and see the clues even if you didn't necessarily pick the whodunnit while you were reading. And I think this book has some of that. I know it points out Van/Morisu's muddy bike at one point, and the pointed nature of it telling you that he only meets with kawaminami late in the evenings. And I understand that a mystery needs to keep some things secret, so I'm fine with the readers' inability to really know the exact method of him committing murders. 
My two biggest gripes with the book and the reason for only 4* are this: I guessed the motive of the killer early on. It was mostly a guess, but looking at the group that was on the island, if one of them was the killer it really only made sense that one of them was chiori's lover, so it was both a cliche reason, and I felt like it was somewhat ignored until the end. The second is that I hate Ellery's death. I think he was such an interesting character, really taking on the lead detective role, and I was 100% fine with his optimism erring on arrogance in believing his theory about seiji being alive, even after poe's death, but it just feels so stupid to me that he would stick to that even after finding the body under the decagon house. Just what a lame way to go.