A review by lalaland_of_books
The Decagon House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji

dark 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? Yes

2.5

A group of friends who are members of K-University's Mystery club visit an isolated island with a lone blue mansion which is decagon in shape (hence the 'decagon house') for a week long trip. As a norm of the club, these friends are addressed by the nick names which are names of Golden Age Mystery authors. They are intrigued to visit this place because 6 months back 4 people were killed in mysterious conditions in this decagon house and they are excited to do some detective work as they are all fans of mystery novels. Little did they know they have tables turned on them as someone is going to make judgement, do justice and give them horrible deaths.

This is a locked-room mystery with characters which are not well developed, lack personality and the only distinguished feature of one character from the other is its name. The plot seems stagnant and directionless. This novel draws similarities from Golden Age Mystery novels and mentions it repeatedly but fails to match that mark. If you are into mystery novels and read the likes of Christie, you might not enjoy this novel a lot. Though it is important to mention that some readers also suggest that this book is in 'honkaku' style, meaning the writer lets the reader figure out who the culprit is -if thats the case, this novel does justice to Japanese 'honkaku' style.

This is a medium paced novel, best recommended for beginners and amateurs.