Don't Call it Mystery (Omnibus), Vol. 7-8

Don't Call it Mystery Omnibus #4

by Yumi Tamura

An Invitation to Murder

When Totonou’s favourite professor asks him for a favor, the usually introverted Totonou can’t help but say yes. Professor Amatatsu is planning a weekend getaway in the snowy countryside. Once all the guests are assembled, one of them suggests they play a murder mystery game. But as the snow continues to fall and people start to act more and more strangely, Totonou starts to suspect that this isn’t a game at all!

Afterward, Totonou gets to spend more time with his friend Leica, a girl he met in the hospital. But there is more to Leica than meets the eye, and Totonou has to deal with a stunning realization about his friend.

Genres: Manga, Mystery, Comics, Josei, Crime, Contemporary, Graphic Novels

388 pages, Paperback

Published April 23, 2024

About the author

Name (in native language): 田村由美
Birth Date: September 5
Zodiac: Virgo

Tamura is an avid RPG videogamer - Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, etc. She also loves to read mystery books, and going on the computer to chat with her fans.

Reviews

[Anna Quilter]

More intricate, clever non truths from Totonou..

A Murder-Mystery evening goes sideways.
A poem and an Art Gallery robbery connect
Totonou is asked to help differentiate between two girls..

Pretty much a one of a kind series...with a very unique main character.

[vin .ᐟ (hiatus)]

there's a reason this series has 20 million copies in circulation 🙂‍↕️

[Kristen]

3.5

This one drug more than the others but the revelations in this made up for it.

[Jennifer]

I enjoy the series, but admit that I don’t find Totonou’s mystery solving to be very logical or realistic. Or maybe it’s the situations that are not realistic. Like the thing with the mystery murder weekend. I can readily understand how the friend made the mistake of giving out the address 5 years ago, though I question why Kiwa would ask him to give her friend the address in the first place. Supposedly her cell phone did not have service, and her husband was teaching a class. But why would she not call the friend directly and give them the address? It would make some sense if it revealed that it turned out the first caller had been the stalker pretending to be Kiwa. Then the insane “blowing off steam” by “pulling stalker’s strings.” That’s not pulling their strings, that’s giving them info to kill people. And apparently testing it out his murder method on 4 random people? How far ahead was he planning, if that was “last fall” and now it’s winter? Had this get together been planned that far in advance? And while he was noted as being self sufficient, was it his normal practice to sleep in a tent outside, put a sheet down before sitting, wear gloves and hat at all times, and bring his own dishes and such?? I would assume his friends would think that’s weird. And also, it would be much less weird for him to NOT bring his own stuff, but to TAKE what he did use. So take the extra plate/cup/slippers or wash and out them away. Why would using the bathroom be a problem - how would the police know how many people used the bathroom, and when? The key is not to leave zero trace of yourself ever being at your friend’s house, but to leave no evidence you were present at the time of these deaths. It just overly complicated matters. I thought everyone was unbelievably calm at the revelations of all his crazy actions, and it’s sad that their long friendship came to this.

It’s very unrealistic that Leica has a specific time period where she knows she’ll integrate into her main psyche. That’s not how therapy works. Also not sure why she’s staying at the hospital if she’s getting treated for DID. Is she in a specific ward for psychological treatment?

One thing I particularly like is Totonou’s rambling (and often terribly timed) musings on his point of view of various social topics. I don’t agree with many of his points, but they are interesting and I appreciate someone that thinks so abstractly about a wide range of topics. I have noticed the author has an incorrect idea about the western countries - it’s been brought up in multiple volumes that the west/US is more advanced when it comes to dealing with things like child abuse, drugs, mental illness, encouraging well rounded individuals, etc. That’s not really a correct view.

[The Leppy]

Easily my favorite volume so far! I really enjoyed the Murder Mystery Party story at the start and the Leica reveal was actually stunning. I am so intrigued by the "twins" story too... aaaaa I want the next volume!!!

There is a scene where Totonou talks about accommodating people by giving them more options to live and work the way best for them and it really got to me. I guess that you could say that Totonou does that a lot he points out things that most people just accept and questions them. Why do we do things that way? Why do we accept things that are bad (car accidents) as common/expected. This is why I love this manga series even if it makes me sad that there isn't a solution. That and the mysteries and Totonou getting yanked into something. I was laughing so hard at Shio-san literally chasing Totonou down.

[Samuel]

92%

Best volume so far. All the mysteries in this volume were great, and none were too slow imo (which is one of the issues I have with a few of the mysteries in previous volumes). Plus, I loved the moments with Totonou and Leica. And Totonou just yapping about random subjects that then ties into the mystery at hand is so fun. He’s an amazing main character, I love the bushy haired lil guy haha.

Can’t wait to read more of this series!

[Clifford Luebben]

This one didn’t draw me in as much; although the cliffhanger definitely has me eager to read the next one.

I also appreciate that oddity of Totonou’s character being so skeptical yet being into astrology was directly addressed as that aspect of his character was really bothering me.

[yamzreads]

4 ⭐️

[Nomad nimrod]

Not as good as previous volumes but still a decent read.

[mako]

I've come this far, I guess I need to keep going?

[reese]

"you were trying to be invisible, weren't you?" HELLO?

[ReadingFrog]

4.5 stars.