The Mill House Murders

館シリーズ #2

by Yukito Ayatsuji, Ho-Ling Wong (Translator)

Ever since a horrific car accident, Fujinuma Kiichi has lived a reclusive existence in the remote Mill House, his scarred face hidden behind a rubber mask. Then one stormy night the tranquility of his retreat is shattered by gruesome murder, a baffling disappearance and the theft of a priceless painting,

The brilliant Shimada Kiyoshi arrives on the scene, but as he investigates the seemingly impossible events of that evening, death strikes again, and again...

Can Shimada get to the truth before the killer gets to him? And can you solve the mystery of the Mill House Murders before he does?

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Japan, Mystery Thriller, Thriller, Crime, Japanese Literature

253 pages, Paperback

First published January 28, 1988

About the author

(Japanese: 綾辻 行人)

'Yukito Ayatsuji' is the original creator of Another. He is a famous writer of mystery and Japanese detective fiction. He is also one of the writers that demands restoration of the classic rules of detective fiction and the use of more self reflective elements. He is married to Fuyumi Ono, author of The Twelve Kingdoms and creator of Ghost Hunt, Juuni Kokuki, and the author for a few other manga.

Reviews

[inciminci · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Gothic castle, you say? A dark, Byronic host who always wears a white rubber mask and gloves? A lost picture from a renowned painter? A yearly reunion of old friends? A damsel in distress? A murder? A missing monk? Count me in, by all means!

The ending shocked me, very satisfying, but so did the single female character and how absolutely gorgeous, but absolutely bland and boring and obviously written by a man she was... So I'm taking off one star for that reason only, other than that this was a hit!

[Alwynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mystery with the flavour of a macabre fairy tale - with its eccentric cast of characters including a sinister, masked man and an imprisoned girl residing in the tower room of an isolated ancient house. Although this is an intricate and intriguing story I’m not sure I was the right reader for it, perhaps because I found it so hard to connect with the characters, it’s more puzzle piece than anything else. But for fans of this genre of Japanese crime novel I’m sure it will be very appealing. Translated by Ho-Jing Wong.

Thanks to Edelweiss and publisher Pushkin for an ARC

[Vikas Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

The term Honkaku originated in 1925 with Japanese crime author Saburo Koga defining this sub-genre of mystery fiction as a detective story that values the entertainment derived from pure logical reasoning. Also known as ‘orthodox’ mysteries, Japanese Honkaku novels are inspired by, and seek to imitate, the Golden Age of Western detective fiction driven by authors like Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle.

The Mill House Murders has all the ingredients for a great thriller- Remotely located mansion, exotic locale, torrential rain cutting off the only road, an invalid in wheel chair with rubber mask to hide his scared face and hands, theft of a price less painting and murder most gruesome! If you haven’t read this genre yet pick up one and try solve this whodunit and howdunit mystery before you hit the climax.

[Genni 若林🍉 · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5 stars (actually .5 but the ending genuinely shocked me)
.

Someone told me how to tag but I lost the screenshot so there’s that😭

.

˖°🌊🎐𓇼⋆🦪₊

.

This was a buddy with the amazing Hailey
Reading it with her was the only good part about this bc WHAT WAS THIS BOOK!!?!?

.

Once again another book I have no clue what the plot is but there’s quotes!! Ik it’s a mystery but the mystery took like NINE FREAKING CHAPTERS to even get to and there’s fifteen chapters in total so that’s lovely

.

But yk what there’s lots of🤭

.

Quote time!!!

.

Men and their fantasies warning ‼️

.

˚˖𓍢ִִ໋🌊🦈˚˖𓍢ִ✧˚.

.

“She’s still a child. And perhaps, she’ll be one forever “ saying this about your WIFE is crazy

.

“You want to keep her locked up here on display together with Fujinuma Issei’s beautiful landscapes, right?” Is this a self insert fanfic or a murder mystery

.

I thought this was a cute wlw couple right NO this girl got a whole husband…so who the actual heck is the narrator

.

“‘She’s your wife, right?’ ….‘She’s much…how should I put it…more beautiful than I imagined.’ Apparently he had done his homework. I glared at him as he ran his hands through his hair.”No way this man typed this out, smirked and said “yea this is it, this is a wonderful sentence.” Idk what to even say just wow

.

"I think it's absolutely repulsive. He's kept her locked up in that house since she was a child. The girl probably doesn't even know what marriage really is. She was forced into being his wife."
See this I was like thank you someone with some sense BUT JUST WAIT
“The surgeon hesitated, and then blurted out: ‘You know, his spinal cord didn't emerge unscathed from that accident twelve years ago. So down there..’”
AND HE LAUGHED…I’m never gonna stop saying where is the mystery in the murder-

.

“You see, she’d been in the water for a long time by that point, and the fish in the river, they had fed in her…” what kind of fish are these, piranhas??? her body is not decomposing this fast what are you yappin about

.

“Leave. Leave this house.” LEAVE THE GAH DANG HOUSE OMG HOW MANY TIMES AM I ABOUT TO SEE THIS

.

“Yurie comes first” the only thing I liked that he has said this whole freaking book

.

No way this man is shocked his young behind wife wants to leave him while he’s literally describing how he’s had her locked up in that house like sleeping beauty or whatever

.

₊˚✧🌊🪸🪼✧˚₊‧

.

I wouldn’t even have my worst enemy read this book it’s actually so bad😭 we both had so much faith in this book and the more we read the less faith we began to have. You can tell by how long it took us to read<3 (I do not like male authors if you can’t tell)

[johnny ♡ · Rating 2 out of 5]

a murder mystery is supposed to be fun, gripping, and plausible. “the mill house murders” never grips the audience and is full of underdeveloped characters that are all essentially the same. there are so many sentence fragments and areas in the dialogue where someone trails off while speaking that it is somewhat annoying to the reader. i couldn’t seem to care about anyone in this story or what was happening. the killer is rather obvious from the start and the ending is very weak. i’m not sure whether the translator failed here, or the author did.

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review!

[Kate O'Shea · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

I probably enjoyed this as much as Decagon House Murders. It is certainly very much in the same strain but then it is a locked room mystery so there have to be similarities.

The story is split into two timelines with a flashback to a previous accident. The owner of the Mill House has a tradition of inviting a select few friends to his home on the same day every year to look at the collection of his artist father's paintings. During the previous year there had been a storm during which the housekeeper had died followed by a painting going missing, a body being found and a man going missing.

The current timeline sees the same cast arrive at the house during a storm and they fear and joke about a repeat of the previous year's tragedies. However this time they are joined by the brilliant investigator, Kiyoshi Shimada, who has come to find out what really happened to the missing man who was his friend.

The two timelines, being quite similar did confuse me somewhat and you do have to pay attention to which year you are in. I did sort of figure some bits out but not the complete picture.

This is a cosy mystery in that there isn't huge amounts of gore and a lot if the action is cerebral. If you want blood, gore and sex then this is obviously not for you. However I love a mystery like this where your brain begins to hurt as you try to put the pieces.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

[Faith · Rating 3 out of 5]

“The unfortunate woman who fell from the tower. The stolen painting. The suspicious man who disappeared. And in his attempt to catch the thief, another man was killed, cut up in pieces and burnt in the incinerator. Eventually, the storm passed. And with that, all the incidents of the night would be buried, hidden away behind one unified explanation.”

Fujinuma Kiichi lives in the Mill House with a valuable collection of paintings. Once a year he opens up the house to a small group so they can view the paintings. Fujinuma is confined to a wheelchair and always wears a mask as the result of injuries incurred in an accident. The events described in the above quote occurred at last year’s opening. Now, visitors are arriving again, including the uninvited guest, Kiyoshi Shimada, who has a lot of questions.

There is a list of characters at the beginning of the book. This is helpful, but the problem is that all of the characters act and speak the same, so it is impossible to tell them apart. The book is narrated by Fujinuma in a very wooden way and the dialog is very cheesy. Maybe some of this was caused by a problem with the translation The idea behind the plot wasn’t bad, but there was really too much going on. The book had one of the most convoluted denouements I have encountered in a mystery. The author is striving to write in the fashion of classic mysteries, but his style doesn’t appeal to me. I prefer the mysteries of Seishi Yokomizo.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

[Creya Casale | cc.shelflove · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh. I could have just read the final two chapters of this book and I wouldn’t have missed a single thing. It was so incredibly slow, flat, and boring. The dialogue was dull. Every time Shimada opened his mouth… Bro, just get to the point already. Not for me.

Writing quality = 0
“Couldn’t Put It Down”-ness = 0
Character development = 0

😴

[Ivonne Rovira · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved Yukito Ayatsuji’s The Decagon House Murders, the novel that introduced readers to Kiyoshi Shimada, so I was eager to read the second in this series.

While The Decagon House is an artful variation on Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, The Mill House Murders pretty much is like nothing else. The disheveled Shimada foists himself on a recluse, Fujinuma Kiichi, who opens his huge, phantasmagorical home only once a year, Sept. 28. Last time Kiichi did so, two people were murdered and a third went missing. Shimada is certain that his childhood friend, who disappeared, is not the murderer, as is assumed. And he proceeds to reveal what really happened, with a very shocking ending.

In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley, Pushkin Press and Pushkin Vertigo in exchange for an honest review.

[Lady Clementina ffinch-ffarowmore · Rating 5 out of 5]

My thanks to Pushkin Press for a review copy of this book via Edelweiss.

A woman had fallen from the tower.
A painting disappeared.
A man vanished under seemingly impossible circumstances.

Described as ‘the classic Japanese locked room mystery’, The Mill House Murders, originally published in 1988 is an atmospheric mystery, set in an isolated house in the mountains, and one which keeps up the tension and suspense all through. I read this in translation by Netherlands-based translator Ho-Lin Wong, and this was my first time reading any of Yukito Ayatsuji’s books, though Pushkin had published his Decagon House Murders in translation in 2020, like this book, under their ‘Vertigo’ imprint.

The year is 1986 and we are in the Mill House, an isolated house in the mountains, where Fujinuma Kiitchi, the son of famed painter Fujinuma Issei lives with his much younger and very beautiful wife Yurie, butler Kuramuto Shoji and housekeeper Nozawa Tomoko. While unlike his father Kiichi had no artistic talent, he was a successful businessman and wealthy in his own right, but after a car accident left him disfigured, he has retired to this mountain home, where he lives more or less wheelchair bound (he can walk with crutches) and at all times wears a white rubber mask. He has also bought every painting his father ever painted, and these are exhibited in the galleries of the home. Only once a year four guests, art dealer Ōishi Genzo, art professor Mori Shigehiko, surgeon and hospital director Mitamura Noriyuki, and priest Furukawa Tsunehito, connected in different ways with Issei are invited to visit (on 28 September Issei’s death anniversary) when they can admire all his art except one painting, the last work Issei ever made and no one has ever been allowed to set their eyes on.

One year previously, in 1985, as the prologue tells us, during the visitors’ annual stay, amidst a typhoon and torrential rain, many mysterious events unfolded, from a woman falling off the tower to a missing painting, a brutal death and a man who to disappeared seemingly impossibly. The police came up with an explanation, the only one that made some sense but nothing was confirmed and the supposed culprit never caught. Now a year later, Shimada Kyoshi arrives as an uninvited guest to the Mill House. A friend of one of the visitors, Furukawa, the man who had ‘vanished’ he is bent on finding the real answer to those occurrences of the previous year. The task is no easy one, and it would seem that in addition to the usual group of annual visitors almost recreating the circumstances, the weather has decided to replicate itself as well, with a typhoon and heavy rain. Amidst all this, does Kyoshi find his answer?

This was an extremely engrossing read which had me gripped from start to finish. After the prologue describing the events of the previous year, the narrative proceeds in chapters alternating between the present (told in the first-person voice of Kiitchi) and the previous year, told in third person. As Kyoshi looks into various angles of those events, through the chapters that take us to the previous year, we keep getting more of the story of how things unfolded at the time.

The atmosphere in the book I thought was brilliantly done, the seemingly relentless storm and torrential rain adding to the tensions prevalent from the events that are occurring—one definitely gets that feeling of something ominous in the air. With the mysterious events of the previous year only unsatisfactorily explained, having the same closed group of people (‘suspects’) in the same house in similar circumstances has everyone more or less on edge, and the fact that Kyoshi is digging things up naturally adds to this. There are also other tensions, for instance from the annual visitors all of whom covet Issei’s paintings, and even more so wish to view his last work. Then there are Kiichi and his wife: Yurie has been kept virtually imprisoned from when she was a child, ‘a princess in the tower’ more or less, completely cut off from the world. Kiichi loves her but is also constantly plagued by fear that she might leave him. Kiichi’s relationship with his employees also has its nuances.

In addition to the tension that is kept up in the book is the puzzle itself. Excellently put together, with plenty of little hints all through, I wasn’t able to work out the full solution pretty much till it was spelled out at the end. Closer to it, I did somewhat guess one element (as to whodunit), but not quite how the whole thing was done. And even when that is established, the author also gives us one last surprise that one won’t see coming and which added to both story and atmosphere (much more so the latter), and which I absolutely loved.

I enjoy books with maps in them, and this one had them too, though in my Kindle ARC version, this was a little wonky.

The translation reads very smoothly to the level where one wouldn’t guess it wasn’t written in English if one hadn’t been told. I really appreciated the translator’s decision to keep the names the Japanese way (family name first) and it is good to see more English versions following this now, for both Japanese and Korean books. (The author’s name on the cover though remains in Western style).

This is a thoroughly exciting and entertaining read all the way through and one I will very much recommend to any mystery reader. Can’t wait till another of Yukito Ayatsuji’s mysteries is released in translation (They’re called I see ‘The Mansion Murders/Bizarre House’ series, and there’s even one titled ‘The Black Cat Mansion Murders’!). Till then I’m glad I have the Decagon House Murders to explore.

[Nancy Oakes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love these mysteries from Pushkin-Vertigo and can't wait to read the next one, The Devil's Flute Murders coming early July. I've already bought the DVD for that one and I'm really looking forward to both.

full post for this book is here:
http://www.crimesegments.com/2023/06/...

The Mill House Murders is apparently the second of several books by this author in what Wikipedia refers to as the "Bizarre House/Mansion Murders" series. I've previously read his The Decagon House Murders (also published by Pushkin Vertigo), the first in the series and a really good mystery that cinched the deal when it came to preordering this book. And while I had the inklings of a solution to this mystery vaguely floating on the periphery of my brain, The Mill House Murders still managed to seriously stump me as I couldn't figure out either the who or more importantly, the how.

The novel begins at 5:50 a.m., September 29, 1985, within a prologue in which we learn that it is nearly dawn, and the group of people staying at the home of reclusive Fujinuma Kiichi have had a very bad September 28th night. While a typhoon raged outside, things inside Fujinuma's Mill House had taken a horrific turn -- a woman had fallen from the tower room, a painting had vanished, and one of the guests had simply disappeared. As if that's not bad enough, things are about to get worse, with the discovery of a dead man in the incinerator, "cut up in pieces and burnt." It was, to quote Fujinuma, "a blood-soaked night." Flash forward exactly one year later, and once again a major storm is making its way to the area, and once again guests are expected at the Mill House. The Mill House is named for its three water wheels that provide the house with its electricity; as one of the guests remarks about them, they

"... almost look like they are turning against the flow of time, keeping the house and everything in this valley frozen in a never-ending moment."

It seems as though this is precisely what Kiichi desires, but as idyllic as it sounds, it is evidently not meant to be.

Every year on September 28th, a small, set group of Kiichi's acquaintances make their way to his home to view his collection of his famous-artist father's paintings, which he kept only for himself and not for public consumption in an exhibition. It seems that these well-known paintings have often been known to produce strange reactions from the viewer, but there is one that Kiichi will allow no one to look at known as "The Phantom Cluster," making his guests want to see it all the more. This year there will be an extra, uninvited guest by the name of Shimada Kiyoshi who is not only interested in the events of September 28th of the previous year, but also a friend of the man who had disappeared at the time, who was also thought to have been responsible for the theft of the painting and most likely for the death of the incinerated man. As Shimada says to his host, "something about the case bothers me. There's something not right ..." And yes indeedy, there is something very wrong in this house, beginning with the first death, bringing back fresh memories of that night a year earlier, as well as the question of whether history might be repeating itself once again.

There is seriously nothing like reading a book that takes place during a major storm while in real life there's thunder and lightning at play all around you, making The Mill House Murders atmospheric and a bit creepy at the same time. This story begins in the past, moves into the present, and continues in this way throughout the novel. At most points both timelines are set as a mirror of the other, as Shimada's questioning goes on and he gains more information and more clues as to what had happened in 1985. That is not to say that 1986 doesn't have a few surprises in store; as I said earlier, I thought I had at least a sort of outline of the solution in my mind (I actually sort of did in a vague way guess a small part of it) but by the end, the various twists and turns taken throughout this story brought things to a level at which I would never have guessed. The truth is that I'm always so happy to end a book with a with a huge gasp when all is revealed; this is twice now that it's happened with this author.

I do hope that Pushkin Vertigo will go on to publish at least a few (if not all) of the remaining Bizarre House/Mansion Murders books by this author -- for me The Mill House Murders was very well done, highly satisfying and really quite ingenious. I happen to love these sort of mysteries; they aren't always for everyone but I thrive on puzzle solving of any sort and these books are definitely puzzlers, in a very good way.

Recommended to regular readers of Japanese crime fiction/mysteries.

[aria ✧ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nakamura Seiji designed the Decagon House and now the Mill House is the setting for another series of murders. I absolutely adore the idea of an architect's houses being the setting for a murder.

I partly? solved this. I mean I was right but also wrong in some areas but this was a fun read. Can't wait for the next one!

[Nhi Nguyễn · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW WOW WOW!!! Một cuốn sách tuyệt vời!!! Một thành công nữa của Yukito Ayatsuji. Đọc một lèo trong vòng hai ngày, và càng đọc thì càng bị cuốn vào câu chuyện :)) Thậm chí còn hay hơn cả cuốn sách nổi tiếng hơn của tác giả là "Thập Giác Quán". Nhiều đoạn đọc mà rùng mình, không chỉ bởi vì thủ đoạn gây án tính toán đầy tinh vi của hung thủ, mà còn bởi dã tâm trên mức tưởng tượng của hắn ta.

Ban đầu thấy rating cuốn này có 3,5, tính không mua đọc rồi chớ ^^ Công nhận đọc xong thấy thỏa mãn với số tiền đã bỏ ra để mua sách ghê :)) (cũng không có nhiêu đâu, vì được giảm giá 30% ở hội sách của Tiki mừ :D).

[Sofija · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley for the review copy.
The Mill House Murders is a classic mystery novel akin to Agata Christies'. The Mill House Murders occur in the Mill House, a fictional manor built in the mountains north of the Okayama prefecture. The story has a dual timeline: one set in 1985 and the other in 1986. The plot happens in 2 days – the 28th and 29th of September, in both years. We follow a group of characters who arrive at the Mill House, owned by Fujinuma Kiichi, to attend the annual exhibition of his father's paintings. Fujinuma lives with his wife, Yurie, butler Kuramoto Shoji, and housekeeper Nozawa Tomoko.
In the beginning, we get a list of the characters and two maps of the manor. The novel is heavy with descriptions of rooms and hallways. It focuses on the spatial dimension, where we, as the reader, follow the main character as he moves through the house. The detailed descriptions eventually become repetitive. The writer chose an interesting narrative approach when telling the events in 1985 and 1986. Ayatsuji uses the third-person narration for the past timeline and the first person for the present, from Kiichi's perspective. The reasoning behind that becomes more apparent as the story progresses.

The writer narrowed down all characters to one distinct characteristic. For example, Mitamura is a handsome surgeon, Mori is a bespectacled professor, and Yurie is an unobtrusive beautiful girl. For most of the story, a lamp could replace Yurie. I am referring to the sexy lamp test, which shows how much women are present in media. If you can substitute a female character with a sexy lamp and nothing in the story changes, the story fails the test. The Mill House Murders fails the test for the most part. Yurie is a quiet, submissive, doll-like character. Her character clumsily develops in the last few chapters of the book. Besides Yurie, two other female characters are the past and present housekeepers, Negishi Fumie and Tomoko.

We get the whole backstory of Kiichi's life and how he came to live in the secluded manor with Yurie. He is peculiar because he constantly wears a mask to hide his disfigured face. Years before the events of the book, Kiichi was in a car accident with his friend Masaki and Masaki's girlfriend. Kiichi was hurt, with severe burns all over his body, while Masaki suffered head trauma. That event traumatized him, and he decided to depart from city life and society and live in the mountains with limited human contact.

Regarding the plot itself, it doesn't add anything new to the genre. In 1986, a series of murders, followed by the disappearance of one of the characters with one of the paintings, caused panic during the art exhibition. But the arrival of Kiyoshi Shimada to the manor will shed some light on the horrifying events. He is Hercule Poirot of this Japanese mystery. The Mill House murders are a sequel to The Decagon House Murders. They're not closely related, and you don't have to read Decagon House before Mill House. Shimada is a character that appears in both stories, and he has a connection to the architect Nakamura Seiji who designed both houses.

My overall thoughts on this book are that it was fun, easy, quick to read, and nothing more. I usually don't read mysteries, but I wanted to try this as it is a classic. I guessed half of the mystery elements while reading, so the ending was not as shocking.

[Makmild · Rating 3 out of 5]

เป็นเล่มที่เราอ่านไปได้แต่สงสัยไปว่าทำไมเราถึงชอบอ่านงานสืบสวนยุคปัจจุบันมากกว่างานสืบสวนยุคเก่าๆ นักนะ โดยเฉพาะงานสืบสวนแบบคลาสสิกที่เป็นเกาะโดดเดี่ยว ตัดห่างจากสังคมด้วยแล้วยิ่งสงสัยว่าทำไมคนชอบอ่าน (แต่เราไม่ชอบ) และดีที่ช่วงนี้ได้อ่านงาน And then there were none งานคลาสสิกของอกาธาเลยถึงบางอ้อ เอ้อ มันสนุกแบบนี้นี่เอง

ในขณะที่งานของอกาธาน่าจะเป็นต้นฉบับ งานของอายาซิจึเล่มนี้เองก็น่าจะเป็นเล่มที่รับแนวคิดแบบ and then there were none (กับปัวโรต์บางส่วน เช่น ในส่วนของจู่ๆชิมา��ะต้องมาสืบคดี เป็นต้น) เลยทำให้เราพอจะได้แก่นของการอ่านเล่มนี้ว่าอย่างไรถึงจะเรียกว่า "สนุก" ได้ แล้วความต่างระหว่างงานต้นฉบับกับดัดแปลงมาเป็นแบบญี่ปุ่นมันมีข้อดีข้อเสียอย่างไร อ้อ รีวิวนี้ไม่มีอธิบายให้ฟัง (ไอ้เวร) แต่คิดว่าความยากของการดัดแปลงคือ "ทำยังไงให้ไม่เหมือนต้นฉบับ" แต่ยังคงต้องคงความ "คลาสสิก" เอาไว้อยู่ จะว่ายากก็ยาก จะว่าง่ายก็ไม่ (สรุปก็คือยาก จะพูดซ้ำทำไม) ด้วยเหตุนี้เราจึงมองว่างานของอายาซีจิคือความพยายามที่กล่าวมานั้น

ค่อนข้างมั่นใจว่าหนังสือเลือกคนอ่านไม่ถูกเล่ม (เราไม่ได้เป็นคนเลือกหนังสืออ่าน หนังสือต่างหากละที่เลือกเรา โอโห จิตวิญญาณ) แต่ถึงอย่างนั้นเราก็ยังสนุกไปกับการสลับอดีค ปัจจุบันไปมาของหนังสือที่ก็คิดแล้วคิดอีกว่าทำไมพี่แกต้องสลับบทไปมาถ้าไม่ใช่อยากปั่นหัวคนอ่านเล่น กับการบรรยายโดยใช้สรรพนามบุรุษที่หนึ่ง ซึ่งพออ่านไปจนจบก็เข้าใจได้เลยว่าทำไมถึงเลือกใช้สรรพนามบุรุษที่หนึ่งในการบรรยายช่วงปัจจุบัน นับได้ว่าอายาซึจิมีเทคนิคการเขียนเล่มนี้ที่แพรวพราวน่าดู ทั้งๆ ที่คดีออกจะเรียบๆ ง่ายๆ (คือเดาคนร้ายถูกแต่ต้น) แต่ก็ยังมีหักมุมเล็กๆ ในตอนท้าย กับการบรรยายสภาพศพที่น่าอดสูท่ามกลางปราสาทยุคบรูทัลนิซึ่ม (ใช่ปะ ก็มันดูอิฐๆ ปูนๆ อะตรงหน้าปก)

ดังนั้น โดยรวมแล้วเราว่าเป็นเล่มที่มอบความบันเทิงให้ได้ระดับนึงเลยค่ะ เล่มบาง อ่านง่าย เหมาะกับช่วงปีใหม่ที่ได้ทบทวนอดีต มองปัจจุบันไปด้วยเลย

[Tania · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very atmospheric, creepy mystery. Told in two timelines a year apart.

Kiichi is the son of a celebrated artist; a few years previously he was responsible for a car crash which disfigured him, (he now wears a mask), and killed his friends fiance. He now hides himself away in a remote mill house with his child bride, a young girl who became his ward when she lost her parents at a very young age, and who he has kept hidden away from the eyes of the world.

Every year he allows a few guests to come and see his father's paintings, last year, someone fell from the tower, someone was murdered, a painting was stolen, and someone disappeared. This year, the guests assemble again, they are joined by Shimada Kiyoshi, a friend of Furukawa, the man who disappeared and as such is suspected of the murder and theft. Animals wants to find out what really happened that night and clear his friends name.

It was entertaining although the writing did feel a bit flat, I don't know whether this is to do with the original text or the translation. I rather enjoy these Japanese homages to the golden age mysteries, and this is the second one I've read by this author; I hope we see more of his getting translated.

*Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publishers for a review copy in exchange for an honest opinion.*

[Stacey-Lea · Rating 3 out of 5]

This didn't hit quite like decagon and I think that's because everything happened right at the end - still fun tho!

[Queralt✨ · Rating 1 out of 5]

I could’ve read the three last chapters and I wouldn’t have missed a thing. The book was slow and dull. The characters were flat and somehow they managed to talk through 200 pages without saying anything. The whole point is that someone dies and then the characters just stand around rambling about stuff while they all suddenly remember things they hadn’t mentioned before.

With the previous book in this series, I kept notes about details and I could guess the killer. Here it was just a “oh here’s a new thing” every time while the actual ending was obvious. And THEN there’s also 15 pages of Shimada going person to person to tell them a painting has been stolen and having to go through an “OH NO HOW CAN A PAINTING HAVE DISAPPEARED??!??!?? 😨🫣🫨😵🫢😱” with every single character. Literally the most redundant thing I’ve read this year. And then the crime is solved… “off screen” like… you made me put through all these boring ramblings and my reward is… another rambling where the detective blablablas about what he found out…. Ok. And the ending was… a little obvious. Maybe I’ve watched too much Detective Conan.

Also ✨ the book kept going on and on about how Yurie is so pretty, so small, so thin, so pretty, so feminine, so pretty, so small, so thin, repeat until death. She was very much written by a Japanese male author in that sense. Everyone pities her, everyone claims “they can’t see her as a woman cuz she’s so pretty and thin like an underdeveloped girlie girl ✨” but of course everyone wants her, she has no agency for most of the book, etc. Blergh.

[Mizuki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pre-review: The English translation for the second book in the Manson series, The Water Mill House Murders (or 'Murder at the Manson of the Waterwheel') is set to be published in the year 2023!!! Yeah!!!

My most favorite Yukito Ayatsuji's detective novels:

(1)Murder At the Mansion of Antique Clocks: Dark imaginary, clever plot twists and a lot of deadly surprises, it's my all-time favorite.

(2)Murder At the Mansion of Darkness: one hell of a dark, intriguing Gothic thriller!

(3)Murder At the Mansion of Waterwheel: really, really intriguing plot twists

(4)The Witch Hunt Game: a breathtaking thriller sets in a scary private school for girls which looks like it's taken straight out of Dario Argento's surreal horror movie classic Suspiria.

(5)The Curse of the Puppet Prince: Fairy tale crossovers murder mystery! What's not to love?

(6)Murder At the Mansion of Black Cat: I really couldn't see the ending coming!

(7) Murder At the Mansion of Strange Masks: the latest book in the Mansions series and it's still going strong.

(8) Another: this one is a gem in the genre of YA crime and mystery novels, and it comes with a manga, a movie and a TV series adaptations.

[BookishDramas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book and this is my review based on my reading of the book.

In this book the atmosphere is gloomy despite a well described picturesque locale. The pall of the previous years tragedy at the house looms large over the members and the guests all of whom have a link with the incident or are aware of the links and its obvious effects. The fact that the owner of the house is himself a person whose life is steeped in great tragedy and who is also intimidated by a father who was larger than life and who as a classical artist had few peers and who still posthumously enjoyed widespread love; has forced him, Fujinama Kiichi to retreat into a shell and move to a aloof house. He has also hoarded all his father's art from the market into his own secluded gallery where he allows only a select few of his acquaintances once every year and he has along with himself also imprisoned a young girl, his wife which is a mystery of its own.
The story picks at the annual viewing of the art and when 3-4 friends and acquaintances of Kiichi visit the Mill House. We also read about an interloper Shimada who arrives uninvited and asks the owner for permission to visit the house.

A third into the book and the story has warmed up and looks intriguing and interesting and is such that I feel that it should be read at a languid pace maybe facing a fireplace and with a drink in hand. The atmosphere is foreboding but never overwhelming. What is interesting is the cast of characters all of whom seem to have a rabid interest in seeing the paintings which goes beyond just interest and all are equally passionate of a mythical painting by the master which has never been seen by anyone other than Kiichi. The interest is beyond passion and gives out feelings that trickery and murder would not be far off just for the sake of possessing the painting(s).

The book is from the 80's and this one is an English translation but doesn't seem too dated like the classical tales of Agatha Christie, Conan Doyle and others. This is a single house murder mystery that spans a year and involves two incidents involving much of the same set of characters with some of the them falling prey to murder. The story moves effortlessly between the two years - the present and the year previously but continuous back and forth makes the effort jarring and sometimes creates mind games which are not actually present in the book. The Japanese names which may be alien to most readers also forces that trap with remembering and understanding their interactions sometimes tedious. This does not hamper the story but on occasions makes reading slow by forcing the reader to go back and check the timeline. These efforts do not in any way deter in enjoying the story.

The permanently masked owner who is also a person using a wheelchair and host of the Mill House and the almost imprisoned girl who is his wife beg for more history and what is available does not satiate the need for information. They are also red herrings which make the mystery too obvious.

What I loved in this book was the way the previous and present is played up and also the way Shimada as the person who cracks the case is consistently picking up clues and commenting or clamming up about situations, thereby allowing the reader to reach their own conclusions.

[Sneha Pathak (reader_girl_reader) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars, rounded to 4.

Fujinuma Kiichi lives in his secluded mill house with his young wife Yurie. Kiichi wears a mask and gloves as a result of horrible injuries suffered many years ago. Every year, on a fixed date in September, he invites 4 people to let them view his father's paintings. In the year 1985, during the annual visit, one painting and a guest goes missing, while two people are murdered. Then the next year, on the same day, Kiyoshi Shimada comes to the Mill House along with the other three usual guests and tries to investigate the truth behind what happened the previous year.

I had enjoyed the writer's previous book that has been translated into English, and was very excited when i got approved from Netgalley for this ARC.
I am a huge fan of traditional style mysteries and the Japanese writers who write in this vein.

However, i have to say that i liked The Decagon House Murders more that The Mill House Murders. The biggest issue with the book is that of packing - it is very slow burn and never quite picks pace enough to keep a reader turning the pages. There are a number of characters, but all of them feel rather colourless and none really get a chance to make a mark on the reader's mind.

However, the mystery is still interesting and i also liked it because of the past-present narrative technique. If you are a fan of Japanese/traditional Mysteries, you should give this a try! Thanks to Pushkin Vertigo and Netgalley for the ecopy.

[Dana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, this didn't really work, did it?

I was very intrigued by everything about the book: it's Japanese literature, the cover looks cool, I love classic murder mysteries set in weird houses with a colorful cast of larger-than-life characters. You'd think The Mill House Murders should've been right up my alley, but lo and behold, it wasn't.
First off, I liked the house and how Issei's art connected the characters. I wish the book had been about him.
I don't know how you make a wheelchair-bound burn victim living in a secluded mansion in the mountains boring, but Ayatsuji somehow managed to do so. None of the characters were particularly memorable and the depiction of Yurie was downright awful. Our pov character is a 40-year-old man who's married to a 19-year-old girl. A girl he married when she was only 16. And who he took in after her parents died. When she was six. And who wasn't allowed to interact much with the outside world, e.g. going to school or watching TV, until a year ago. Yikes. Granted it's a novel from the 80s, so I didn't expect a feminist manifesto, but come the fuck on.

I don't feel like the jumping back and forth between past and present added anything to the narrative. I don't think plot twists need to come as a complete surprise (a lot of the times they are used to make a story seem smarter than it is and I much prefer a plot twist that could have been reasonably guessed or at least completely reframes the whole narrative), but I literally knew what had happened on the first ten pages. I'm not even kidding. I wondered "whodunnit" for the incredible time span of 10 minutes. Plus, the abrupt ending left me kinda "????", so yeah.

Sadly, The Mill House Murders missed the mark for me. I didn't find it bad enough to dnf and got through it pretty quickly, but I definitely wouldn't recommend it. It was entertaining enough for me not to give it one star, but if you like murder mysteries, just stick with queen Agatha Christie.

- ARC provided by NetGalley -

[Tanu · Rating 1 out of 5]

Overwritten.

Stilted, deathly dull dialogue, with characters standing around and talking like something out of Victorian England. Far too much telling. Killed any sense of suspense in an otherwise intriguing setup.

Kiichi, the main character, could have been compelling if the author hadn't felt it necessary to narrate his every observation in dispassionate prose. As a result, he had all the personality of cardboard and his disability, rather than influencing his character in a meaningful way or simply being an ordinary part of a multifaceted life, was
used as cheap shock value and a plot device to explain the existence of the Mill House. The book could have been from Yurie's POV: her escape from her creepy jailer, who imprisoned her when her father died, would have made an interesting story. Instead she was written comically: fainting and crying all the time. She gets zero character development, only constant descriptions of her beauty.

The male characters are scarcely better. Shimada, the detective, solves the mystery offscreen and serves as our overexplainer. There is a butler, a priest who dies early on (I would've liked to hear about his life!) and some other characters there to pad out the body count.

[Samichtime · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story’s good, I had it all figured out quite early!🕵️‍♂️But my gripe with the writing is MAJOR.

When a character is mentioned, sometimes they are referred to by their first name, other times by their last name. There’s about a dozen main characters and a dozen side characters. This was extremely annoying! It took me over a day to map out the building properly, as well as who lived where and their relation to one another!! 😩

[Resh (The Book Satchel)]

Cozy with all typical ingredients for a cozy crime read perfect for the autumn months.
Read with The Satchel Book Club on Instagram/ Aug 2023
Expect:
masked man
mysterious vibe
atmospheric mood and weather
intelligent investigator
slow and cozy pace

[Jessica Woodbury · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mix of old school mystery formalism and more modern structure. The back and forth in the same setting exactly one year apart (sometimes to the hour) can make your head spin a little, but once you get your bearings it goes quite smoothly. This wasn't as amazing as Decagon House Murders, but still unusual and fun. Sadly the only notable female character is very much objectified.

[M.Q. Webb · Rating 3 out of 5]

The concept drew me into this book. An eccentric artist whose career was cut short too soon. The looming threat as the storm takes hold, and the people within the Mill House struggling to figure out who they can trust and who might be next.

The last third of the book was a breathless rush, as the action unfolded into a satisfying ending, however the characters were a little dry. Probably not really for me at the end of the day, but I’m sure there are plenty of people who will enjoy it!
Thanks to Netgalley and Pushkin Vertigo for an advanced, unproofed copy.

[hans · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was nice to meet you again, Kiyoshi Shimada! I met him once in The Decagon House Murders and reading this book’s blurb making me intrigued more about his character when he became an amateur sleuth trying to unfold a fiendish murder mystery involving one of his friend at the remote Mill House owned by the son of a prodigious visionary painter. As they do every year, a small group of acquaintances pay a visit to the castle-like Mill House, home to Kiichi Fujinuma who has lived his life behind a rubber mask after a disfiguring car accident. Reminiscing on what had happened a year ago at the house, this time too their visit was distrupted with another series of baffling murders.

As the plot was told alternatingly in between two settings of present-day crime and a year ago murder scene, I find the plot structure as neat and enthralling much to delve into. So descriptive and quite haunting esp to read its thoroughly plotted storyline (both settings were set in the course of one night)— on the backstories of each characters, their conflicts, alibis and motivations, the unknown mystery of the house as well the howdunnit plan that can be both ingenious and devious.

Locked-room mystery always excites me and I think that was the main reason why the storytelling still thrilled me even though I could make an easy guess on the whodunnit and his motive. Loving both Kiichi (he was mainly the narrator in both settings and I like his well-rounded character) and Shimada (he can be witty and too unexpected) as well the secondary characters which I find quite grippingly crafted.

The ending chapter really summed up the whole howdunnit perfectly, bit surreal and spooky too for me— still think the cut to pieces and burnt the corpse into the incinerator scene as gory much. Highly recommend for locked-room mystery fans, also I think to read The Decagon House Murders before this book would help you more in observing Shimada’s dynamic and the history of Seiji Nakamura who built these unique and mysterious houses.

Thank you Pansing Distribution for sending me a copy to review!

[Rachaelbookhunter · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Mill House is a remote, castle like home built by a recluse who is the son of a famous artist. Every year a group of people visit the house in order to view art. A year ago a terrible event happened involving murder and a disappearance. Now visitors are arriving again and the masked owner of the Mill House is afraid of something happening again.

This is a very dark, brooding story. The creepy atmosphere is easily set and the characters themselves are eccentric. There is some confusion about the relationship between the man and young woman of the house who spends her days in a tower of sorts.

The story altenates between the past and present. Because some events happening in both timelines were similar or constantly referenced things got a bit confusing. There is some reference events in The Decagon House Murders which I enjoyed a lot more. The dark atmosphere didn't work for me this time and overall the story didn't spark my interest.

Thank you to Netgalley for the chance to read.

[Tammie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to the publishers for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

While I haven't read the original novel for The Decagon House Murders, the manga series was one of my favourite reads of last year. Admittedly, I went into The Mill House Murders with high expectations, and unfortunately they were not met. I liked the setup of the story and the non-linear storytelling - I think Ayatsuji is really great at coming up with intricate and connected mysteries, and that is still something that really shines in this book. However, I felt like the characters were incredibly flat and underdeveloped - most of the main cast were honestly indistinguishable from one another, and had no personality whatsoever. Yurie had no agency whatsoever and was just there to be objectified, which frustrated me because I didn't feel like the female characters in Decagon House Murders were portrayed in this way. And I think most importantly, I found this book to be extremely predictable, which was the complete opposite of my experience with Decagon House Murders, and I was so disappointed by this. That being said, I did still enjoy the writing and the vibes of the book - it has that very classic murder mystery vibe that I love, so I did still enjoy my time with this book despite my issues with it. I definitely think that my disappointment lies mostly with the book not living up to my expectations than anything else.