The Mill House Murders

The Mill House Murders by Yukito AyatsujiThe Classic Japanese Honkaku novel.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.

It’s a whodunnit with an eerie setting. Perfect to read during gloomy rainy afternoons with a cup of tea. Don’t forget to put your thinking hat on and try to solve the crime before Shimada does

This is the first time I couldn't guess the crime and the criminal. Extremely mind-bending, a perfect locked room mystery. A highly atmospheric, gripping, mystery laced with fairy tale essence.The first thing to say about the book is I was driven to the book at first sight, the mask, it's given a shrinking sensation in my nape. I fell for the cover. It has some ominous attractions and gives an insight into the book too.This book immediately transported me into a mystic land clad with mountains and trees.It is a book you would want to curl up with on a couch with a cup of coffee on a rainy day. The premise of the book is inviting friends into a mill house that is situated in a secluded place, it's a yearly ritual of meeting with friends and seeing the artwork of celebrated artist Issei. Isseis's son is the host of this event. He lives an isolated life with his wife and housekeepers. This depiction will give you a fairy tale kind of tingling.Last year it was a stormy day, a man and a woman were killed, a painting was missing and a man disappeared. The mystery is still unsolved. This year again a typhoon appeared and the yearly meeting is going to happen again in the mill house. The road collapsed due to heavy rain so no one could come to the house after the rain and again killing begins. So who was the killer?With a vivid narrative author tells a blood-chilling thriller. It starts with a blood-chilling prolong that is followed by a plot that would solve the locked room mystery.The atmospheric narrative immediately pulls you into the book, you couldn't miss the stormy night, and the chills that go down your spine.The mill house murders, narrated in reverse order. From the middle of it, this story begins with two timelines, the parallel stories going back and forth created a great engaging style and give a classic and beautifully poised gait to the story.Believe me, the ending was unimaginable and horrific. How the author unfolded the mystery is a head-spinning revelation. It's blood-chilling and hunting.Highly recommended to all mystery lovers.

Quick delivery but the first book that I got was dirty. It had glue on the cover and some of the pages were stuck together. The back cover had a fold in one of the corners. I returned it and asked for a replacement. The second one arrived today and there some of the corners were folded. Not sure if I would keep it or just ask for a refund. Just wanted to write this review to warn other buyers that your book might arrive damaged or dirty.

I had to buy it to read it. It's actually an interesting read.

Really amazing read. Had me gripped from start to finish. And left me with a strange sense of unease till the very end.

This is about the crime staged by a man living like a hermit or recluse in a grand mansion in Japan. The storytelling method, which is going back and forth in time, was interesting, but it was kind of easy to guess the whole story. So, it was not that thrilling.

Really like this author and the publisher has done a good job of translating from Japanese to English. Only complaint was related to the delivery, where they left it in a box and that box got exposed to the rain. Not necessarily Amazon's fault, but kind of a bummer for the book to be a little water logged.