Review: Tokyo Zodiac Murders by Soji Shimada

Synopsis: Astrologer, fortuneteller, and self-styled detective Kiyoshi Mitarai must in one week solve a mystery that has baffled Japan for 40 years. Who murdered the artist Umezawa, raped and killed his daughter, and then chopped up the bodies of six others to create Azoth, the supreme woman? 

With maps, charts, and other illustrations, this story of magic and illusion, pieced together like a great stage tragedy, challenges the reader to unravel the mystery before the final curtain. The Tokyo Zodiac Murders joins a new wave of Japanese murder mysteries being translated into English.

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It is 1979, and amateur detectives and friends Kazumi Ishioka and Kiyoshi Mitarai, investigate a baffling series of murders that was said to have occurred some forty years prior. Going back through events and documentary evidence, these two slowly piece together the mystery before the actual denouement is made by a surprising narrator.

A little bit long-winded for my liking but an intriguing and puzzling mystery none-the-less, and one that will keep the sharpest minds engaged.

Review: The Labyrinth House Murders by Yukito Aatsuji

Synopsis: Miyagaki Yōtarō is one of Japan's most famed mystery writers, but several years ago he put down his pen and left the Tokyo literary world for a life of seclusion in the remote Labyrinth House, built by the notorious architect Nakamura Seiji. When four of the country's most exciting up-and-coming crime writers are invited to the house for Yōtarō's birthday party, they are honoured to accept. But no sooner have they arrived than they are confronted with a shocking death, then lured into a bizarre, deadly competition with each other...

As the competition proceeds, and murder follows murder, the brilliant Kiyoshi Shimada investigates. Can he solve the mystery of the house before all those trapped in its labyrinth are dead? And can you guess the solution before he does?

This is the third stand-alone book from the author of Decagon House Murders and Mill House Murders

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"... let the game of detection begin ..."

Four authors and a few other notable guests, are drawn to the mysterious Labyrinth House by its owner, famed author Miyagaki Yotaro.  His intent: to find a worthy successor to himself (and a substantial inheritance and writing kudos for the winner) after conducting a writing competition, to be judged at the conclusion.

However, shortly after arriving - a murder is announced - that of their host. Though shocked at this news, the writers are determined to proceed with their late host's wishes - afterall, a large inheritance is nothing to be sniffed at. However, things soon turn even deadlier as one author after another is found murdered ......

Kiyoshi Shimada leads the investigation, as the house's architect is revealed to be none other than Nakamura Seiji (creator of the Decagon House and the Mill House from previous books). This discovery sends Shimada on a new course of investigation - with plot twists and teasing reveals ultimately disclosing both the murderer and their motive.

However ..... that is never the true ending as an even more clever reveal follows, with Shimada having the final word.

Wonderful storytelling from Yukito Ayatsuji, who leads the reader into the labyrinth that is the author's own creative narrative, leaving them there, like his characters,  to solve the puzzle and find their own way out.

Review: Five Found Dead by Sulari Gentill

Synopsis: Crime fiction author Joe Penvale has won the most brutal battle of his life. Now that he has finished his intense medical treatment, he and his twin sister, Meredith, are boarding the glorious Orient Express in Paris, hoping for some much-needed rest and rejuvenation. Meredith also hopes that the literary ghosts on the train will nudge Joe's muse awake, and he'll be inspired to write again. And he is; after their first evening spent getting to know some of their fellow travelers, Joe pulls out his laptop and opens a new document. Seems like this trip is just what the doctor ordered…

And then some. The next morning, Joe and Meredith are shocked to witness that the cabin next door has become a crime scene, bathed in blood but with no body in sight. The pair soon find themselves caught up in an Agatha Christie-esque murder investigation. Without any help from the authorities, and with the victim still not found, Joe and Meredith are asked to join a group of fellow passengers with law enforcement backgrounds to look into the mysterious disappearance of the man in Cabin16G. But when the steward guarding the crime scene is murdered, it marks the beginning of a killing spree which leaves five found dead—and one still missing. Now Joe and Meredith must fight once again to preserve their newfound future and to catch a cunning killer before they reach the end of the line.

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The author provides the reader with a puzzle and mystery that is centered around how Christie's story amplifies the travelers' own experience on the actual Orient Express and of their perceptions of the fellow passengers.

This theme is referred to quite often by the fictional character of crime fiction author Joe Penvale and his sister, lawyer Meredith, who embark on a journey on this famous train only to find themselves caught up in their own version of "Murder on the Orient Express".

Like the Christie novel, the reader meets Joe's fellow passengers on the train - in fact it is a train full of detectives of one sort or another. There is the locked room murder, all passengers are suspects as Joe put himself in the position of Poirot and investigates. Clues and red herrings abound, as the body count rises (a la Death on the Nile), and the author reveals that not all is what or who they seem.

An entertaining homage to the Queen of Crime.

Review: The Red House Mystery by AA Milne

Synopsis: The creator of such beloved storybook characters for children as Winnie-the-Pooh, Piglet, and Eeyore, A. A. Milne was also the author of numerous dramas, essays, and novels for adults — among them, this droll and finely crafted whodunit.

In it, Milne takes readers to the Red House, a comfortable residence in the placid English countryside that is the bachelor home of Mr. Mark Ablett. While visiting this cozy retreat, amateur detective Anthony Gillingham and his chum, Bill Beverley, investigate their genial host's disappearance and its connection with a mysterious shooting. Was the victim, whose body was found after a heated exchange with the host, shot in an act of self-defense? If so, why did the host flee, and if not, what drove him to murder?

Between games of billiards and bowls, the taking of tea, and other genteel pursuits, Gillingham and Beverley explore the possibilities in a light-hearted series of capers involving secret passageways, underwater evidence, and other atmospheric devices.

Sparkling with witty dialogue, deft plotting, and an intriguing cast of characters, this rare gem will charm mystery lovers, Anglophiles, and general readers alike.

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This book was one that I have been wanting to read for eons and now (in 2024) finally took the plunge and picked it up.

First published in 1922, it is rather dated now with its "Jeeves & Wooster" / "Brideshead Revisited" style narrative, so that should definitely be taken into consideration when reading.

A standard though intriguing locked room mystery with all the elements needed to make for an enjoyable read. Set in a typical English "big house" with guests, servants, and a family at odds - did one brother kill the other or is there more to this murder mystery than meets the eye.

A charming read!

Review: The House of Twelve by Sean Davies

Synopsis: Twelve strangers wake up in a strange house with no memory of how they got there, and barely any recollection of who they are. They quickly learn that there is no way out, scarcely enough food and water to go around, and eerie music plays constantly in the background of every room. There is nothing to explain their mysterious incarceration except for a few scattered clues, a strange clock with twenty-four numbers and one single hour hand, and a leather-bound sheet of rules that makes their situation all the more fatal.

We predominantly following the character of "Sarah", we are taken through events on a day by day basis. The rules are very clear:

Rule one: No escape. You can’t leave, plain and simple. Try to escape and you won’t like what you find on the other side.

Rule two: Make what you have last. Whatever food and water you currently find in the house is all that you will be provided with during your stay. No more will be given to you under any circumstance.

Rule three: When the music stops, someone must die. The music you can all hear in the background will cease between the hour of twenty-three and twenty-four; when this happens someone must die. Failure to comply with this rule will result in everyone’s death.

Rule four: Only one, and only when the music stops! One death, and only one death, must occur in the allotted time between the hour of twenty-three and twenty-four. Again, failure to comply with this rule will result in everyone’s death.

Redemption is the key to escape. But for some, this is this learned all too late?

This is one of those "must read in one sitting" books with a killer twist at the end. Definitely pays homage to Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None" - twelve people and each night one must die to save the rest. 

Although devoid of memory except their names, along the way we discover a little more about the twelve prisoners - you know that not all will make it out alive. What type of people were these prisoners will slowly be revealed as the days count down to the last person standing ... and what happens then?