Name: m's review of Murder in the Crooked House by Soji Shimada
Item: Murder in the Crooked House
Rating: 4.5
Author: m

Soji Shimada

The sequel to the acclaimed Tokyo Zodiac Murders – a fiendish locked room mystery from the Japanese master of the genre The Crooked House sits on a snowbound cliff at the remote northern tip of Japan. A curious place to build a house, but even more curious is the house itself – a maze of sloping floors and strange staircases, full of bloodcurdling masks and uncanny dolls. When a guest is found murdered in seemingly impossible circumstances, the police are called. But they are unable to solve the puzzle, and more bizarre deaths follow. Enter Kiyoshi Mitarai, the renowned sleuth. Surely if anyone can crack these cryptic murders it is him. But you have all the clues too - can you solve the mystery of the murders in The Crooked House first? Born in 1948 in Hiroshima prefecture, Soji Shimada has been dubbed the 'God of Mystery' by international audiences. A novelist, essayist and short-story writer, he made his literary debut in 1981 with The Tokyo Zodiac Murders, which was shortlisted for the Edogawa Rampo Prize. Blending classical detective fiction with grisly violence and elements of the occult, he has gone on to publish several highly acclaimed series of mystery fiction. He is the author of 100+ works in total. In 2009 Shimada received the prestigious Japan Mystery Literature Award in recognition of his life's work.

Murder in the Crooked House

A fiendish LOCKED ROOM MYSTERY from the Japanese master of the genre. Never before available in English. By the author of the acclaimed Tokyo Zodiac Murders. The Crooked House sits on a snowbound cliff overlooking icy seas at the remote northern tip of Japan. A curious place for the millionaire Kozaburo Hamamoto to build a house, but even more curious is the house itself - a disorienting maze of sloping floors and strangely situated staircases, full of bloodcurdling masks and uncanny, lifesize dolls. When a man is found dead in one of the mansion's rooms, murdered in seemingly impossible circumstances, the police are called. But they are unable to solve the puzzle, and powerless to protect the party of house guests as more bizarre deaths follow. Enter Kiyoshi Mitarai, the renowned sleuth, famous for unmasking the culprit behind the notorious Umezawa family massacre. Surely if anyone can crack these cryptic murders he will. But you have all the clues too - can you solve the mystery of the murders in The Crooked House first?

Jason Porterfield

Ruth Parker 

The best thing about this book was that there were clues set up along the way that mean you as the reader could try to solve the case, with bonus kudos if you managed to do it before the detective revealed all!

But realistically I didn’t find the story compelling, I didn’t care much for any of the characters and the motives were kind of meh. I liked the Japanese aspect of it though. The Asian Agatha Christie novel!

Laura Carminati

I would like to thank NetGalley and the author for my ARC in exchange for an honest review. I chose this book because I didn’t know the author and set in Japan. Obviously I read it in English.

There is a house on the island of Hokkaido, it is big, 4 floors, 16 rooms and a tower that resembles the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The house is crooked and the staircases strangely placed. The owner, an eccentric Japanese millionaire, Mr Kozaburo Hamamoto, lives here with his daughter Eiko.

It is winter and his guests are invited during Christmas for a holiday in this crooked house. Kozaburo invites his guests to solve a riddle. But on the first night, one of the guests is killed. Who did it?

I like the fact that the story looks like a Cluedo game, even if I’ve never played it I know more or less how it works. A house full of possible killers to investigate and the policeman on duty Saburo Ushikoshi who suspects everyone.

The various characters are very different from each other. At the beginning I said “it is that person who will be killed” and in fact I was right, the fact that the author doesn’t present that character and the person is always on the sidelines were giant clues. I have to say that I do not like all the characters, I do not like Eiko and her attitude of “I’m just so good” and Eikichi Kikuoka and his “you have to a bully to be considered”, especially in this period his attitude is really annoying.

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Christine Liu

This is another story that features the Holmes and Watson-esque duo of Mitarai and Ishioka. Millionaire Kozaburo Hamamoto has invited some business associates to a retreat at his unusual mansion in the remote northern coast of Japan. It's got sloped floors, a leaning tower with a drawbridge, and a room full of bizarre dolls and masks. You know, typical eccentric rich guy stuff. A snow storm ensues, and soon his guests begin to die in seemingly impossible scenarios inside their locked rooms.

I've read so many whodunnits at this point that I can usually piece together the clues, but with this book, I really did not have the slightest clue what the heck was going on at any point. But when the solution is finally revealed, it's utterly brilliant and astonishingly original. Sadly this is one of only two of Soji Shimada's mystery books that have been translated into English. It makes me want to learn Japanese just so I can read more.

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Murder in the Crooked House by Soji Shimada

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