We were a little underwhelmed by the latest translation of a Yukito Ayatsuji mystery novel. Despite featuring the shaggy sleuth, Shishiya, again, in yet another murder mystery involving a house designed by Nakamura Seiji, this one was a little too predictable as so many of its central characters were killed off. It also lacked the macabre humor in The Decagon House Murders. Don't get me wrong, however. It still has its suspenseful moments and "works" as a whodunit with interesting digressions on time and clocks. Unsurprisingly, part of the killer's "trick" involves time, too. But this novel felt a little excessive in length and our sleuth, now a successful mystery writer based in Tokyo, is greatly "aided" in the identification of the killer by the fact that one of the victims lived to identify their assailant.
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