Yukito Ayatsuji – författare

A twisty and ingenious classic Japanese murder mystery from the author of The Decagon House Murders

Every year, a small group of acquaintances pay a visit to the remote, castle-like Mill House, home to the reclusive Fujinuma Kiichi, son of a famous artist, who has lived his life behind a rubber mask ever since a disfiguring car accident. This year, however, the visit is disrupted by gruesome murder, a baffling disappearance and the theft of a priceless painting.

The brilliant Kiyoshi Shimada 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?

A twisty and ingenious classic Japanese murder mystery from the author of The Decagon House Murders

The remote Clock House is filled with priceless timepieces from across the world. It is also rumoured to be haunted by the spirit of a dead girl. A team of ghosthunters visit the mansion to investigate, but their stay has barely begun when one of them is gruesomely murdered, and the survivors realize that they are trapped inside the house with a killer...

As the murderer's bloody spree continues, the team are picked off one by one. Can the brilliant detective Shimada Kiyoshi crack the enigma of the Clock House before all those inside have been slain? And can you guess the solution before he does?

PRAISE FOR THE BIZARRE HOUSE MYSTERIES

'A knowing tribute to classic crime, it features all manner of puzzles, including locked rooms, jigsaws and magic tricks' - Mark Sanderson, The Times

'Fiendish foul play... Ayatsuji's skillful, furious pacing propels the narrative... This is a homage to Golden Age detective fiction, but it's also unabashed entertainment' - Sarah Weinman New York Times

'A psychological-mystical thriller built on tropes from cozier crime fiction. Agatha Christie-type stopwatch sequences and John Dickson Carr-style locked-room conundrums coexist with Poe-like Gothic sequences full of severed limbs and charred flesh... No one can accuse Mr. Ayatsuji of not sustaining the eerie mood of his strange story until its very last sentence' Wall Street Journal

'The dénouement was fiendishly clever... An engaging, entertaining mystery with a puzzle fit for the most ardent of armchair detectives' NB Magazine

PRAISE FOR YUKITO AYATSUJI'S MYSTERIES

'Very clever indeed' Anthony Horowitz

'From the first page you know you're in the hands of a master... Flawless' Ian Moore, author of Death and Croissants

'You will love this quasi-Christie locked-room mystery' The Times and Sunday Times Crime Club

THE TWISTY AND INGENIOUS THIRD INSTALLEMENT IN THE BIZARRE HOUSE MYSTERIES

The famed mystery writer Miyagaki Yotaro lives a life of seclusion in the remote Labyrinth House. When Yotaro invites four young crime authors to his home for a 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...

As the twisted contest gathers pace, murder follows murder. The ingenious sleuth Shimada Kiyoshi investigates, but 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?