Book Bite: The Decagon House Murders - Scholarsquare

While I normally focus on history and historical fiction books on the site, I do read a lot of other genres (including mystery). And for the last year or so, I’ve been pushing myself to share other genres here on the blog. This is a mystery book that I’ve been waiting to read for quite some time, and I finally got my hands on it! Although it was only translated to English in 2015, it has been a beloved mystery in Japan for decades. Let’s get into The Decagon House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji!

***The Decagon House Murders*, Yukito Ayatsuji**

A hugely enjoyable, page-turning murder mystery sure to appeal to fans of Elly Griffiths, Anthony Horowitz, and Agatha Christie, with one of the best and most-satisfying conclusions you’ll ever read. A classic in Japan, available in English for the first time.

From The New York Times Book Review:

“Read Yukito Ayatsuji’s landmark mystery, The Decagon House Murders, and discover a real depth of feeling beneath the fiendish foul play.

Taking its cues from Agatha Christie’s locked-room classic And Then There Were None, the setup is this: The members of a university detective-fiction club, each nicknamed for a favorite crime writer (Poe, Carr, Orczy, Van Queen, Leroux and — yes — Christie), spend a week on remote Tsunojima Island, attracted to the place, and its eerie 10-sided house, because of a spate of murders that transpired the year before. That collective curiosity will, of course, be their undoing.

As the students approach Tsunojima in a hired fishing boat, ‘the sunlight shining down turned the rippling waves to silver. The island lay ahead of them, wrapped in a misty veil of dust,’ its sheer, dark cliffs rising straight out of the sea, accessible by one small inlet. There is no electricity on the island, and no telephones, either.

A fresh round of violent deaths begins, and Ayatsuji’s skillful, furious pacing propels the narrative. As the students are picked off one by one, he weaves in the story of the mainland investigation of the earlier murders. This is a homage to Golden Age detective fiction, but it’s also unabashed entertainment.”

Why You Should Read This…

I would say that this is very much inspired by And Then There Were None from Agatha Christie, and I’m good with that! Ayatsuji draws on Christie and several other classic mystery writers but the story still stands on its own. In fact, I will say the nods to other major authors in the book add to its layers. (The members of the club are each named for a popular mystery author- it’s a fun game to see which you can recognise!)

I think that what I loved most about The Decagon House Murders is just how many strands of the mystery are worn together. Some strands end up falling off, but that only makes for a more enjoyable (and realistic read). There were several moments where I would think, “Hmm, this might be the answer” and then Ayatsuji ties it in.

I will say, I wouldn’t recommend this book to someone who is brand new to the mystery genre. It would be a good read but it’s a lot more enjoyable when you understand and recognise all of the references. However, I do appreciate that at the end we are walked through the entire case and how it all happened- newer fans, if you do want to chance this, it will be helpful! (I also felt like it offered a lot of insight into Ayatsuji.)

All in all, I loved this- one of my favourite books of 2025! A must-read for any mystery fan.