Tsunojima island blue mansion is an infamous island that became a hot topic because of the unsolved murder mystery of the owner and his family. The Mystery Club has decided to take up this case and to spend their time with the club members on this island. What could possibly go wrong? Well, if the setting and the unsolved case weren’t enough to make the Club members worried for their lives, the anonymous death threats would do.

All the club members inherited their club names after famous detectives like Agatha Christie, Ellery Queen, Gaston Leroux, etc.; that part was a bit nerdy. Each character differed in personality, and reading about them deducing the who’s and why’s of the murder helped me know them as individual detectives. I was expecting ten members to show up on the island because the manga has a lot to do with number 10, but only seven showed up.
From the time they set foot on the island, Ellery and Carr were bickering and in each other’s business. Their dynamic was strained and affected the group too. Others were chill and just wanted to solve some mystery.
There wasn’t a lot to work on evidence because the mansion was burnt and ruined. There was only one clue that they could work on, but that was a moot point.

There wasn’t a lot to work on evidence because the mansion was burnt and ruined. There was only one clue that they could work on, but that was a moot point. Each had to work from their angle, but it didn’t lead them anywhere. So, all they did was sit and have coffee from decagonal cups and share their theories.

I must say, the details in the manga were commendable. From the floors, tables, cups, and the mansion, I liked it was all symmetrical. Seiji Nakamura ( the former owner of the mansion) was obsessed with the number ten and built everything around him in tens. My mind would be whirling if I had to keep walking in that house. The architecture was insane, thanks to the art and Seiji’s ingenuity!
The next thing I liked about the manga was the theories that kept coming in, which kept me invested in the story in the first place. From playing the armchair detective to many more, the members were questioning the motives of the killer. The last theory mentioned might be the most accurate one to solving the case, but we will never know because the manga ended exactly at this point when things were about to get interesting.

The funniest part of this manga was how the author did a clever job in confusing the reader by pitting everyone against each other. You can’t help but suspect everyone. So you are left with zero answers but tons of questions. The ending was a major cliffhanger. It was as if everything was building up to reach that part. It was expected but shocking at the same time. In all, The Decagon House mystery is a terrific thriller.

I had some grand plan to read original Decagon House Murders to see if this was up to par. But finding the time seems to be the problem.
I really enjoyed this manga and found it super interesting. It is definitely a different way of story telling that I found very engaging.

I do want to continue reading this manga, but I will probably wait until it is completed as it is an ongoing series.

I absolutely loved the book and this time around loved being able to see what I saw only in my head come to life! The illustrations were perfect and the volume as a whole was well paced. I can't wait for the next!

Thank you to NetGalley and Kodansha for this advanced readers copy which I received in return for an honest review.

Seven members of a mystery book club decide to go on an excursion to an abandoned island, which was the scene of mysterious crimes. They have the opportunity to stay at the famous Decagon House, but they are a bit nervous and they know certain aspects of the macabre event, although they still decide that they should enjoy these days of 'vacation'. However, someone has just left some strange tokens that seem to belong to some kind of game and that have the following words written on them: victims, detective and murderer ... as a joke made by one of the members of the club?

This manga is the first volume in a series that is based on the book written by Yukito Ayatsuji. I really like mystery books and thrillers in general, and since I started reading manga, as soon as I saw this one in the NetGalley catalog I was encouraged to choose it. It was a good decision and a pleasant surprise because there are certain details (data and scenes that were interconnected during the pages) that make that mysterious atmosphere gradually consolidate in the story, and yes, obviously there are many loose ends, but little little by little these are related. As this is a first volume, it obviously has the function of capturing your attention so that you can read the following ones and it achieved it with interesting characters (whose names I will not reveal because it seemed like a very cool detail that they should discover), each one with a story behind, but all with something in common…. They will not be able to leave the island unscathed.

However, I consider that the last 30 pages, although they were the best, I felt that everything began to advance very quickly compared to what had already happened. But in general I liked it and although it was expected that the ending is open, it was still good. So if you like the mystery, but you have not yet decided to read a manga, this is definitely a good option.

📌 Score: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

The Decagon House Murders is my first Locked Room manga I’ve read and I was pleasantly surprised.

The manga follows a group of students who visit an isolated island that is known for having a massacre a year before and of course, the students all start to get picked off one by one, and leaves you constantly questioning the characters, the story and the person who’s doing the dirty work.

I really enjoyed the art, which I think is important for me to enjoy a manga, but I also thought it was written well. It was clever, intriguing and I really enjoyed my time spent reading it.

A group of students who love crime literature, convene on an desolate island with a dark past - supposedly a gardener murdered the family who he worked for, to then completely disappear.

When they have arrived in the titular Decagon House, where the murdered family used to live, we jump to ex-members of the crime literature group, still back in Japan. They have been sent anonymous letters saying they were involved in the supposed accidental death of one of the group. And then it turns out that more have received such a letter, and the thought pops up that it has been sent by the disappeared gardener. Oh and then the island group suspects one of them is pulling a prank, suggesting someone in the group will die, and you can guess what this volume ends on.

The book does have the typical problem of manga, where the first book is full of stage setting, and ends exactly when the story starts to gather steam. The large cast is another problem, which is complicated more by quite a few people being involved in the previous murders.

All that said, it's a fun book.

** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK FOR MY READING PLEASURE **
Copy received through Netgalley

~

The Decagon House Murders, Vol. 01
by Yukito Ayatsuji, Hiro Kiyohara
★★★★☆
196 Pages
Content Warning: deals with an off-page murder/mutilation, some mild violence


This was a really interesting murder mystery. It begins with seven university students, who arrive on an island where a gruesome murder took place six months ago. The house has recently been sold to a family member of the club member, and they decide to spend some time there, during the spring break.

There are two instances of untold POV – a mystery person, who is determined to make the students pay for a crime, while concocting an elaborate scheme to kill them off. At one point, acknowledging that what they're doing is wrong, so they're leaving an explanation of why, how, and all the details in a bottle they toss into the sea. The theory is, by the time it's found, whatever is about to happen on the island will be over.

The premise is clever and original. I can see why the original novel was considered so groundbreaking, and I'm hoping to read it, once this series is finished, so that I can compare how they were executed, and whether one pulled it off better than the other. I appreciated the acknowledgement by the characters that it sounds/feels like a version of Agatha Christie's 'And Then There Were None', which is one of my favourites of hers.

The range of characters is broad. You have the entire seven students on the island – all named after famous mystery authors, e.g. Poe, Ellery, Carr – as well as a secondary main cast of three, who remain on the mainland, trying to resolve the mystery of the murder from 6 months ago. Technically, the 7 students of the detective's club aren't there to investigate, merely to hang out and explore the house. However, they're soon faced with a new challenge – someone has left out tablets, marking a detective, a killer, and five victims. No one is yet aware of who did it, or who will play what part.

The mysterious event on the island is explored twice, in detail. Once, by the members on the island in a vague, almost what-was-in-the-papers way. The second is more indepth, by those on the mainland, who have their own mystery to solve that means reinvestigating the original case. In this way, we get to see the way each member's mind works, and how they react to, and feel about, the events taking place.

For me, there's a hint of the movie Rose Red, with the idea of a strange house that has hidden rooms and may hold more secrets than anyone knows. I'm intrigued to see where that concept will lead, in future volumes.

I was slightly confused by the two timelines, in two different locations, with two different investigations. But, this may be because I was sick when I started reading and had to take a break for a few days, because I could wrap my head around it.

Overall, it's an interesting mystery that has a wide range of characters, each with their own lives, motives and secrets. I'm intrigued to see how it will progress, and presume there will be around 5-8 volumes, each one exploring a death/mystery, with a final volume or two providing the resolution.
With Volume 1 beginning with a threat of murder, and ending in death, I can be sure that the next volume will be just as interesting and just as captivating.
I can't wait.

I really enjoyed this one! The art style, the plot, the mystery, the characters etc. It was just as good as the synopsis made it sound!

First of all, thank you to NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for this review copy in exchange for an honest review.

In this manga adaptation of the Japanese novel with the same name, the story is told from two different perspectives. The first perspective is from 7 students which are members of a university’s Mystery Club that are on a trip on a remote island. They live inside a ten-sided house on that island. However, there was a family murder case that happened on that island a few months back.

According to the plan, they will stay on that island for a week and there is no phone service on that island. The mystery began when they found 7 sets of characters in one morning without knowing who is the culprit behind it. The characters are 5 victims, 1 detective, and 1 killer. With clues and keys that they have, they set out to solve the mystery.

The second perspective is set on the mainland at the same time as the first perspective. One of the former club members has received an anonymous letter regarding the death of one of their club members. After investigation, she got to know that other members received it too. She and another former club member also set out to solve the mystery.

In general, I really like this comic! Because this is an adaptation from one of the famous Japanese mystery novels, I really had high hope for this comic, and surely it does not disappoint me. The drawings are also really nice and the story overall is easy to understand. I managed to read it in a sit if I remember it right. I will not compare it with the original novel because I did not read the novel yet. From this reading, I am really excited to read the next volume and the original novel as well. If you like mystery comics, I encouraged you to read this comic too!

THE JAPANESE CULT CLASSIC MYSTERY IN MANGA FORM

"A hugely enjoyable, page-turning murder mystery with one of the best and most-satisfying conclusions you'll ever read: clever enough that you're unlikely to guess it, but simple enough that you'll kick yourself when it's revealed. That's what has made it a classic in Japan."

This is how the English translation of the novel, which was originally published in 1987, was promoted.
It really piques your interest, doesn't it?
This debut of Yukito Ayatsuji was apparently credited with launching the shinhonkaku movement which restored Golden Age style plotting and fair-play clues to the Japanese mystery scene, which had been dominated by the social school of mystery for several decades. It is also said to have influenced the development of the wildly popular anime movement.
Be that as it may, let's see how I enjoyed the first volume of the English manga-adaptation of this novel, which was illustrated by Hiro Kiyohara and released by publisher Kodansha on August 17th.

**************************************

"The members of a particular university's Mystery Club travel to a ten-sided house on a remote island... which just happens to have been the scene of a gristly, and unsolved, mass murder. Armed with details of the murder and keys to the property, they set out to dig deeper... but can they trust the "facts" of the case? And moreover... can they trust each other?"

As always, this first installment is mostly about presenting all the characters and the environment in which the action will take place.
On the one hand we follow 7 university students who are member of the Mystery Novel Research Association. They all have nicknames that refer to western mystery writers they admire: Ellery (Queen), (John Dickson) Carr, (Gaston) Leroux, (Edgar Allen) Poe, Agatha (Christie), Orczy, Van. Together they head to stay one week on the uninhabited island of Tsunojima, six months after architect Nakamura, his wife and their two servants were murdered there and their Blue Mansion was burned down trying to hide the fourfold murder case. On the same island Nakamura also built the Decagon House where the students reside now.
On the other hand we see how 2 former members of the Mystery Novel Research Association are getting strange letters and start a little investigation.
These two simultaneous storylines alternate and help to create more tension.

There are a few minor downpoints, to me at least.
Of course there must be background info given to get the story started, but I've got the feeling that the first storyline sometimes missed a bit of punch.
This is partially due to the fact that the characters are rather flat and thus interchangeable. But then again, this is often the case in similar murder stories.
What's also irritating are some of the childish reactions and the accompanying drawing style at those moments. This may be normal in some manga forms, but in this story we're not dealing with immature high school youngsters, but with university students who are all in their twenties. Thus such reactions seem rather awkward and not fitting in the mystery plot.

But otherwise this was a very enjoyable read and it certainly managed to make me curious enough to read the next installments, which is why I rounded up the 3,5*.

If you'd like to take a look at the sneak preview, you can head over to the website of Kodansha: https://kodansha.us/series/the-decagon-house-murders/

**************************************

What's next?

In Japan the manga launched in August 2019 and the third volume came out on March 23rd 2021.

In the USA the first installment was published by Kodansha on August 17th 2021.
But for those who already read this volume and can't wait to know how this story continues: no worries!
The second volume will be available on September 21st ( https://kodansha.us/volume/the-decagon-house-murders-2/ ) and the third volume will be released less than a month later on October 19th ( https://kodansha.us/volume/the-decagon-house-murders-3/ ).
Perfect timing for Halloween and the winter months, when it's nice to curl up on the couch with a good murder mystery 😉

I had high hopes, hearing good things about the original novel and its reinvigoration of the classic mystery, but I didn't care about any of these characters, their personalities were flat and stereotypical, and the murders were too grotesque for me in visual form.

Fun, quick read with a lot of twists and turns. If you're a fan of Agatha Christie, you'll enjoy this manga.
The art style was clear and made it easy to follow the story.

An excellent adaptation of this mystery classic thus far. I look forward to the next couple volumes as the mystery truly unfolds.

Thanks to NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for providing me with a digital copy, in exchange for an honest review.

First off: kudos to Yukito Ayatsuji for coming up with the idea of naming the characters after famous mystery/thriller writers, such as Agatha Christie, Edgar Allen Poe, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. A nod to the greats.

I also loved Hiro Kiyohara's gorgeous and realistic environmental artwork.

An intriguing plot which leaves me looking forward to the next volume in the series!

↠𝟒.𝟐𝟓☆

Thank you so much Netgalley and Kodansha Comics for giving me a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review. I was SO excited when I got the approval email, I just can't believe it.

Okay, let's move on!

What is it about?
The members of a mystery book club went to a secluded island for a week-long journey where they planned to write their own mystery books in a decagonal-shaped house. It so happened that the murder of the island owner and his staff happened not too long ago, and the murderer was still on the loose. Weird things started happening and maybe, there's a killer among them.

At the same time, a former member of the mystery club received a mysterious letter at her home. She decided to spend her spring break to solve this case which might be connected to the murder of the Tsunojima island.

Here are my thoughts:

First of all, the art style is GORGEOUS, 5☆. I have read a handful of mangas but this one really exceeded my expectation. The lines were very fine and the artists drew the details amazingly. I fell in love at the first glance. I really REALLY love the portrayal of the characters too. It's easy to distinguish the face of each character.

The story itself was very enjoyable to me. Although there were some parts that took me awhile to understand especially there were a lot of names to be remembered here, but it kept me on my feet and made me want for more.

Also, THAT ENDING??? I want to know what happens next! I haven't read the novel yet but I will do VERY soon. I really cannot wait my mind is buzzing. I'm a bit suspicious of

All in all, I really enjoyed this volume and I can't wait for Vol 2!

I think this was a great start to the manga series since it really made me curious about the mystery that is revealed from the first page. Reading the mange really made me want to read the novel since I am so impatient. I think the drawing style for the manga is really artsy and pleasant to the eye. I think it has a classic way of how a manga is usually drawn and it didn't push me away from the plot of the book. One thing that I would say is that this one had some info-dumping parts in the book. Even though it was giving you information for the case, it didn't make me lost in the story at all. The theories about what actually happened were fun to read as well since I can't really solve the mystery, I want to see the characters solve it.

Overall, I liked the first volume and I am interested to see how all the characters are involved in the case. The ending to the volume was kind of dramatic, but it makes sense for it to be like that. I am looking forward to reading the second volume when it comes out and I would love to review it on Netgalley as well.

3.5

The members of a particular university's Mystery Club travel to a ten-sided house on a remote island... which just happens to have been the scene of a gristly, and unsolved, mass murder.

This first volume did a pretty good job of setting the scene and gave me enough to come up with my own theories. The art style is nice but pretty typical of a manga. The only real weakness was that it felt like we really didn't get to know any of the characters on the island that well.

We also follow two former members of the club who receive letters blaming them for the death of another club member who died in a boating accident. I much prefer chapters from these characters' perspectives as they were more fleshed out. It also felt like these scenes had more mystery and moved the plot further along.

I received a copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I'd like to thank Netgalley and Kodansha Comics for this opportunity.

I am always in the mood for a murder mystery, and this book delivered even more with a university mystery club and a variety of characters to invest in as they investigate an unsolved mass murder case (and find themselves entangled in one as well). Each member of the club goes by the name of a notorious author, which makes it really interesting once you begin to compare those authors to these characters that seemingly look up to them. It's a fun time for dark academia lovers looking for a different method of storytelling in the genre. I really enjoyed the art style, especially because all the characters were visually distinct.

While the dialogue fell a bit flat for me at the start, I quickly became engaged with the story and characters, which helped smooth that out a lot. I'm definitely going to be looking forward to the next volume of this series.

I thought this was a good introduction to the story. It made me curious to find out more about the book it was adapted from. My main complaint, and why my rating isn't higher, is that there were too many characters. I am more interested in the mystery to unravel than I am in finding out who any of these people are. Hopefully, this changes as the story progresses and they do not remain ciphers. They are very much blank slates at this point with lightly sketched traits to distinguish them. All in all, I am looking forward to the second volume.

Thank you to netgalley and kodansha for the ARC.

What an introduction to the series!

I love a good old fashioned murder mystery so I was so excited when I chose this book.

There are a lot of characters but they all have their own unique styles and personalities so it's easy to keep track of who is who.

The illustrations are really pretty. I love how different all of the characters are. The profiles between the chapters are really useful.

Overall, all I can say is I'm hooked! The story pulled me in from the get go and I need to know what happens next !