3.5 out of 5.
Knives Out meets The Fall of the House of Usher in this locked room murder mystery.
I was surprised this was originally written in 1949 and was recently translated into English to be republished this year (I received an advance copy from NetGalley).
At first it reads like Sherlock Holmes, very dated in the age it was written, rather stiff. Then there is some comedy that gets written in as the story progresses that portrays the detective character, named after the author himself, as a Benoit Blanc-esque comically brilliant super sleuth. Overall, it was a good read and for anyone who likes murder mystery dramas this is the book for you, but I found it a little too slow for me to consider it ever being a re-read.

Originally published in 1950, The Noh Mask Murder is a take on the classic locked room murder mystery. For a twist, Takagi places himself in the novel as investigating the case. The story was written very well, and the full truth behind the murders was well hidden, unless the reader recognized certain aspects, though specific knowledge in a couple of areas. I've been enjoying Japanese murder novels, and except for the killer reveal not being all that surprising, I found this book to be as good as any I've read in the genre.

I grabbed this because I enjoyed the Tattoo Murder Case and knew a bit of what to expect. The Noh Mask Murder Case is a reprint from a well known Japanese author now deceased. This locked room murder mystery, is similar to another historic story,taking a lot of The Greene Murder Case (S. S. Van Dine). Good atmosphere and shocking ending!