I love these types of mysteries - I read The Decagon House Murders a few years ago and this style has really stuck with me since. I don't love the fantastical element but it brings a certain edge to the mystery that I think many people will enjoy! Overall pretty easy read.

There's some good elements, and the time-loop setting is probably innovative for when the book was written, but the mystery of who kills the titular victim just really lacks tension, the reader doesn't really care about the victim, or about any of the characters almost, who just really suck. The reveals at the end are also about things that don't really matter and just add context to the book, which is still cool, but again, the reader doesn't really care about the problems and solutions because they're not that defined, so it's more just like: "Oh, that was neat." rather than "Wow, that really changed everything I was thinking about."

For Goodreads review, please see link. NetGalley-specific review:

Though I know it is part of a Pushkin collection, I think this novel and its marketing campaign will do well to avoid genre pigeonholing. The readers who enjoy this book the most will have an interest in mysteries, romance, YA, and whatever category family drama falls into; they will not be disappointed to read a mystery that is not a thriller.

This book is so entertaining. It was my first read on the site and I found it to be a total page-turner. There are maybe three copy errors remaining, but the reading experience was extremely smooth, the translation seems to have conserved the tone, and the formatting was clean.

Interesting concept but looks like some things got lost in translation or maybe the idea didn't translate very will into words.

Yasuhiko Nishizawa’s The Man Who Died Seven Times is a clever, genre-blending mystery that reinvents the time-loop narrative with sharp wit and elegant plotting. At its heart is Hisataro, a teenager cursed—or gifted—with reliving the same day multiple times. When a murder strikes his prominent family, each repetition becomes a chance to edge closer to the truth.

Nishizawa crafts a puzzle-box novel rich in suspense and sly humor, drawing inspiration from both Agatha Christie and classic science fiction. With each loop, new layers of character and motive unfold, keeping the story taut and surprising. The result is a stylish, tightly wound mystery that’s as emotionally resonant as it is intellectually satisfying—a standout in contemporary Japanese fiction.

⭐3,25⭐

This was a cool and refreshing idea for a murder mystery, and it definitely kept me hooked. I really liked how everything the main character did had ripple effects in each loop. The variations of each loop definitely kept things interesting and ha d me guessing about the conclusion sometimes.

That said, the ending didn’t quite hit the mark for me. I was expecting a bit more, but it left me feeling a little underwhelmed.

Overall it was a fun and entertaining read.

Thank you NetGalley and Pushkin Vertigo for the ARC ✨

I enjoyed this book, and I found the concept to be unique, however it did not really grip me. I think perhaps it was the overly detailed nature of some of the aspects of the book (such as his 'condition') made me lose some engagement in the story. I loved the murder mystery and the twists in the story. It is a light, easy read and I personally enjoyed the Japanese elements of the text as I am familiar with the culture. I just found it to drag a little at times and lose momentum due to the writing style.

The Man Who Died Seven Times is not your typical murder mystery. And that's what makes it so good.

In a nutshell, it's a murder-science-fiction mystery with precision plotting, clear-cut characters and a unique twist.

Originally published in Japanese in 1995, it's great to see this wonderful story translated into English. 

During the New Year gathering of a dysfunctional Japanese family, Hisataro's grandfather is murdered. As the patriarch was about to rewrite his will, there are many suspects.

Hisataro could be seen as the amateur detective. But he doesn't just investigate his grandfather's sudden death. Instead, with the aid of a time loop, he tries to prevent it from happening in the first place.

What could have been a confusing and repetitive story, with the same day repeating, is easy to follow and truly gripping.

Hisataro's extended family also provide an array of suspects and motives. The relatives have bags of personality, which makes the family tensions and jealousy fun to read.

What's more, the family tree at the beginning of the book is a helpful reference in case you forget any of the relationships. 

There's also a subtle humour throughout the story, which prevents it from being too dark. Plus, there's a welcome absence of gore. 

The twists at the end are satisfying and bring the story to a fitting close. The only part of the book that didn't work for me was the last chapter. I felt the book could have ended with chapter 14, without the need to say any more.

Thanks to Pushkin Vertigo and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of the book. All opinions are my own.

A quirky and very different murder mystery.
The author narrator suffers from a condition where every 2-6 weeks he experiences a time trap when he relives the same day for nine consecutive days. He can change the things he does and say but whatever happens on day 8 becomes the memories and experiences of all other people.
The scene of the book is the New Years celebration of a dysfunctional family where the aging Grandfather declares he is going to declare who will be the inheritor of the family business. Before he does so he is killed and the narrator then spends the next 8 days trying to find out who is the murderer and how to prevent the murder from happening.
It's a black comedy with a cast of not so lovely people. My only complaint was the detail of what is going on was a little too detailed.

This was pretty fun! The mechanics of the Loops made it a little longer than I think it needed to be but it had a couple interesting twists.

Definitely a unique take on the classic murder mystery.

If you've ever felt like life needed a do-over button, this is the mystery for you.

A death happens again and agin - the same death in a Groundhog-Day type of way. Our "detective" relives the day 9 times, each time trying to prevent the death and learning more with each repetition. This is a bit of an oddball plot line for a mystery, especially since the original Japanese version of the story written in mid-1990s (since, we have “The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle” by Stuart Turton). The premise is clearly described to get you up to speed.

The real question: Is it possible to control the future even if you know what's about to happen?

Though reality is twisted, the plot is fairly straightforward and easy to follow. There is family drama, with well-described characters. The main character is young and sometimes not overly clever. His actions are often haphazard and expedient. Everyone seems to be capable of the murder. It's frustrating that sometimes our boy detective seems to be focusing on all the wrong elements.

Overall this is a light read and the novel premise lends itself to some out-of-the-box possibilities. But don't get too complacent and you think you know what's going on! The author has a trick or two up his sleeve.

There are some Japanese customs and descriptions that readers unfamiliar with the Japanese culture will miss but for the most part these are minor and not directly relevant to the mystery.

The concept is interesting and I wanted to like this book, but it got bogged down from the beginning with the discussion of his condition. And that became repetitive throughout the book. I understood it the first time! I feel the author doesn’t give the reader enough credit for following a story and therefore avoided literary inferences and nuance in his writing. He kept explaining the same things in the same way. Also I didn’t care for so many of the characters. They were all unlikable and underdeveloped. Even the protagonist got tiring after a while. Unfortunately I was bored fairly early on but slogged through it. It seemed an uninspired rehash of Groundhog Day without the sardonic humor.

I really enjoyed this book, its a great translation from Japanese and i found it easy to follow along. For a murder mystery its quite light in tone and i enjoyed that as while the character says he has the mind of a 3o year old, he still talks like a 16 year old boy and it was quite hilarious.
I though the twist ending explained everything quite well and i didn't guess most of the answer, but the information was definitely there so good amount of clues.

Definietely reccomend for anyone that likes Japanese fiction and murder mysteries. This book did time travel really well. I do think though that he explained it with a bit too much detail at the start but if readers get passed that section they will enjoy this book.

I really wanted to love this one. Especially since for most of the story I was loving it. I ate up all the messiness of these characters and the dark secrets they have hidden. But there was some aspects of the story that hit different with American culture like the age gaps and exactly what we believe a marriage proposal to be. Not trying to give too many spoilers but some of the relationships gave the story a weird vibe. The last explanation was done to the point that it took away from the story instead of clarifying because it belabored the issue. So, even though I loved the majority of the book the ending really ruined things for me. 5 stars for the beginning but 1 star for that ending. 3 stars it is.

Not sure if it's simply a case of something being lost in translation, but this was difficult to follow and not very interesting.

Certain phrases were repeated over and over again - mainly "in other words". The physics of how the time loop works was explained excessively too. All that plus the intentional repetition of the time loops just ended up with this being excruciating to get through.

Perhaps it's much better in the original Japanese, but this was a miss for me.