A Japanese mystery involving theft, murder, and intrigue. Everyone is baffled by the crimes and a brilliant sleuth arrives to try to solve them.

I struggled to get into this one. I think it threw me off the prologue was so dramatic and then it just shifts without warning to characters I didn't know who they were relative to that.

This book reads like a classical whodunit and is interspersed with things which are wholly oriental (Japanese to be precise) and the closest that the Western world could relate to it is the way the royals especially the British royals project their behavior in public with their stiff upper lip and the way they would behave, unruffled as if nothing has happened even in the face of stinging reality. The oriental style would be about stoicism or rather being more in control of emotions, being extremely polite and emoting very less in public or in company.

In this book the atmosphere is gloomy despite a well described picturesque locale. The pall of the previous years tragedy at the house looms large over the members and the guests all of whom have a link with the incident or are aware of the links and its obvious effects. The fact that the owner of the house is himself a person whose life is steeped in great tragedy and who is also intimidated by a father who was larger than life and who as a classical artist had few peers and who still posthumously enjoyed widespread love; has forced him, Fujinama Kiichi to retreat into a shell and move to a aloof house. He has also hoarded all his father's art from the market into his own secluded gallery where he allows only a select few of his acquaintances once every year and he has along with himself also imprisoned a young girl, his wife which is a mystery of its own.
The story picks at the annual viewing of the art and when 3-4 friends and acquaintances of Kiichi visit the Mill House. We also read about an interloper Shimada who arrives uninvited and asks the owner for permission to visit the house.

A third into the book and the story has warmed up and looks intriguing and interesting and is such that I feel that it should be read at a languid pace maybe facing a fireplace and with a drink in hand. The atmosphere is foreboding but never overwhelming. What is interesting is the cast of characters all of whom seem to have a rabid interest in seeing the paintings which goes beyond just interest and all are equally passionate of a mythical painting by the master which has never been seen by anyone other than Kiichi. The interest is beyond passion and gives out feelings that trickery and murder would not be far off just for the sake of possessing the painting(s).

The book is from the 80's and this one is an English translation but doesn't seem too dated like the classical tales of Agatha Christie, Conan Doyle and others. This is a single house murder mystery that spans a year and involves two incidents involving much of the same set of characters with some of the them falling prey to murder. The story moves effortlessly between the two years - the present and the year previously but continuous back and forth makes the effort jarring and sometimes creates mind games which are not actually present in the book. The Japanese names which may be alien to most readers also forces that trap with remembering and understanding their interactions sometimes tedious. This does not hamper the story but on occasions makes reading slow by forcing the reader to go back and check the timeline. These efforts do not in any way deter in enjoying the story.

The permanently masked owner who is also a person using a wheelchair and host of the Mill House and the almost imprisoned girl who is his wife beg for more history and what is available does not satiate the need for information. They are also red herrings which make the mystery too obvious.

What I loved in this book was the way the previous and present is played up and also the way Shimada as the person who cracks the case is consistently picking up clues and commenting or clamming up about situations, thereby allowing the reader to reach their own conclusions.

What I did not like in the book was the absolute ending which alludes to the supernatural where the rest of the book including the mystery was a murder mystery and a damn good one at that. In hindsight it can be understood that the author probably wanted to give this story an Edgar Allan Poe style end with a hint of the supernatural and which like the cask of amontillado gives the errant villain his comeuppance with horror.

I believe that the book has lost a bit of sting after the translation with no disrespect to the translator but because of my experience with other translated books, some of the original fire is naturally lost because of the nuances of speech and language. This is particularly true for most Asian and Oriental languages where the spoken and written word has variable meanings due to the intonations and the way and who is speaking it.
When reading this book, I think the readers should give an allowance for the above and then they would actually enjoy the story just as I did. I reached the solution earlier than the book, hence I docked a star.

The Mill House Murders is Yukito Ayatsji is an immersive, atmospheric read with a twisted ending. It gave me a nostalgic one-detective show vibe (Hercule Poirot sprang to mind). It's a murder mystery that oscillates between past and present moments and is non-linear. I gobbled this book up in one day and appreciated the references made to Japanese culture. Each character stood out to me with their distinct mannerism and motives, and as the plot progressed, it became increasingly challenging to decipher the ending. The balance between narration (from the simplistic references to weather to the details provided of the mysterious and ominous house) and the dialogue is well crafted. The ending was shocking, one I could have never predicted, and it lingered in my mind even after two days. Reading this book reinforced why murder mysteries are a significant and celebrated genre.
I look forward to reading more of this author's work.

Thank you NetGalley & Pushkin Press, for giving me an ARC. This honest review is left voluntarily.

I’ve recently started reading a lot of Japanese and Korean literature so i was really excited to read this book as the description sounded really intriguing. It didn’t disappoint! A fast paced read, full of mystery and twists and turns, it kept me guessing till the end. At first i wasn’t sure about how the near rat Ive jumped from past to present each chapter but as i got into it this format really worked. I loved it! Will be keeping an eye out for more books by this author!

This has all your classic ingredients: a cut-off location, a small number of suspects and a murder committed by one of them. The narrative flicks, one chapter at a time, between the day of the murder in 1985 and the same day, one year later when Shimada turns up, asking questions about the man who disappeared that night and the presumed murderer.

So what did actually happen that night? Who is more than they seem? Whose facades may crumble? You’ll just have to read it and find out.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Rating : 3,5 out of 5
Blurbs :
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 an impossible disappearance, the theft of a painting and a series of baffling murders.

The brilliant Kiyoshi Shimada arrives to investigate. But will he uncover the truth, and will you be able to solve the mystery of the Mill House Murders before he does?

Thoughts :
Not as good as the Decagon House Murders but it's still okay. We are following a new set of characters with obvs Kiyoshi Shimada as the main detective. We are still within the same universe as before and now we come back to one of Nakamura Seiji's houses and there are murders happened here. This book is a very very short read to me. It's not hard to get through this book. It's just not as appealing and good and scandalous as The Decagon House Murders. The culprit and the plot is pretty much predictable. The twist is actually out of nowhere but it's okay, it happened every single time.
Thanks Netgalley for the early copy!

The Decagon House Murders was the book that got me hooked on translated mysteries so when I saw that Pushkin Vertigo was going to be releasing another of Yukito Ayatsuji’s books I squealed a little. This book does reference The Decagon House, but I don’t think it’s necessary to read first. I did love the ties with Shimada and the architect responsible for both houses between the two books though.

As a murder mystery, I thought this was pretty solid. There’s a dual timeline, one following the events of a year ago where two people died and the presumed murderer escaped and another in the present day where it seems like events are repeating themselves. I liked the back and forth in the timelines and liked how the solution ultimately tied the two together. The plot twists were engaging and I liked the way Ayatsuji told the story.

That being said, one of the characters is a 20 year old orphan who married the man several decades her senior that became her guardian when her parents died, and I just could not get over the grooming part of the plot, to the point where it hindered my enjoyment of the rest of the book. While that aspect hurt this book’s rating for me, I really enjoyed everything else and I hope they continue to publish English translations in this series!

A bit of a drag for the first half, but the ending really packs it in. I'll be thinking about this for awhile, I suspect.

Another masterful work from the genius of Yukito Ayatsuji! This was wildly amusing and cleverly plotted. The Mill House Murders is another masterpiece created by the eccentric architect Nakamura Seiji (who we see in The Decagon House Murders as well).

What I love about this is how the past and present murders are juxtaposed. It's so seamless as we read the present and then the past. But what's really interesting is if you just read closely, you'll see how even the translation left clues. It's really a delight to piece together, especially for die-hard mystery fans.

It's fraught with desperation and haunted me as I read chapter after chapter. The ending is truly a sucker-punch that you wouldn't even see coming. It kind of reminded me of the sinister ending of Edgar Allan Poe's The Fall of The House Of Usher. Like his previous work, Yukito Ayatsuji really subverted a lot of the "rules" of the genre and I daresay he really enjoyed himself.

This was delightful to read as it progressed! It terrified me and it also awed me. I'm grateful for the translator Ho-Ling Wong for doing the lord's work and helping us international readers access more gems like this.

man, i remember enjoying the decagon house murders, so i was baffled when this was so much worse. i thought maybe it was translated by somebody else but no, same person. the writing is soooooo stiff and there are several parts (one spans five!! full pages) where scenes are repeated word for word. literally just copied & pasted.

the mystery was meh; i figured out a crucial part from the very first scene, because a massively cliche plot device is employed. still, the final conclusion was surprising enough to be satisfying. the last paragraph, however, was… an odd choice.

thank you to netgalley for an arc.

Every year, Fujinuma Kiichi hosts a gathering in honor of his father Fujinuma Issei—the acclaimed painter. This year, however, is different. All the usual guests gather at the Mill House to view the collection of Issei’s works. Suddenly, there are multiple dead, someone missing, and a theft—all while a typhoon rages outside. They are all trapped. A year later, they once again gather and this time around a mysterious uninvited guest is there to uncover the truth.

The Mill House Murders is a classic locked-room mystery and the second in the House Murders series by Yukito Ayatsuji. I absolutely love this series. While you do not need to have read The Decagon House Murders to enjoy this book, I highly recommend that you read them both. They are short and fast-paced novels that I read in a day. You will want to gobble them up and get to the solution! The bonus for non-Japanese readers is that you get to learn more about Japanese culture, as well.

On the stormy night of 29th of September, three sinister events subsequently unfolded within the enigmatic Mill House:

1. A woman fell from the tower
2. A man vanished into thin air.
3. A painting was stolen.

Were these three events tied to perform a schematic murder? Or perhaps it was all just an unfortunate misunderstanding?

The Mill House Murders boasts of its atmospheric ambience that lures the readers in, making them feel welcome to the bizarre house. The narration is told in a third POV and first POV alternately, representing the past and the present while slowly uncovering the secrets that had happened inside the house. It is a tale of unfinished vengeance, bittersweet endings, and the philosophy of unfortunate circumstances.

The story also highlighted the importance of paintings in society, on how it seemingly represents every human quality that either makes them good or bad. It is slow-paced since it's a murder mystery (it always takes time to conclude that one's hypothesis is correct), and may bore readers who are impatient to know the ending. The puzzles were quite fun and I was immersed by how it was cleverly written (considering I correctly guessed who or what was the mystery).

Overall, it was pretty good.

3.5 stars, rounded to 4.

Fujinuma Kiichi invites 4 people every year the same day to let them view his father's paintings. The rest of the year, he lives in his secluded mill house with his young wife Yurie. Kiichi wears a mask and gloves as a result of horrible injuries suffered many years ago. In the year 1985, during the annual visit, one painting and a guest goes missing, while two people are murdered. Then the next year, on the same day, Kiyoshi Shimada comes to the Mill House along with three guests and tries to investigate the truth behind what happened last year.

I had enjoyed the writer's previous book that has been translated into English, and was very excited when i got approved from Netgalley for this ARC.
I am a huge fan of traditional style mysteries and the Japanese writers who write in this vein.

However, i have to say that i liked The Decagon House Murders more that The Mill House Murders. The biggest issue with the book is that of packing - it is very slow burn and never quite picks pace enough to keep a reader turning the pages. There are a number of characters, but all of them feel rather colourless and none really get a chance to make a mark on the reader's mind.

However, the mystery is still interesting and i also liked it because of the past-present narrative technique. If you are a fan of Japanese/traditional Mysteries, you should give this a try!

Kichii, left severely scarred from a car accident, lives in a secluded manor with just his butler, maid, wife, and his artist father's apprentice. Once a year, he invites a small group to come to the manor and view its prized gem: the only collection of Kichii's famous father's life work. It seems like another normal visit until the unthinkable happens: people start dying, and one man disappears completely. Told in a dual timeline structure, we follow the events of the initial murders and the events of the year after, when the survivors (plus an interested detective) reunite.

This book was fun! It's billed as a Agatha Christie-type novel, and that description is completely accurate. It is an almost entirely plot-driven novel (as opposed to something more character-driven) and it's fun to jump between timelines and follow the detective's investigation while you try to piece together what really happened. I love a good translation and the translation from Japanese is extremely well done.

I was a little puzzled by the character of Kichii's wife and her backstory. She was not really fleshed out or given much time in the narrative to develop as a character of her own.

Overall, you'll like this book if you're an Agatha Christie fan and enjoy a good detective story!

The Mill House Murders is the second installment in the “House Murders” mystery series by the same author who wrote "Another”.

This murder mystery takes place in two timelines: the past and the present. These timelines occur on the same day a year apart, starting with September 28th, 1985. Fujinuma Issei was a visionary painter who passed away on September 28th, 1971. Before he passed away, he painted the most sought-after large-scale painting that the public did not get to see called the “The Phantom Cluster”.

In the Winter of 1973, Fujinuma Issei’s son Fujinuma Kiichi was driving when he crashed a car that went up into flames, scarring his body past any sort of facial reconstruction. As a result, he sported a mask specially made for his face whenever he was in public with others. Once he was healed, he sold everything that he owned to isolate himself in a manor that was an heirloom from his father. This manor featured two running water mills that were his only source to power the home, also known as the ‘Mill House’. To serve as a permanent museum for his father’s works, he bought all of his art one-by-one, including the most notable “The Phantom Cluster”. Every year on the day his father died, he would open up his manor to the public of four individuals: Ōshi Genzō, Furukawa Tuneshito, Mori Shigehiko, and Mitamura Noriyuki. These four, along with the staff that stayed here would be the suspects in the brutal murder of Masaki Shingo, a disciple of Fujinuma Issei.

With every decision to translate a book from its original language, we take a risk of losing its meaning or diction in its translation. I feel that this may be the case for the Mill House Murders. At times, the story was very slow paced and lacked depth for the characters and the progression of the story. It felt like the plot was completely a horizontal progression instead of a traditional novel. There were no surprising moments or high-intensity scenes, it just felt as if we were being written a story, and not told a story. The mystery element of this book lacked any mystery, as with context clues you are pretty much given the answer to the “whodunnit” in chapter 3. Continuing, some sentences became run-ons or served no purpose to the dialogue at hand. It seems like important pieces are missing or not being told to the reader for the purpose of suspense. Again, I do cause for concern if there were any strings of text that may have added depth to this story but may have been lost or omitted because it did not have as meaningful symbolism as it does in Japanese.

Thank you @netgalley for the ARC of The Mill House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji. This was a great, mysterious who-dunit novel. A group of people are invited to the Mill House. While they are there, a series of murders and a stolen painting takes place. If you like locked-room mysteries, check this one out.

Perhaps I was not in the right frame of mind or the style of mystery was not for me - I didn't feel pulled into the story as much as I want to be from a mystery. I thought that it would hook me like the synopsis and cover did, but I felt like by the end I was just reading it to finish it.

This was an interesting and quick murder mystery that reminded me of older mysteries like “And Then There Were None” by Agatha Christie.

The author did a good job giving the reader facts without outright telling them what they were or how they all combined together. I was able to figure out who the culprit was by around the halfway point, but I was still surprised by the ending and how they got away with everything.

The characters were a bit one dimensional. To be completely honest, I don’t read books like this for amazing character development, so I wasn’t too upset by that. But I do wish maybe we got to learn a bit more about them. All of them felt like plot devices. Especially Yurie, the only major female character. Her backstory and mindset would’ve been an interesting topic to explore. The author really missed out on an interesting opportunity with her.

The story seemed a bit disconnected. By the end I realized that I really didn’t care that much about what really happened. I'm not sure if this is due to the writing style or if it is a personal issue. Whenever something interesting would happen I just didn’t find myself as invested as I normally do with a good mystery. So I couldn't justify giving it more than a 3 star rating.

After enjoying the author's first book, The Decagon House Murders, I was eager to read this next one. Sadly, the characters in this one are so lacking in personality and the mystery really lacks suspense and atmospheric tension. If it wasn't a book for Netgalley, I would have not finished it.

The Mill House Murders is a classic closed-door mystery centering around the reclusive son of an iconic painter, who invited a small group to view his father’s work once a year. Flashing back and forth between these visits in 1985 and 1986, a whole series of deaths and disappearances are gradually unraveled, making for some intriguing reading!

I really enjoyed this mystery. I felt like it moved at a nice pace, and left enough clues that I could staaaart to see where it was heading and pick up pieces of the solution, but I definitely did not fully get there!

My only significant complaint was that the back and forth between timelines was more confusing than normal, as it’s essentially flashing between two versions of the same day with the same host of characters for the most part. I also found myself a little annoyed with the level of technical detail surrounding the house itself — there was quite a lot of discussion about and descriptions of the structure and layout of the house, which I thought bogged down some of the sequences unnecessarily and took away from the flow of the book.

Thanks to Pushkin Press, Yukito Ayatsuji, and NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review!