I could see how some people would like this book but it was not for me unfortunately. I didn’t love the way the plot played out.

Every year, for ten years, Fujinuma Kiichi, invited three guests to his remote home, The Mill House, to view his famous late father's paintings. Fujinuma was disfigured, wheelchair bound and a recluse, living with his ward who is now his wife, Yurie and only a butler and cook.
It was September 28th of the previous year that murder, a missing painting and a vanished guest had caused an upheaval in Fujinuma's quiet life. This year the three guests again arrived but also a stranger, Shimada Kiyoshi, came uninvited. As another storm raged and the guests reflected on the past tragedy, Shimada, began to piece together what had occurred and hopefully the past year would not be repeated this year.
An intriguing "locked room" mystery, moving from past to present with each chapter and revealing more and more of the events that happened and eventually, the murderer.
Thank you NetGalley and Puskin Press for this e-galley of "The Mill House Murders".

This was such an interesting read - I absolutely loved the ending, it was explained so well and was very clever. I loved the setting of the house, it was very atmospheric. There were a few too many characters, which made it a little tough to keep track, but overall it was a very enjoyable read!

The Mill House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji is a lightning-fast mystery with everything a book needs to hook the reader from page one. The opening scene of the novel followed by a quick transition to a year later gave me what I can only describe as literary whiplash, but in a way that demanded I keep reading at a breakneck (pun intended) pace.

The Mille House Murders presents a classic set of murder mystery characters, all with things to hide and a few wildly dislikeable characteristics, but none so obviously irritating that they stand out as the prime murder suspect. While I managed to rightly peg that Masaki had been the murderer and faked his own death, I did not and would never have guessed that he'd been impersonating the master of the house for a full year.

Since this book was published in 1988, it feels misplaced to dive too into the particulars, as this book obviously merits being brought to the English-speaking audience in the U.S. and beyond. Yukito has crafted an excellent story here, and I look forward to translations of the other mansion murder books.

From a technical standpoint, there were times when the translation felt somewhat spartan, but it was hard to tell if that was a choice on the translator's part or true to the source material. The formatting of the eBook was also a little rough, though I am guessing that will have been addressed by the time The Mill House Murders reaches publication.

The mystery and tension in this novel held my attention through the entire book.
The cast of characters, while sometimes hard to differentiate between, provided entertainment and helped move the story along.

The interwoven mysteries were creatively written and gave the reader a lot of consider. It’s possible someone who reads more mysteries than me would’ve figured them out.

I really enjoyed Shimada who guided the other people in the house and the reader towards the conclusion.

This book was okay but definitely not as good as The Decagon House Murders.
The prologue was interesting and grabbed my attention - it was intense and made me excited for the rest of the book. I really appreciated the character list at the beginning because other wise I think it could have been very confusing.
I liked that it flicked back and forth between past and present. The writing was overall okay - there were some good descriptions but I felt the characters were very underdeveloped.
The mystery itself was interesting but I had pretty much worked it out and the reveal didn’t shock me. This isn’t a book that held my attention - I think it is quite a forgettable plot.
I actually liked the ending with the painting - it was a bit creepy and I wished more of the story had been like that!

a murder mystery is supposed to be fun, gripping, and plausible. “the mill house murders” never grips the audience and is full of underdeveloped characters that are all essentially the same. there are so many sentence fragments and areas in the dialogue where someone trails off while speaking that it is somewhat annoying to the reader. i couldn’t seem to care about anyone in this story or what was happening. the killer is rather obvious from the start and the ending is very weak. i’m not sure whether the translator failed here, or the author did.

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review!

An engaging mystery with an eccentric cast of characters. Fujinuma Kiichi is a wealthy recluse who is married to a much younger woman, Yurie. Together, they live in the Mill House with a butler and housekeeper. The mansion is unique and beautiful, built in a remote location by a world-renown architect. It is designed to hold all the artwork created by Fujinuma Kiichi's father, a well-known artist, Fujinuma Issei.

The story moves between present day and one year prior. As the story begins, the reader learns that one year ago, when a few guests were invited to the Mill House to view Fujinuma Issei's artwork, two people were murdered and one person disappeared, along with one of Fujinuma Issei's priceless paintings.

This year, some of the previous guests are invited back but they are also joined by an uninvited guest, Kiyoshi Shimada, who is there in the hopes of solving the murder and mystery of the year before. As each character goes through their version of the events from one-year ago, new mysteries are revealed and soon, there is another murder.

I really enjoyed reading this well-constructed murder mystery. I would have given it 4-stars but felt that Yurie's character was very objectified and stereotyped, which was so disappointing. Recommended for those who love mysteries by Agatha Christie or mystery movies such as "Knives Out."

Thank you to NetGalley, Yukito Ayatsuji, and Pushkin Press for an advanced eBook in exchange for my honest review.

3.75
The first thing I want to highlight is that throughout the book the description was rich, it helped create an atmospheric and eerie setting.

Okay, so the first 25% of the book didn't grip me as much as I wanted the book too. I felt like the flip back from past and present felt a little off. BUT when SHIMADA STEPPED ON THE SCENE, the past and present began to merge and boy oh boy THE REVELATIONS STARTED REVELLING OMG.

LISTEN, that ending, my jaw dropped, SHIMADA weaved so many seemingly irrelevant moments together to paint the picture of the crime.Think of how Detective Benoit Blanc does his big reveal in the knives out films🤌🏿. So many things just clicked together and made me think how the hell did I miss that.

I never saw the ending coming. I really thought I knew who did it but boy I was wrong !

Very entertaining and atmospheric Japanese locked room mystery from the author of and connected to The Decagon House Murders.

If you like Agatha Christie and fair play mysteries that give you a chance to guess what's going on you're well served with this book, hopefully more translations will follow.

This is not my usual type of read, but this book was enthralling. The plot was clever and well-executed, the characters likeable and chapters easy to digest. Whilst the story development was a little slower than I would usually have liked, I thoroughly enjoyed the winding path it took you down in a very smart way.

Thank you NetGalley for the arc!!

2
Unfortunately, this book was a disappointment. I've waited and waited for the book to grab me, but it never happened. The pacing was also very slow and the plot wasn't that good.

-thank you netgalley for the arc

I’m not a great fan of the genre, but I am interested in reading books from other countries and cultures so decided to give this a go when it became available on NetGalley. I’m glad I tried it, but I wasn’t impressed. An unconvincing plot, one-dimensional characters, spurious motivation – all neatly tied up at the end. A banal locked-room mystery that failed to engage me.

Perfectly Perplexing..
From the cast list of characters and the enigmatic map through to puzzle proper this is a locked room, Golden Age style mystery in traditional vein. A small group, on a yearly basis, visit the battalion like, remote Mill House - home to a mysterious and reclusive artist. This year will be different. Riddled with impossible disappearances, thefts and bizarre murders, the talented mind of Kiyoshi Shimada is called in and investigations commence. Atmospheric, menacing and carefully constructed with a deftly drawn cast of characters and a perfectly perplexing and truly baffling puzzle at its’ very heart.

This was another fiendish locked room mystery from Yukito Ayatsuji. The chapters alternate between the same day one year apart, the former in 1985 that includes two deaths and a missing painting, the latter in 1986 with the remainder of those who experienced the previous fateful night plus two new characters. Once again the story takes place in an unusual house designed by the architect of Ayatsuji's first novel. This time, the house is owned by a reclusive son of a famous painter, now crippled and disfigured due to a car crash years earlier, along with his young wife, a girl he took in after her parents died. In 1985 he is also hosts a longtime friend who's down on his luck, and allows an annual visit from four fans of his father's art. When the housemaid and one of the guests are killed, and one of the prized paintings vanishes, another of the guests is suspected as the killer; though how he escaped from a locked room situation and during a raging storm is anyone's guess. In 1986, the remaining three art fans have returned, but unexpectedly another man shows up who was a friend of the suspected culprit. As another typhoon rages and the mystery of the past is brought up, will it finally be solved?
Ayatsuji really had a way of writing original takes on classical mystery novels. The story has inventive layers and numerous surprises. I had figured out who the killer was before it was revealed, but how he got away with it and several of the other complexities in the mystery eluded me. As with the previous novel, the final explanation was a bit long-winded and some of it was a bit far fetched, but it was nonetheless very entertaining and a new twist on old tropes.

The plot was interesting, but the writing read as a little bit blocky. It was difficult to stay engaged.

The Mill House Murders is a twisty, nonlinear, Japanese murder mystery novel. Fujinuma Kiichi is the son of a talented, fantastical painter who specializes in landscapes. Kiichi locks his fathers great works in his mysterious estate hidden away in the mountains. Every year on the anniversary of the death of his father, Kiichi invites four fans of his father’s work to visit his estate and see the gallery. Last year, strange “incidents” occurs. 1) the housekeeper mysteriously fell from the tower to her death 2) a painting disappeared 3) one of the guests vanished from his room 4) Kiichi’s dear friend Masaki was found in the incinerator—dead.

This year a mysterious man invites himself to the annual gathering, and he is asking questions.

•nonlinear story telling
•slow-burning reveals
•plot twists
•riveting dialogue

I enjoyed this quick novel—admittedly gobbled it up in one night. It was exactly the mystery murder novel I needed to remind myself how enjoyable the genre is. I love the flawed characters and excellent crafting of this web of intrigue. I especially thought it was unique how the present was in 1st person and the past was written in 3rd in order to encompass the many POVs of that mysterious night.

Another book you can't step away from. Not because of the suspense, but because you will have to find out where you were in the timeline. Changing time and POV is not a good idea.
The plot is excellent, however, and the characters are OK.

multicultural, Japan, locked-room-mystery, 1980s, betrayal, creepy, detective, disability, murder, murder-investigation, rural, secrets, storms, surgical-history, suspense, thriller, unexpected-deaths, wheelchair-bound, mask*****

The man in near isolation, a wheelchair, and a face mask to protect him from others.
The artist, the pseudo friends, the odd living arrangements, and the murders.
The incredible plot twists!
The story plods along fairly slowly so that the somewhat dim (me!) can try and try again to figure out the right questions and unearth the right answers. A real challenging puzzle!
Translated by Ho-Ling Wong.
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Pushkin Press/Pushkin Vertigo via NetGalley.

Thank you netgalley for this ARC.

First of all i love the cover with the pink and green the mask because the mask was also involved in the story so the cover is very fitting. Honestly this was a really good murder mystery i got alot of clue vibes from it and i love clue. I will say at times i wanted this to be more dark which it did have dark elements at times i just expected more HOWEVER this book also had alot of characters who seemed the same so it was VERY hard to guess who was the murderer etc which honestly after i finished it im not mad about it. I could not guess who it was so i feel murder mystery fans will love this one. It had alot of eerie elements i loved all the details of the mansion and my favorite part was that it took place during a storm making it even more eerie. I could not put this one down it was a really good murder mystery. I also enjoyed the art elements not knowing who is a thief trying to steal the famous artists work. This book always had me questioning. Overall a good read and a perfect murder mystery!