4.25 rounded down

Thank you NetGalley and Pushkin Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

After the unexpected suicide of the owner of the great Labyrinth House, four novelists are faced with a competition to win his fortune. But as everyone is locked inside the house, brutal murders start to occur.

I've loved other classic Japanese mysteries that I've read, so I was thrilled when I got access to this one. Everything about The Labyrinth House Murders was as wonderful as I expected it to be.

Locked room mysteries are becoming a new favorite for me and this book features a great one. Trapped inside the Labyrinth House, you might think the murderer would be limited in what they could do. However, each new kill proves to be more intense than the last. The brutal kills add an uncomfortable, but effective kick to the story. Each dangerous detail gets readers closer to a deeply satisfying end.

The concept for this book sounds incredible in the synopsis, but it is so much better in the actual story. The conditions the writers are given for their competition are uniquely fascinating and they play so well into the later events of the story. The setting of the Labyrinth House is so creative. The way it is utilized for the plot shows just how much care went into crafting this book. Everything works together so well to form a story you can't look away from.

The characters are interesting to follow. Kiyoshi Shimada, the detective of the story, brings everything together and keeps readers attached to the story. Following his search for answers with the help of everyone else in the house really made this book what it is. They're characters everyone can enjoy reading about, even if they don't completely fall in love with them.

Every good mystery has a smart twist at the end and this book is no different. It wasn't something I was expecting at all, but it fit the story perfectly. Every part of the plot, the characters, and the timeline was so well-thought-out. The Labyrinth House Murders is deeply clever and highly addictive.

Review on Goodreads (sophreadingbooks https://www.goodreads.com/sophreadingbooks) as of 2/21/2025
Review on Instagram (sophiesreading https://www.instagram.com/sophiesreading/) expected 5/6/2025

5 stars

This is a review of the recently updated English translation of the original Japanese murder mystery written in 1988. It is the third translation in the line of "Bizarre House Mysteries" that the original author, Yukito Ayatsuji, penned. However it is an excellent standalone story and you needn't have read the other stories to enjoy this one.

Miyagaki Yotaro was one of Japan's most acclaimed mystery writers but he had retired to the countryside a few years prior, while still mentoring several young writers. He invites four of these writers to his mysterious home, The Labyrinth House, famous for its design and construction by a well-known architectural genius. These writers, along with a handful of other close friends of Miyagaki's are invited to stay for a celebration of his birthday weekend, but once everyone arrives a challenge is set forth and things almost immediately start to go awry.

The juxtaposition of the classical Western tropes associated with the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur alongside the traditional Japanese locked-room, fair-play styled murder mystery makes for a supremely interesting read. While not being fully familiar with Japanese culture myself, I understood certain tropes/literary devices within the story that interplayed delightfully with the maze-like atmosphere of the Minotaur's Labyrinth, the clash of East/West, and the discombobulation felt by all the guests as they start getting knocked off one by one in a locked house with no apparent means of escape...

Thanks to NetGalley, author Yukito Ayatsuji, and Pushkin Press for giving me access to a free digital ARC of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own and are provided here voluntarily.

This was a fun read! I thought the idea of presenting this as a story within a story within a story was cool. As always, I love reading the characters’ deductions on who the murderer might be. And as always, I never get them right lol.

Each murder was intriguing and I was left guessing till the end. I had suspected a woman, like Keiko but alas, I was wrong. I think the author made it quite hard to guess who the murderer is. The final reveal of who the author of the manuscript was (Shimada) was also clever. I did not expect the bit about the brother.

References to Greek mythology was also a nice touch!!

Thank you Pushkin Press for the review copy!!

This was my first time reading a locked room mystery. The twists and puzzles kept me reading. When I thought I knew who the murder was, I was wrong. This is a great fun read for someone who loves a good murder mystery, I will be checking out the other books in this series.

Thank you NetGally for the eARC,

A murder mystery with twists and turns reminiscent of the classics, like Christie and Queen.

This is a book within a book, where Shimada receives and reads an early copy of a book written by Shishiya, a new mystery writer. This book is based on events from a year before at the Labyrinth House, where new writers were gathered at the house of murder mystery legend, Miyagaki, who offers a prize to the writer who can write the best story. But when an actual murder takes place, the participants find themselves locked in this labyrinthine house with a killer.

It’s a little confusing and slow at first, and the formatting is kind of wonky in the ebook version which didn’t help, but once the murders start, it’s just straight sleuthing and investigating and theorizing, which is what I like in a mystery. And when you think you’ve figured it out, the book throws another twist that makes you want to reread to find the clues you missed. Readers should remember the Holmes’ quote about eliminating the impossible and keeping the improbable.

Some of the writing was awkward and had quite a few typos and grammar issues, but considering this is a translated work, I was impressed with how it internationalized the clues so it could work for an English-speaking audience, though it probably does flow better in Japanese.

It took a bit to get into this, but as a murder mystery that you can puzzle out along with the characters, I enjoyed this very much.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC!

“The Labyrinth House Murders" is an intriguing mystery novel that draws readers into a web of secrets, lies, and unexpected twists. The story is set in the eerie and atmospheric Labyrinth House, where a series of murders disrupts the lives of its inhabitants and guests.

The book's strength lies in its complex characters and the intricate plot that keeps readers guessing. Each character has their own motives and secrets, making it difficult to pinpoint the true culprit until the very end. The author skillfully builds suspense, creating a sense of unease and anticipation throughout the novel.

I got this book from NetGalley and It was a DNF for me. Sorry. Not my style. I was bummed because I was excited for it based upon title and summary.

At first, I wasn’t sure how I was going to find this book. It started off slow with us being introduced to two of the main characters in this Sherlock - inspired style story.

We follow a murder/mystery writer, Miyagaki Yotaro, and his editor, Utayama having tea at Miyagaki’s eccentric home, The Labyrinth House. They discuss an upcoming party the famous author would like to do with just a small few. Once Utayama and his wife, Keiko, arrive to the house on the day of the party they are greeted by six other guests. Four of them fellow young authors who admire the work of Yotaro and hope to one day achieve his success. The other two are critics and Shimada; a detective Yotaro met one day when his car broke down.

When they arrive all eight learn that Yotaro has seemingly taken his own life and left some very specific and odd choices for his departing words: Yotaro wants the budding authors Suzaki, Kiyomura, Furaoka, and Hayagti to write a fifty page short story based on murders that take place in the house. Murders that happen to them. If they do this and are picked the winner from the detective, critic, and his editor, they win half of his billion Yen fortune. The only problem is the stories they seem to be creating are having fatal similarities.

This book had a slow start for me. I wasn’t too invested in the characters or what was happening but once the murder mystery took off it became a gripping story-telling with multiple layers that I found to be not only entertaining but incredibly sharp plotting. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Agatha Christie or Sherlock Holmes investigations that deal with solving and deducing crimes to find our killer.

Thank you to Netgalley and Pushkin Press for this ARC.

New to the Japanese Golden Age inspired mystery genre. This is my first experience with the genre and Yukito Ayatsuji’s work as it could be read as a stand alone.
What drew me to this book was the gimmick of the Labyrinth House. The labyrinth itself was a treat and the Greek mythology symbolism were the cherry on top. The mystery was okay, with me scratching my head why these characters with certain backstories would jump to certain conclusions. My favorite character was Keiko which I’m pretty sure was not intended with how the author harked on our ‘detective’ of how great they are. Which says something with how flat Keiko is. The reveal was decent, the author led me to the conclusion they wanted me to make as the audience, and I’m not angry about it. Solid work, more mystery driven than character driven to my disappointment but understandable. I enjoyed the meta commentary the story gives to itself.
Appreciate the translator for translating this novel for English readers to experience. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC!

Me while reading: I mean, it's good, but it's a bit predictable.

Me at the end: HOLY HECK DID I NOT SEE THAT COMING.

Yet another Japanese locked room mystery that I really enjoyed. There are puzzles throughout, and even when I thought I knew what was happening there were parts I couldn't solve. Really kept me guessing.

Fascinating characters, fun explanations, and appropriately ghastly deaths.

Also really enjoyed the brief reference to my other current favourite Japanese Detective, Kosuke Kindaichi.

I'll definitely be looking for more in this series.

With thanks to NetGalley for an ARC

I was initially drawn to this novel by the eye catching cover, however the premise intrigued me also.

I enjoyed Yukito Ayatsuji's simple writing style and the subtle hints peppered throughout the well paced plot. It made the story very readable. The setting was fantastic and well described and I enjoyed the story within a story aspect.

However, I found the female characters to be a let down. They were underused and did not add much to the majority of the story. I also found the final twist - and how this was discovered - to be ridiculous.

Thanks to NetGalley and Pushkin Vertigo for the ARC.

Labyrinth of books
The book’s use of metalinguistics is amazing. At first, I was curious to see how the story would unfold, especially with characters who are writing professionals in a peculiar setting, and the narrative managed to surprise me. For much of the reading, the predictability of the mystery made me impatient, as I believed I had uncovered the plot too soon. However, I was caught off guard by the ending, which further enhanced the story’s construction. Despite the time and setting, I felt the absence of more strong female characters throughout the narrative. Greek mythology is well incorporated, adding depth to the book’s atmosphere. Similarly, the mystery genre is explored in a way that allowed me to learn interesting concepts, which I will apply to my future readings. I enjoyed the author's shared universe, which sparked my interest in exploring their other works.

I loved it. I adored it. I absolutely and utterly devouvered it.
Where it takes me a week to finish a book, I did it in two days. I read late into the night, I woke up in the middle of the night and I read in commute.

Yukito Ayatsuji is has a very simple writing style without big words and fancy sentences. What makes this sleuthing murder mystery a page turned is the nested premise of a story within a story, small reveals and the absolutely fantastic setting.

The setting is the title- The Labyrinth House is a mysterious architecture that could give the reader creeps and fantastical wonder. To its character, the house seem to have eyes that follow their moves. When there are guests stuck in the house on 1st April and murders begin to go down, its more than April's Fool or an inheritance game. The situation is difficult. The doors are locked. The keys are with the murderer. The murderer in question is dead, died after murders and was dead before the murders. And yet he is the murderer.

Now What? YES! I can't explain, you have to read for yourself.

I loved the premise that the narrator of the story was a man who experienced the events in real life and was narrating his events as fiction. The nesting style of the story- a story within a story is the best part of the plot. The story's premise is mind blowing, The twists are unexpected to the point they make you want to read the whole thing again to see the clues littered.

Thank you Netgalley and Pushkin Press for this eARC.

I requested this as a bit of something different to my usual reads and was not dissapointed. The book is a murder mystery set a house that has been inspired by Greek Myth - 'The Labyrinth House'. As I am currently on a Greek Mythology trip that was a pleasant suprise for me as I did think a labyrinth could relate to anything! I really liked all the characters in this and when I thought I had worked out the whodunnit I was shocked that I was SO FAR away from the answer.

I will definitely be reading more books by this author!

Such great writing in this book! I loved the characters and the mystery! I was in the story and felt really invested pretty much straight away! Will definitely order myself a copy!

I was loving the story, I like this kind of mysteries, but as a woman, that ending... it shows - in a bad way - that the writer is a man. Did nobody told him that what he wrote was absurd?? It spoiled all of the good parts of the book, I was even ignoring how all the women of the story did nothing, but that was the last straw.

The ‘murderer’ was very obvious in my opinion I didn’t even need the fake clues left behind. I didn’t like the writing style.

This novel was such a treat to experience!
I highly recommend going into it armed with your note taking tools of choice and try to figure out for yourself the solution of the murders as you read along.
The story was incredibly well paced and, even if this wasn't my first one with a similar concept, the structure of a novel within a novel to recount the events occurred at the Labyrinth House worked great for me in this case.
The Labyrinth House Murders was my first one of the Bizarre House Mysteries series and I had no trouble with jumping straight into it with no context from the previous instalments, but I'm definitely going to pick them up in the future since this one left me so pleasantly surprised for how much I enjoyed the time spent between its pages.
I would love to get into more details of the reason why I liked this book so much but I feel like any information further than the one given by the blurb would reveal any of the many clever wits of the author.

The Labyrinth House Murders is an ingeniously plotted locked room mystery from Japanese author Yukito Ayatsuji and is now available for the first time in an English translation from Pushkin Vertigo. 

Miyagaki Yotaro is considered a master of the Japanese detective novel but for the last several years has lived a life of solitude in his secluded mansion known as The Labyrinth House. To celebrate his sixtieth birthday, he invites four young writers to his home for a unique celebration. But things quickly become bizarre as they are drawn into a deadly competition for the right to inherit Yotaro's fortune.

Yokito Ayatsuji is known as one of the founders of the Honkaku Mystery Writers Club of Japan (Honkaku means "fair play"). He has constructed an extremely clever novel that will keep the reader guessing until the very end. He also makes frequent references to the Golden Age of Detective Fiction where is obvious he has drawn his inspiration. 

Mystery lovers (particularly fans of the Golden Age) would be well served to pick up Ayatsuji's books as he has a knack for constructing very clever mysteries. The Labyrinth House Mysteries continues to cement Ayatsuji's legacy as one of the most important mystery writers from Japan. It's great to know that Pushkin Vertigo is making these novels available in English so that they may find a wider audience. 

Thanks to Pushkin Vertigo and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. No other consideration was received in exchange for this review.

I really enjoyed this title. A little different to my usual read as I’m not familiar with much Japanese fiction, but this was very rewarding. It’s a clever blend of cosy murder mystery, like Christie, but with suspense. It’s a clever construction, both literally and figuratively as a group of authors are locked in to Labyrinth House and tasked with writing a novel to a very tight deadline. Then they start dying. Typical locked room stuff, but this is different and I was drawn in to their strange circumstance and task right from the first page. I’ll be looking for more like this. It’s different.