{"product_id":"the-decagon-house-murders-isbn-9781782276340","title":"The Decagon House Murders","description":"\u003cb\u003e\"Ayatsuji's brilliant and richly atmospheric puzzle will appeal to  fans of golden age whodunits... Every word counts, leading up to a  jaw-dropping but logical reveal\u003ci\u003e\"\u003c\/i\u003e — \u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA hugely enjoyable, page-turning murder mystery sure to appeal to fans of Elly Griffiths, Anthony Horowitz, and Agatha Christie, with one of the best and most-satisfying conclusions you'll ever read. A classic in Japan, available in English for the first time.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\"Read Yukito Ayatsuji’s landmark mystery,\u003ci\u003e The Decagon House Murders\u003c\/i\u003e, and discover a real depth of feeling beneath the fiendish foul play.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eTaking its cues from Agatha Christie’s locked-room classic \u003ci\u003eAnd Then There Were None, \u003c\/i\u003ethe setup is this: The members of a university detective-fiction club, each nicknamed for a favorite crime writer (Poe, Carr, Orczy, Van Queen, Leroux and — yes — Christie), spend a week on remote Tsunojima Island, attracted to the place, and its eerie 10-sided house, because of a spate of murders that transpired the year before. That collective curiosity will, of course, be their undoing.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eAs the students approach Tsunojima in a hired fishing boat, 'the sunlight shining down turned the rippling waves to silver. The island lay ahead of them, wrapped in a misty veil of dust,' its sheer, dark cliffs rising straight out of the sea, accessible by one small inlet. There is no electricity on the island, and no telephones, either.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eA fresh round of violent deaths begins, and Ayatsuji’s skillful, furious pacing propels the narrative. As the students are picked off one by one, he weaves in the story of the mainland investigation of the earlier murders. This is a homage to Golden Age detective fiction, but it’s also unabashed entertainment.\"\u003cb\u003eOne of the “20 of the Best Classic Murder Mystery Books of All Time,” \u003ci\u003eTown \u0026amp; Country\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\"[The Decagon House Murders\u003c\/i\u003e is] less about psychology and more about characters in relation to each other, like pawns on a chess board.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—E. Lockhart, author of \u003ci\u003eWe Were Liars\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“His celebration of traditional whodunits plays with the mystery genre in a wonderfully self-referential way . . . With each new murder, the remaining members of the group must use their knowledge of the genre to find the killer and try to stay alive.”\u003cbr\u003e—\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eEsquire\u003c\/i\u003e, “The 50 Best Mysteries of All Time”\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A terrific mystery, a classic of misdirection very much in the manner of Agatha Christie or John Dickson Carr.”\u003cbr\u003e—\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Behold, the perfect escapist drug! If I could crush this book into a powder and snort it, I would.”\u003cbr\u003e—\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eVulture\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Ayatsuji’s brilliant and richly atmospheric puzzle will appeal to fans of golden age whodunits . . . Every word counts, leading up to a jaw-dropping but logical reveal.” \u003cbr\u003e—\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e (starred review)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A stunner of a plot, with an ending which I simply could not believe when it was first revealed . . . Rivals Soji Shimada’s \u003ci\u003eThe Tokyo Zodiac Murders\u003c\/i\u003e for sheer audacity and ingenuity.”\u003cbr\u003e—\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eAt the Scene of the Crime\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A knowing tribute to classic crime, it features all manner of puzzles, including locked rooms, jigsaws and magic tricks.” \u003cbr\u003e—\u003cb\u003eMark Sanderson, \u003ci\u003eThe Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e“A a thrilling homage to Christie’s \u003ci\u003eAnd Then There Were None\u003c\/i\u003e, following a group of amateur sleuths on a trip to a lonely island, the site of several unsolved murders. In the opening chapter, one character remarks: “Enough gritty realism please! What mystery novels need are a great detective, a mansion, a shady cast of residents, bloody murders, impossible crimes and never-before-seen-tricks played by the murder.” It’s impossible not to agree.”\u003cbr\u003e—\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Guardian\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\"A watershed moment for a new, emerging style of mystery fiction in literature, the success of which then led to its widespread popularity in popular culture (manga, anime and films) within a decade of its publication . . . . It is a work of monumental importance for scholars and aficionados of the genre and it rightfully deserves every bit of the reputation it has earned and continues to, to this day.\" \u003cbr\u003e—\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eScroll.in\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eYukito Ayatsuji (born 1960) is a Japanese writer of mystery and horror novels. He started writing as a member of the Kyoto University Mystery Club, a society dedicated to the writing of fair play mysteries inspired by the Golden Age greats, which inspired the club featured in \u003ci\u003eThe Decagon House Murders\u003c\/i\u003e and has nurtured many of Japan's greatest crime writers.\u003ci\u003eThe Decagon House Murders\u003c\/i\u003e was Ayatsuji's debut and is considered a landmark crime novel in Japan, where it revived the traditional puzzle mystery format and inspired a new generation of writers. It is the first of Ayatsuji's works to be translated into English.The sea at night. A time of quietude. \u003cbr\u003e The dull sound of the waves welled up from the endless obscurity, only to disappear again. \u003cbr\u003e He sat down on the cold concrete of the breakwater and faced the expansive darkness, his body veiled by the white vapour of his breath. \u003cbr\u003e He had been suffering for months. He had been brooding for weeks. He had been thinking about just one thing for days. And now his mind was focusing on one single, clearly defined goal. \u003cbr\u003e Everything had been planned. \u003cbr\u003e Preparations were almost complete. \u003cbr\u003e All he needed to do now was to wait for \u003ci\u003ethem \u003c\/i\u003eto walk into the trap. \u003cbr\u003e He knew his plan was far from perfect. It was best described as shoddy rather than meticulous. But he’d never intended to plan everything out in perfect detail in the first place. \u003cbr\u003e No matter how hard he tries, man will always be mere man, and never a god. \u003cbr\u003e It was easy to imagine oneself as such, but he knew that as long as humans were simply humans, even the most gifted amongst them could never become a god. \u003cbr\u003e And how could anyone who was not a god predict the future, shaped as it was by human psychology, human behaviour and pure chance? \u003cbr\u003e Even if the world was viewed as a chessboard, and every person on it a chess piece, there would still be a limit as to how far future moves could be predicted. The most meticulous plan, plotted to the last detail, could still go wrong sometime, somewhere, somehow. Reality is brimming with too many coincidences and whimsical actions by humans for even the craftiest scheme to succeed exactly as planned. \u003cbr\u003e The most desirable plan was not one that limited your own moves, but a flexible one that could adapt to circumstances: that was the conclusion he had come to. \u003cbr\u003e He could not allow himself to be constrained. \u003cbr\u003e It was not the plot that was vital, but the framework. A framework where it was always possible to make the best choice, depending on the circumstances at the time.\u003cbr\u003e Whether he could pull it off depended on his own intellect, quick thinking and, most of all, luck. \u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eI know Man will never become a god\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003cbr\u003e But, in a way, he was undoubtedly about to take on that role. \u003cbr\u003e Judgment. Yes, judgment. \u003cbr\u003e In the name of revenge, he was going to pronounce judgment on them—on all of them. \u003cbr\u003e Judgment outside the court of law. \u003cbr\u003e He was not a god and so could never be forgiven for what he was about to do—he was completely conscious of that fact. The act would be called “a crime” by his fellow men and, if found out, he himself would be judged according to the law. \u003cbr\u003e Nevertheless, the common sense approach could no longer keep his emotions under control. Emotions? No, nothing as shallow as that. Absolutely not. This was not just some powerful feeling within him. It was the cry of his soul, his last tie to life, his reason for living. \u003cbr\u003e The sea at night. A time of quietude. \u003cbr\u003e No flickering of the stars, no light of the ships off-coast could disturb the darkness into which he gazed. He contemplated his plan once again. \u003cbr\u003e Preparations were almost finished. Soon they, his sinful prey, would walk into his trap. A trap consisting of ten equal sides and interior angles. \u003cbr\u003e They would arrive there suspecting nothing. Without any hesitation or fear they would walk into the decagonal trap, where they would be sentenced. \u003cbr\u003e What awaits them there is, of course, death. It is the obvious punishment for all of them. \u003cbr\u003e And no simple deaths. Blowing them all up in one go would be infinitely easier and more certain, but he should not choose that route. \u003cbr\u003e He has to kill them in order, one by one. Precisely like that story written by the famous British female writer—slowly, one after the other. He shall make them know. The suffering, the sadness, the pain and terror of death. \u003cbr\u003e Perhaps he had become mentally unstable. He himself would be the first to admit to that. \u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eI know—no matter how I try to justify it, what I am planning to do is not sane\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003cbr\u003e He slowly shook his head at the pitch-black roiling sea. \u003cbr\u003e His hand, thrust into his coat pocket, touched something hard. He grabbed the object and took it out, holding it in front of his eyes.\u003cbr\u003e It was a small transparent bottle of green glass. \u003cbr\u003e It was sealed off securely with a stopper, and bottled inside was all he had managed to gather from inside his heart: what people like to call “conscience.” A few folded sheets of paper, sealed. On it he had printed in small letters the plan he was about to execute. It had no addressee. It was a letter of confession. \u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eI know Man will never become a god. \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e And precisely because he understood that, he did not want to leave the final judgment to a human to make. It didn’t matter where the bottle ended up. He just wanted to pose the question to the sea—the source of all life—whether, ultimately, he was right or not. \u003cbr\u003e The wind blew harder. \u003cbr\u003e A sharp coldness went down his spine and his whole body shivered. \u003cbr\u003e He threw the bottle into the darkness.","brand":"Pushkin Vertigo","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46303108825317,"sku":"NP9781782276340","price":14.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781782276340.jpg?v=1767738968","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/the-decagon-house-murders-isbn-9781782276340","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}