The Japanese cult classic mystery in manga form

"A hugely enjoyable, page-turning murder mystery with one of the best and most-satisfying conclusions you'll ever read: clever enough that you're unlikely to guess it, but simple enough that you'll kick yourself when it's revealed. That's what has made it a classic in Japan."

This is how the English translation of the novel, which was originally published in 1987, was promoted.
It really piques your interest, doesn't it?
This debut of Yukito Ayatsuji was apparently credited with launching the shinhonkaku movement which restored Golden Age style plotting and fair-play clues to the Japanese mystery scene, which had been dominated by the social school of mystery for several decades. It is also said to have influenced the development of the wildly popular anime movement.
Be that as it may, let's see how I enjoyed the first volume of the English manga-adaptation of this novel, which was illustrated by Hiro Kiyohara and released by publisher Kodansha on August 17th.

"The members of a particular university's Mystery Club travel to a ten-sided house on a remote island... which just happens to have been the scene of a gristly, and unsolved, mass murder. Armed with details of the murder and keys to the property, they set out to dig deeper... but can they trust the "facts" of the case? And moreover... can they trust each other?"

As always, this first installment is mostly about presenting all the characters and the environment in which the action will take place.
On the one hand we follow 7 university students who are member of the Mystery Novel Research Association. They all have nicknames that refer to western mystery writers they admire: Ellery (Queen), (John Dickson) Carr, (Gaston) Leroux, (Edgar Allen) Poe, Agatha (Christie), Orczy, Van. Together they head to stay one week on the uninhabited island of Tsunojima, six months after architect Nakamura, his wife and their two servants were murdered there and their Blue Mansion was burned down trying to hide the fourfold murder case. On the same island Nakamura also built the Decagon House where the students reside now.
On the other hand we see how 2 former members of the Mystery Novel Research Association are getting strange letters and start a little investigation.
These two simultaneous storylines alternate and help to create more tension.

There are a few minor downpoints, to me at least.
Of course there must be background info given to get the story started, but I've got the feeling that the first storyline sometimes missed a bit of punch.
This is partially due to the fact that the characters are rather flat and thus interchangeable. But then again, this is often the case in similar murder stories.
What's also irritating are some of the childish reactions and the accompanying drawing style at those moments. This may be normal in some manga forms, but in this story we're not dealing with immature high school youngsters, but with university students who are all in their twenties. Thus such reactions seem rather awkward and not fitting in the mystery plot.

But otherwise this was a very enjoyable read and it certainly managed to make me curious enough to read the next installments, which is why I rounded up the 3,5*.

If you'd like to take a look at the sneak preview, you can head over to the website of Kodansha: https://kodansha.us/series/the-decagon-house-murders/

What's next?

In Japan the manga launched in August 2019 and the third volume came out on March 23rd 2021.

In the USA the first installment was published by Kodansha on August 17th 2021.
But for those who already read this volume and can't wait to know how this story continues: no worries!
The second volume will be available on September 21st and the third volume will be released less than a month later on October 19th.
Perfect timing for Halloween and the winter months, when it's nice to curl up on the couch with a good murder mystery!


*Thanks to NetGalley and Kodansha for providing a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.