![]() ![]() The novel opens with a group from a university mystery writing club discussing their practice as they travel to an island where a murder was committed the previous year. The Decagon House Murders is Ayatsuji’s second work to appear in English, and the first of his honkaku mysteries. But for years the Shin Honkaku (New Orthodox) group in Japan, of which Yukito Ayatsuji is a prominent member, have been putting out mysteries following Van Dine’s formula, shying away from new science or gimmicks in favour of good old honest mysteries. It’s become rare for a novel written in English to follow SS Van Dine’s rules for the writing of a mystery novel, the most well-known and thorough of several different sets of ‘rules’ that defined the Golden Age of detective fiction. ![]() Translated by Ho-Ling Wong - My advice to anyone who picks up this intriguing little pastiche of the Golden Age is don’t get too attached to any of the characters. ![]()
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