The Labyrinth House Murders / 迷路館の殺人

The shin-honkaku movement has always been a bit meta. It’s right there in the name: it means “new orthodox,” as it’s a revival of the original honkaku “orthodox” school of mystery fiction. Naturally, the fact that shin-honkaku is a response to honkaku means it doesn’t need to start at square one, but instead can build upon the groundwork laid down by the honkaku movement, directly recognizing common tropes and the most influential pieces.

For instance, Yukito Ayatsuji’s The Decagon House Murders, which is often credited with initiating the shin-honkaku movement, involves a university mystery club whose members are nicknamed after Golden Age authors, a set-up that is clearly reminiscent of And Then There Were None, and a culprit who literally hands out roles to the others. Alice Arisugawa is another important shin-honkaku author, and his books also feature a university mystery club. The second book in Ayatsuji’s “House” series, The Mill House Murders, was relatively straightforward in setting, but I suppose Ayatsuji didn’t particularly like that, since his third book, The Labyrinth House Murders, is more meta than all the other books I’ve mentioned combined.

The Mill House Murders / 水車館の殺人

The Mill House Murders is the sequel to Ayatsuji Yukito's Decagon House Murders, and once again features our unlikely detective Shimada Kiyoshi looking into a series of murders that takes place in a home made by the eccentric late architect Nakamura Seiji.

While The Decagon House Murders is a classic in Japanese mystery fiction that is credited with starting the 'shin-honkaku' movement, I didn't like it very much, for reasons I will touch upon later in this review. But Mill House Murders was fantastic, providing a satisfying resolution to a long string of mysterious events at a nearly perfect level of cluing.