Loved it! This story had me hooked from the start. The suspense was masterfully built, and the twists kept me guessing throughout. The characters were well-developed, each with their own uniqueness. And that ending? Completely unexpected! It was clever, emotional, and tied everything together in a way I didn’t see coming. Few stories manage to surprise me like this one did. Overall, an exceptional read that I’d highly recommend to anyone who loves suspenseful, character-driven storytelling.

I could not put this book down! Wow wow wow🤩 I loved the fact that this book is dated (originally published in 1988) so everyone smoked indoors and use of word processors and floppy disks it was a nice change to what I usually read. I also love the references to Greek mythology too. You really got to know and understand each character and the house is a character in itself - the suspense and eerie atmosphere this book created was amazing and that alone was enough for me not to want to put the book down

I really enjoyed the previous books in the series, so I was excited to see another one had been translated into english, and I'm so thankful to the publisher for receiving an arc,

As with the two previous books, I had a lot of fun reading this one. It is the kind of over the top and intricate mystery where you definitely need to suspend your disbelief, but personally it's a type of mystery I really enjoy, and definitely reminiscent of Agatha Christie. The books in the series are always set in bizzarre houses and feature a recurring detective (not really a detective, but he acts as one) and a cast of peculiar characters, in this case all mystery writers who are invited to the birthday party of another famous writer, where things start immediately to go terribly wrong.

It was very fast paced, with not a boring moment, and I always wanted to keep reading to see what was going on. There was also an element of a story within the story which was quite well done, and the real purpose is only clear at the end, where there is also a quite nice twist. However, I must admit that the solution of the mystery, and one key twist especially, was quite ludicrous. It didn't ruin the book for me, but I would have much preferred another type fo twist.

So disappointing!

I had high hopes given the glowing reviews and recommendations but sadly it was obvious right from the beginning how this would play out.
Just not good enough for me.

3.75*

Overall this was a satisfying read. I loved the setting of Labyrinth House and the notion that this was a book within a book. Maybe it made it a little contrived on occasion but those were two key factors that drew me in to the story. I also love a locked room mystery and when you set it within an actual labyrinth you have literal twists and turns throughout. The one thing that knocked it down was the reason for 'the blood' (when you read it you'll know what situation I mean) as it felt, frankly, ridiculous - I can't say too much more without giving spoilers to major plot points.

The characters weren't particularly memorable but I often find in Japanese mysteries like this that it is often the case and for me didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book. I also enjoyed reading a slightly more modern murder mystery (it's set/was originally written in the late 1980s), however, as always, with a classic locked room mystery it doesn't matter what era it's set in - it's the layers of the story and the plot twists that keep you hooked which it did here for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pushkin Press | Pushkin Vertigo for a digital review copy of "The Labyrinth House Murders" in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.

thank you to netgalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review

I liked it but didn’t love it. The middle definitely lagged quite a bit, I think because it was hard to follow what was essentially 4 books within a book within a book???? I actually guessed all but one of the twists, so it came as no surprise to me when I reached the end.

This is a good example of why it’s often worth giving an author a second chance. I was disappointed with Ayatsuji’s The Decagon House Murders, finding the characters very wooden and the plot a poor imitation of And Then There Were None, so I had decided to stick with Japanese crime authors more to my taste, such as Seishi Yokomizo. Then I read lots of glowing reviews of The Mill House Murders, the second in Ayatsuji’s series to be released in a new English translation, so when I saw the third one, The Labyrinth House Murders, on NetGalley I decided to give him another try.

The Labyrinth House, we are told, is the work of the same architect who designed the Decagon House and the Mill House. As its name suggests, the house contains a labyrinth of passageways with the rooms arranged around the edges, so that to get from one room to another it’s necessary to enter the maze. The design is inspired by the Minotaur myth and all of the rooms are named after characters associated with the myth. This very unusual house is the home of the mystery writer Miyagaki Yōtarō.

Miyagaki is in poor health but, as the novel opens, he is preparing for his sixtieth birthday and has invited a group of friends and colleagues to celebrate with him at the Labyrinth House. These include four younger crime authors whom Miyagaki has mentored, a literary critic, his editor Utayama and his wife – and a friend, Shimada Kiyoshi, who is the series detective. As the guests assemble at the house, they are greeted by Miyagaki’s secretary, who gives them the shocking news that their host has committed suicide, leaving them a recorded message to listen to. The recording instructs them not to leave the house or call the police for five days and in the meantime the four authors must each use the time to write a detective story. The four stories will be judged by the other guests and the winner will inherit part of Miyagaki’s fortune.

This book was much more fun than The Decagon House Murders. Although the plot is obviously very contrived, that didn’t bother me and I found it easy enough to just suspend disbelief and accept the premise. Once the story writing competition begins, murders start to take place (in very imaginative ways) and I was completely gripped until the end. My only real criticism is that one of the clues to the solution is something that only a man would think was plausible; Ayatsuji should maybe have discussed it with a woman first before basing a key plot point around it. Sorry to be vague!

I loved the setting of the Labyrinth House and the way so many aspects of the Minotaur myth are worked into the plot. A map of the house is included to help the reader appreciate the layout of the rooms and the labyrinth (and this is where I wished I had a physical copy of the book instead of the ebook). The house has an eerie, unsettling atmosphere and I worried for the characters every time one of them went wandering off on their own! Being originally published in 1988, there are also lots of little details that set the book in that period: the way everyone smokes indoors; the word processors the authors use with floppy disks to save their work; the landline telephones that can so easily (in crime novels, anyway) become cut off from the outside world.

The characters have a bit more depth than the ones in The Decagon House, although I’m finding that characterisation doesn’t seem to be a strong point in any of the older Japanese crime novels I’ve read. Most of the book is written from Utayama’s perspective, although Shimada is the one who does the detective work – and, thankfully, explains some of his deductions to Utayama as he goes along so that the reader can follow what’s happening. And did I manage to solve the mystery? Well, no, I didn’t, but Ayatsuji conceals an important piece of information from us until the end of the book, so I don’t really consider this a fair play mystery anyway. There are also multiple plot twists and a story-within-a-story structure, just to make things even more difficult!

I’m pleased to see that the next book in the series, The Clock House Murders, is being published by Pushkin next year and also pleased that they’re sticking with Ho-Ling Wong as translator, as he’s done such a great job with this one. Meanwhile, I’ll go back and read The Mill House Murders, in the hope that for some reason it was only The Decagon House I didn’t connect with.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I struggled a little with this book and think some of the magic may have been lost in translation but it was still an entertaining read with lots of layers

The third Volume of the stand alone series 'The Bizarre House Mysteries' , a book for all Japanese crime fans, but also for everyone who likes to solve Mysteries themselves. A very gripping and great read. The translation is very good too, which makes it easier to stay in the reading flow.

The famed mystery writer Miyagaki Yōtarō lives a life of seclusion in the remote Labyrinth House. When Yōtarō invites four young crime authors to his home for a birthday party, they are honoured to accept. But no sooner have they arrived than they are confronted with a shocking death, then lured into a bizarre, deadly competition...

As the twisted contest gathers pace, murder follows murder. The ingenious sleuth Shimada Kiyoshi investigates, but can he solve the mystery of the house before all those trapped in its labyrinth are dead?

Rating: 3.75/5 ⭐
Review:
✨This is the third book of the series and my first novel from the author. I only read the first part of the manga of The Decagon House Murder a few years back.
✨I would say that the ones that designed and approved the design of the Labyrinth House are lunatic in some ways. I don’t even surprised that murders occurred in this house.
✨A little bit of Greek mythologies woven into those murders, but there are explanations for anybody that is not familiar with Greek mythology (for example: me).
✨This story is a book within a book, basically readers read two novels at the same time.
✨For the crimes themselves, I’m satisfied with all of them in terms of execution and how the murderer utilized the house to do their deeds.
✨In terms of writing, the writing and the plot is easy to understand but the author still managed to hide some clues here and there.
✨Writing a murder mystery novel with encouragement from the editor (fellow witnesses) based on a series of murders that both of you presented at the crime scene and you use it to call out the real murderer. I’m amazed. I hope the book sells well because you deserve the royalty after going through that nightmare.
✨However, I don’t really feel most of the characters here, especially the victims. But, I kind of understand that based on the plot of this story. Plus, I felt some of these characters are not truly in their right mind. Like people already dead but you still thought of the money? Oh dear…
✨If the deduced real murderer is truly the true murderer, I detest the crimes, but I understand their motive.
✨Thank you to Pushkin Press and NetGalley for this ARC! This review was written voluntarily by me.

rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

i loved it!! this book was such a fast paced mystery that i felt myself so invested in so quickly!!

i loved the references towards greek mythology, since all the rooms in the house were names within this, and i loved learning new little facts whilst i was reading!

plus, was i correct in thinking who the murderer was? absolutely not!! but where’s the fun is knowing??

i am intrigued on the authors other books within this collection, so i can say they are on my radar from now on!!

thank you for netgalley and the publishing team for the copy of this book!! you did not disappoint!!

This is an interesting take on a murder mystery that has a satisfyingly intriguing twist at the very end. So much so, that I had to revisit some sections of the book to make sense of it. This is apparently the third instalment of this series, although it is the first I have read. I didn't feel that I had missed out for not reading the others first, but I will probably do so in the future. The complicated layout of the Labyrinth house itself was difficult and confusing reading at times but the denouement and twists are worth persevering.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pushkin Press for the ARC

A fantastic and suspenseful locked room mystery from Japan. I really liked the concept and it was greatly excecuted. Until the end I had no idea who the culprit was. I loved that I never guessed the ending and was smacked in the face with the plot twist and revelation.

The Labyrinth House Murders is a modern take on the classic locked room murder mystery. Yukito Ayatsuji represents a modern novelist revisiting and updating the golden age of murder mystery and has written 2 other locked room mysteries in the Bizarre House/Mansion Murders series.. And so to Labyrinth House, a group of authors and critics are invited to a birthday celebration by Miyagaki Yotaro, a famous author, however this celebration turns into something totally opposite to the celebration they were expecting.

As the title the plot has elements inspired by Greek mythology dealing with Theseus and the Minotaur. There are plenty of twists and turns to satisfy readers who love locked room mysteries however in the final set of reveals in the "Epilogue/Afterword" there is a discussion around evidence of the murderer and it was too silly and actually made little of no sense. If I could I would give this 3 and a half stars because of this.

Oh, I absolutely loved The Labyrinth House Murders. It's an incredibly well crafted, multilayered story, that left me utterly amazed by the ending.
In this tale, our protagonist Shimada Kiyoshi is attempting to solve a series of very bizarre murders a year or so earlier. The murders occurred at the home of the renowned murder mystery writer, Miyagaki Yotaro. Yotaro has invited a number of friends to celebrate his 60th birthday at his bizarre, labyrinth home. But someone was plotting murder, rather than a celebration.
The author, Yukito Ayatsuji, has included multiple hints towards the truth, but time and time again, I fell for the classic misdirection and did not succeed in guessing the final solution. Do I think the solution is realistic? No, but where would the fun lie in a murder mystery if realism played a part?

Structured as a book within a book about writers penning detective fiction, this is one where twists come thick and fast. Yes, you might have guessed the ending before it came but still an enjoyable read. 4*

Then, the final ‘twist’ came. No, dear readers, as a woman I am clear that this could not have happened as described. Sadly, this means that I’m down to a 2* review which is a shame because the rest of the novel warranted a much higher score.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Oh man, I was all set to come here and say this was my favourite of the Bizarre House Murders so far. 5 stars. Love the labyrinth. Love the use of Greek mythology. Love "the great detective" Shimada (always love Shimada).

But that dumb-ass final twist.

I wish I could say I loved the rest of the book enough that I could brush it off as One Of Those Things you simply have to put up with when you're reading a book written in the '80s by a male author, but it was so heinously unnecessary I cannot. This could have just been the book within the book and it would have been perfect. Some reviewers have said the resolution for that was too easy (maybe it was, I figured it out before Shimada after all) but I'll take easy over idiotic any day of the week.

The book is fast-paced, plot driven and on top it's a locked room mystery. all rooms in the house have names from the Greek myths surrounding Minotaur.I really liked that touch. Ayatsuji cleverly mentioned a few key facts to the readers in his creative writing style,that makes it impossible to guess the identity of the murderer . Overall I enjoyed the plot and was hooked.

I love this author and this series! I have to say the first book is still my favourite but this one is close-ish, I guessed some of the plottwists again but not nearly as early as in the last book and the writing and discussion of the mystery genre and it's writing kept me on edge andthinking. One were probably able to see the cogwheels in my head turning as I was traing to keep up with the book in the book in the book and the final plottwist just literally felt like Ayatsuji was just pulling your leg for funsies now.

As an avid (Japanese) mystery reader, this series actually so openly experimenting with the different genre tropes and writing techniques and styles makes me happy and I think it is what keeps me reading even if I guess plottwists early on. I start to actually get jealous of the translator as it seems to interesting to work on this series as a translator and I hope I get the chance to later on in my job career to get to translate a series like this.

4/5

Of the three detective stories I have read so far by this author, this one is definitely the most unique and one of those that is still not completely clear to me. Probably the chronologically nonlinear construction and the four stories within stories contribute, and not a little, to the confusion, but I guess it is all designed to give the reader this sense of being lost.

Dei tre gialli che ho letto fino ad ora di questo autore, questo é sicuramente quello piú particolare ed uno di quelli che ancora non mi é completamente chiaro. Probabilmente la costruzione cronologicamente non lineare ed le quattro storie dentro le storie, contribuiscono e non poco, alla confusione, ma immagino sia tutto studiato.

I received from the Publisher a complimentary digital advanced review copy of the book in exchange for a honest review.