The Decagon House Murders

By: Yukito Ayatsuji, Ho-Ling Wong - translator

Narrated by: P.J. Ochlan

A hugely enjoyable, must-listen 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 hear. A classic in Japan, available in English for the first time.

©2007 Yukito Auatsuji (P)2022 Tantor

Guessing game

Okay so I had to reread the first chapter to understand everyone’s role . As you get deeper in the storyline it starts to get interesting. Now you’re guessing who is clever enough to to do all these murders without leaving clues of who might have done it. While pointing fingers and being divided they lose focus on what they are really there for. Great read

play it at x1.25 and it's great

The story is great, the twist was brilliant, but the narration seemed.... awkward, almost " bot-like" until I played it at a slightly faster pace. This production decision to slow the voice down is confusing to me, and it likely wasn't the narrator's decision.

I've finished this and I don't know what to do now

A loving homage to Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None" manages to supersede it's inspiration. Wow! Absolutely incredible!

Narrator ruined the book

The narrator constantly put the wrong emPHAsis on the wrong syLLAble in words. Lol. It was just weird and ruined the audio book.

On Esquire Top 50 Mystery list - falls far short

Downgraded rating from 4 to 3 stars. Accurate score would be *** 1/2.
Became aware of the novel after seeing it on the 2022 Esquire list of 'Top Mystery Novels of All-Time.' While I appreciate the inclusion of Japanese fiction in their list, ultimately, this novel falls short of what can be considered an excellent murder mystery. And while the story itself is relatively solid, the way in which the book's conclusion is told removes any possibility of giving it more than 3 stars. The guilty party(s) are revealed through the direct thoughts of the guilty. The level of 'telling' without 'showing' is excruciating and breaks a good number of the tenets in place for good mystery writing. And when the murders have ended, and you see another hour remains in the audiobook, you're almost guaranteed a painful end.
And regarding criticism of the narration - it's very much unwarranted. P.J. Ochlan is fine - not superb but certainly competent, with fine Japanese pronunciation.