Murder in the Crooked House
Soji Shimada author Louise Heal Kawai translator
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Pushkin Press
Published:26th Mar '26
Should be back in stock very soon
'A tour de force' Sunday Times
'Will thrill fans of Golden Age puzzle mysteries' Publishers Weekly
The Crooked House sits on a snowbound cliff at the remote northern tip of Japan, a maze of sloping floors and strange staircases, full of bloodcurdling masks and uncanny dolls. When a guest is found murdered in seemingly impossible circumstances, the police are unable to solve the puzzle, and more bizarre deaths follow.
Enter Kiyoshi Mitarai, the renowned sleuth. Surely if anyone can crack these cryptic murders it is him. But you have all the clues too - can you solve the mystery of the murders in the Crooked House before he does?
A tour de force... breathes new life into the locked room mystery * Sunday Times, Crime Fiction Books of 2019 *
Shimada's brilliant sequel to The Tokyo Zodiac Murders will thrill fans of golden age puzzle mysteries... The tension rises as one impossibility follows another before an effective and dramatic reveal. Shimada combines fantastic crimes with a logical and fair solution likely to stump even the most astute readers * Publishers Weekly *
A delightfully intricate murder puzzle with retro charm, bound to tantalize readers * Kirkus Reviews *
Hugely entertaining... a brilliant and satisfying conclusion * Sunday Times, Crime Book of the Month *
I'm ridiculously excited that another one of Shimada's locked-room mysteries has been translated to English, because if anyone can stump me again, it's him! * Novel Suspects *
A clever and engaging mystery... a deadly, entrancing puzzle box with new scares behind each door * Foreword Reviews *
An inventive, page-turning comic thriller... not only intellectually rewarding but also a hell of a lot of fun * The Japan Times *
This fiendish locked-room mystery is the perfect read for fans of puzzles * Crime Reads *
Amusingly eccentric... an awful lot of fun * New Books Magazine *
A locked room mystery worth reading for the setting alone * Crimereads *
Praise for The Tokyo Zodiac Murders * --- *
Ignites the mind * Huffington Post *
Shimada's novel is a classic of the popular Japanese honkaku or "authentic" subgenre of crime fiction, which prioritises tight plots and carefully scattered clues * The National *
If you like your crime stories to be bloody and bizarre, then this one may be for you. The winner of several major awards... the solution is one of the most original that I've ever read * Anthony Horowitz *
An intricate, compelling, violent, and exciting [read]. Full of hints, it's a budding Sherlock's dream; Shimada encourages the reader to be as much of a detective as his protagonist * Crime Scene *
A delightfully intricate murder puzzle with retro charm, bound to tantalize readers * Kirkus Reviews *
ISBN: 9781805335788
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
352 pages