Murder In The Crooked House

By (author) Shimada Soji
Short description/annotation:
The sequel to the acclaimed Tokyo Zodiac Murders - a fiendish locked room mystery from the Japanese master of the genre
Description:
The Crooked House sits on a snowbound cliff at the remote northern tip of Japan. A curious place to build a house, but even more curious is the house itself-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 called. But they 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 first?
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A tour de force... breathes new life into the locked room mystery
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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
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A delightfully intricate murder puzzle with retro charm, bound to tantalize readers
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Hugely entertaining... a brilliant and satisfying conclusion
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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!
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A clever and engaging mystery... a deadly, entrancing puzzle box with new scares behind each door
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An inventive, page-turning comic thriller... not only intellectually rewarding but also a hell of a lot of fun
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This fiendish locked-room mystery is the perfect read for fans of puzzles
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Amusingly eccentric... an awful lot of fun
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A locked room mystery worth reading for the setting alone
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Praise for The Tokyo Zodiac Murders
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Ignites the mind
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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
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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
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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
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A delightfully intricate murder puzzle with retro charm, bound to tantalize readers
Biographical note:
Born in 1948 in Hiroshima prefecture, Soji Shimada has been dubbed the ''God of Mystery'' by international audiences. A novelist, essayist and short-story writer, he made his literary debut in 1981 with The Tokyo Zodiac Murders, which was shortlisted for the Edogawa Rampo Prize. Blending classical detective fiction with grisly violence and elements of the occult, he has gone on to publish several highly acclaimed series of mystery fiction. He is the author of 100+ works in total. In 2009 Shimada received the prestigious Japan Mystery Literature Award in recognition of his life''s work.
Excerpt:
In the village of Hauterives in the south of France, there’s a curious building known as Cheval’s Palais Idéal. For thirty-three years, a humble postman by the name of Ferdinand Cheval laboured completely alone to create his dream palace, finally completi