Manga Monday: The Decagon House Murders, Vol. 1

Series: The Decagon House Murders #1
Author: Yukito Ayatsuji
Artist: Hiro Kiyohara
Publisher: Kodansha Comics
Released: August 17, 2021
Received: NetGalley

The Decagon House Murders is a manga series based on a novel of the same name, written by Yukito Ayatsuji. Here to illustrated this murder mystery adventure is Hiro Kiyohara. If you’re into complex mysteries and murder, then this is a book worth nabbing.

The Mystery Club is an organization that gathers like-minded students. In this case, their interest should be fairly obvious. These students are so in love with mysteries that they have picked up monikers based on famous mystery authors.

The irony of what is about to happen is not lost on me. It isn’t uncommon for clubs to travel together, especially to points of relevant interest. Yep, you know what that means. This club is heading to a building known as the Decagon House, where several deaths occurred only months ago.

Naturally, they will soon be finding themselves in their very own murder mystery. The fact that I can only assume all but one of them will regret. (Note: this statement is not a spoiler, as I have no idea how the story ends. I’m just quippy with my assumptions).

I’ll confess going into this that I had no idea that this was based on a book. In a way, I’m kind of glad for that. It’s keeping the suspense up in the air for me, as I don’t know where this will lead or who is behind it all.

The story takes place in two perspectives; the students on the island (that is to say, at the house) and the two students who opted not to go on the trip. Both quickly get wrapped up in their own mysteries, which may or may not be related (my money is on yes).

I enjoyed the overall premise of this story, though I’ll confess that I’m not totally attached to all of the characters…which is probably a good thing if this story goes the way I expect it will. If it does, hooray! I’ll get to know them better in the future.

The character names were quite fun; Poe, Ellery, Doyle, and Agatha are all great hat tips. It also quickly established how into mysteries these characters are, and this helped to set the scene.

To put it into perspective: I enjoyed The Decagon House Murders Vol. 1 so much that I already looked up if there was a second volume out and where I could get it. So obviously, that will be going onto my TBR list.

Thanks to Kodansha Comics and #NetGalley for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.