[Heart-Thumping Books] Why I re-read Yukito Ayatsuji's 'The Decagon House Murders' and was convinced again: 'The more you love mysteries, the more easily you're fooled!'

*Please be aware that this contains major spoilers for 'The Decagon House Murders', so proceed with caution if you haven't read or seen it.

*There are also spoilers regarding the main trick of Agatha Christie's 'And Then There Were None' midway through, so please be careful if you haven't read it.

*Author names are used without honorifics.

—Ah, that was fun. It really is amazing.

There are many kinds of heart-thumping books.
Moving human dramas are one thing, but for me, books that make my heart flutter with excitement at the puzzle-solving are also heart-thumping.

****************

　Well, recently, or rather, I re-read Yukito Ayatsuji's 'The Decagon House Murders: New Revised Edition' (Kodansha Bunko / 695 yen excluding tax), which has been the talk of the town due to its screen adaptation for the first time in a while.

　What I thought then was, ah, this is designed so that the more you love mysteries, the more perfectly you'll be fooled, that is.

　No, is it just me?

　At the very least, when I first read this book in my early 20s (about 25 years ago), I think I was puffing out my chest, thinking, 'I have some knowledge of mysteries' (laughs). Oh, how embarrassing.

　Whether it's because of that, or because it's designed to fool anyone, in any case, I completely remembered what I was thinking while reading it for the first time upon re-reading it.

　In a sense, I want to recall my impressions from back then, when I had similar knowledge and thinking to the 'young people who identify as mystery lovers' who appear in this story, and why I was so completely and carelessly fooled by this work.

　—By the way, being 'completely fooled' is, of course, the highest compliment.

(1) Not feeling any discomfort that the members call each other by the names of mystery writers

　Members calling each other Ellery, Agatha, Poe...
　If someone who isn't particularly a 'fan of orthodox mysteries' read this, they might suspect, 'What a bunch of geeks... wait, could there be some meaning to this?'

　But I easily understood their feelings and was enchanted, thinking, 'How nice! If I were reborn, I'd want to enjoy my youth like this at a university with a mystery research club!'

　And I didn't even suspect for a second that this was an important piece of foreshadowing.

(2) Thinking that once Ellery Queen appears, they must be the detective

　
　There is a character called Ellery among the members of the mystery research club, and he is something of a leader.

　He even talks about maniacal orthodox mystery theory from the very beginning.
　Therefore, regarding the incident that is about to occur, I was sure that Ellery would take on the role of the detective and 'logically' deduce and solve it, or play a role close to that.

　After all, he's Ellery Queen! I was easily caught by the image of the name
(Ellery Queen is both an author's name and the name of a famous detective).

(3) Being completely swept up in the setting, thinking, 'It's just like "And Then There Were None"!'

　
*Contains spoilers for 'And Then There Were None'

　The setting of people being killed one by one on an isolated island in a mansion was so delightful that I got excited, thinking, 'Is it going to be like Christie's "And Then There Were None"? Is someone I thought was killed midway actually alive?'

　I assumed the incident would unfold and conclude only within the island, and was misled by my own half-baked knowledge (laughs).

*Agatha Christie, 'And Then There Were None' (Hayakawa Bunko / 940 yen excluding tax)

(4) Mainland Day 1: Delighted by the name 'Kawanami', and assuming the island members' real names and nicknames are also synchronized

In the first half, a young man named 'Kawanami' appears as the protagonist on the mainland.
Just like Kiyoshi Shimada, I felt happy thinking, 'It's Conan!'

At the time, this was a source of great joy for a mystery fan.
Because, as general knowledge, even if people knew Sherlock Holmes, fewer people recognized the name of the author, Conan Doyle, than they do now.

Don't say, 'No, that's common sense' (laughs).

Needless to say, the reason the name Conan is widespread today is thanks to 'Detective Conan', but 'The Decagon House Murders' was published in 1987, while the serialization of Detective Conan began in 1994 and the anime started airing in 1996.

It was an era where far fewer people would immediately think of 'Conan Doyle'.


So, back then, I was thrilled, thinking 'Nice, Kawanami equals Conan. Nice, that really tickles a mystery maniac's heart', and I became convinced that the island members' real names and nicknames were also linked in some way (like by sound or the meaning of the kanji).

The beginning of a huge misunderstanding regarding 'Morisu'.
I started dancing happily in the palm of the author's hand. I was young. I was even cute.

(5) And then, upon the appearance of 'Morisu', I got excited, thinking, 'Oh, it's Maurice Leblanc!'

On the first day on the mainland, following 'Conan', 'Morisu' appears.
I rejoiced, thinking, 'Another playful touch by the author!'

And I let my thoughts drift to the French author Maurice Leblanc, the creator of Arsène Lupin... even though it actually had nothing to do with it.

And I also thought, 'Even if Lupin is famous, the people who immediately recognize the author's name are true book lovers and mystery fans! And since Conan Doyle and Maurice Leblanc were friends, maybe we'll get to see a Lupin vs. Holmes deduction battle outside the island?'
A terrible prediction (laughs).

...Perhaps people without this kind of knowledge might be less likely to overthink things and might actually suspect, 'Is this new character (Morisu) really innocent?'

As an aside, when this book was published, as mentioned earlier, Detective Conan did not yet exist (by the time I read it, it was already being broadcast on TV, but it wasn't as famous as it is now), so not many people knew 'Maurice Leblanc' as the origin of Ran Mouri's name. So, my younger self thought, 'I'm amazing for figuring it all out instantly!' The folly of youth.

(6) The moment the term 'Armchair Detective' is used, I completely understand (misunderstand) 'Morisu's position in the novel'

At the point on page 117 where Morisu says, 'For now, I'll take the liberty of playing the armchair detective,' I was super excited, thinking, 'An armchair detective has appeared!'.

Mystery fans all love 'armchair detectives' (probably).
After all, they are cool.

A general reader might just think, 'Hmm, so there's that kind of detective too,' but a true mystery fan can't just leave it at that.

I started expecting to see 'an armchair detective solving a mystery using only collected objective information'.

And I also thought:
'Aha, the deduction skills of Kawanami, the protagonist of the mainland unit, are unknown, and while Kiyoshi Shimada offers various opinions and takes action from the perspective of a mystery maniac, we need someone in a position to objectively analyze the situation from the gathered information.That's why Morisu appeared!'... (how pathetic).

In addition to that, I thought maybe in the end, Ellery Queen, Conan Doyle, and Maurice Leblanc would each present their own deductions. As expected, Ellery doesn't get killed easily... and things like that.

Man, I was being tricked so well!

(7) And until the very moment Inspector Shimada asks 'that question', I believe it without a doubt

Even as the story neared the end, I thought, 'No one mentions that Morisu is 'Maurice Leblanc'... well, that's fine. It's just a small reference anyway,' when finally the inspector 'gets carried away' and asks.

The feelings of this 'carried away' inspector were exactly the same as mine, a modest sense of superiority, thinking, 'I figured it out!'
I had figured it out too.
'I'm sure when you joined the circle, it was decided immediately, 'You're Maurice Leblanc!'' I thought.

...even though the world is about to be turned upside down in three more lines.

And,

--It's Van Dine.

--It's Van Dine

--It's Van Dine

, the shock of it.

Uh...

...What is this?

At that moment, I had been binge-reading without much sleep, so I thought my eyes were just blurry.

Truly, until the very moment I read that line, I hadn't suspected a thing.

--No, I mean, come on...

Compared to Ellery Queen, Agatha Christie, Gaston Leroux, or Edgar Allan Poe, isn't Van Dine a bit... plain? (Sorry, Master)

He's not really that familiar to Japanese readers, you know (sorry).

I mean, of course I've read them. The Greene Murder Case, The Bishop Murder Case, and so on. But, you wouldn't think Van Dine is the culprit. Setting aside the works themselves, his character as an author isn't really well-known... (At this point, I fell into nonsensical logic due to panic).

Yes, shamefully, because I had 'a little' knowledge of mysteries, Iheld my own preconceived notions and was tricked by my own assumptions.

Come to think of it, when I read the solution to Soji Shimada's 'The Tokyo Zodiac Murders', I shouted 'Whaaat!' and almost fell out of my chair (conversely, I hadn't predicted anything), but when I read 'that line' in The Decagon House, the world I had envisioned was so completely different that my understanding couldn't keep up, and I rememberclosing the book with a straight face for a moment.

* Soji Shimada, 'The Tokyo Zodiac Murders: Revised Complete Edition' (Kodansha Bunko / 838 yen excluding tax)

And then I placed the book on the floor and stared into space for a while.

After that, I slowly picked up the book again, followed the remaining words in a state of emotional numbness, and I remember sleeping a little after finishing it.

After I woke up and calmed down, I laughed.

I laughed because it was funny how completely and utterly I had been fooled, I was filled with the sense of fulfillment that comes from reading a book that is truly amazing without any exaggeration, and I think I felt incredibly refreshed.

Mom back home, I really enjoyed some amazing entertainment today... (who am I talking to?).

That's why I was moved to think that I just can't give up on mysteries.

The drama is good too, but I really wish that, first and foremost, many people could experience this shock through the book, through the writing...

--This is a side note, but if it were possible, I would love to read a spin-off that details the reasoning process behind why Kiyoshi Shimada felt that Morisu was suspicious, if such a thing existed.

I assume he arrived at that deduction from the perspective of 'who could have done it,' but it would be fascinating to hear a story about things like 'when did he first think he was suspicious.'

Sigh.

Mysteries are so interesting...