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館シリーズ #9
殺人奇面館
奇面館館主影山逸史邀請了六名男子，前來參加一個奇特的聚會，受邀者皆可獲得二百萬圓的酬勞，但在館主面前，賓客們必須戴上一具可上鎖的面具將臉孔遮住。
新人作家日向京助也接到了邀請，因病無法參加的他為了得到報酬，便拜託長相與他相似的鹿谷門實代他出席，但鹿谷的目的其實是這棟由「中村青司」所設計的詭異建築。
聚會當日，賓主相談甚歡，沒想到隔天醒來，館主竟遭人殺害，還被斬去了手指與頭顱！而賓客們也在睡夢中被套上了面具，鑰匙更不翼而飛！突如其來的命案讓大家陷入了恐慌，無法卸下面具的眾人也開始互相猜疑。
此時，奇面館卻被不合時節的大雪封閉，恐懼與不安深深籠罩著這群被困在館裡的人們……
新人作家日向京助也接到了邀請，因病無法參加的他為了得到報酬，便拜託長相與他相似的鹿谷門實代他出席，但鹿谷的目的其實是這棟由「中村青司」所設計的詭異建築。
聚會當日，賓主相談甚歡，沒想到隔天醒來，館主竟遭人殺害，還被斬去了手指與頭顱！而賓客們也在睡夢中被套上了面具，鑰匙更不翼而飛！突如其來的命案讓大家陷入了恐慌，無法卸下面具的眾人也開始互相猜疑。
此時，奇面館卻被不合時節的大雪封閉，恐懼與不安深深籠罩著這群被困在館裡的人們……
512 pages, Paperback
First published January 6, 2012
25 people want to read
About the author
Yukito Ayatsuji
112 books682 followers(Japanese: 綾辻 行人)
'Yukito Ayatsuji' is the original creator of Another. He is a famous writer of mystery and Japanese detective fiction. He is also one of the writers that demands restoration of the classic rules of detective fiction and the use of more self reflective elements. He is married to Fuyumi Ono, author of The Twelve Kingdoms and creator of Ghost Hunt, Juuni Kokuki, and the author for a few other manga.
'Yukito Ayatsuji' is the original creator of Another. He is a famous writer of mystery and Japanese detective fiction. He is also one of the writers that demands restoration of the classic rules of detective fiction and the use of more self reflective elements. He is married to Fuyumi Ono, author of The Twelve Kingdoms and creator of Ghost Hunt, Juuni Kokuki, and the author for a few other manga.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 14, 2014
Murder At the Mansion of Strange Masks, is the ninth book of Yukito Ayatsuji's spellbinding Mansion series.
This time Ayatsuji takes us to the Mansion of Strange Masks, which was built by a mad genius architect under the request of a rich man who possessed an overwhelming collection of masks from all over the world. 20 years later, the Mansion was now owned by the rich man's son, who wore a mask 24/7 because he was afraid of seeing other people's expressions (he dreaded even the expressions on his own face).
Every year, the current owner of the Mansion of Strange Masks would invite a handful of male guests to his home to stay over for the weekend, with a promise of a handsome reward for their time spent in the Mansion. But there's one condition, the guests must wear a specially made mask over their face for as long as they stay in the Mansion, and they had to have a matching key in order to remove their masks.
This year, six guests were gathered but in the next morning, the house owner was found murdered, and with the keys mysteriously missing, no one could remove their masks; to make thing worse, phone lines were cut off and the heavy snow kept everyone trapped in the Mansion.
What's the real purpose of the house owner's strange invitation and his equally strange conditions? Who is the killer? Is the killer after the mysterious Future Mask (owned by the first house owner but then mysteriously went missing for years)? Who will survive in the end?
I like this book but I don't love it as much as I do with Murder At the Mansion of Clocks and Murder At the Mansion of Darkness (these two are the true masterpieces damnit). Although with Murder At the Mansion of Strange Masks, the Gothic atmosphere is being created very nicely and the story is also filled with some nice twists and turns.
The author successfully keeps you guessing from start to end; plus everything is reasonably and logically explained at the end, but I still feel To sum up, I feel a little underwhelmed.
This time Ayatsuji takes us to the Mansion of Strange Masks, which was built by a mad genius architect under the request of a rich man who possessed an overwhelming collection of masks from all over the world. 20 years later, the Mansion was now owned by the rich man's son, who wore a mask 24/7 because he was afraid of seeing other people's expressions (he dreaded even the expressions on his own face).
Every year, the current owner of the Mansion of Strange Masks would invite a handful of male guests to his home to stay over for the weekend, with a promise of a handsome reward for their time spent in the Mansion. But there's one condition, the guests must wear a specially made mask over their face for as long as they stay in the Mansion, and they had to have a matching key in order to remove their masks.
This year, six guests were gathered but in the next morning, the house owner was found murdered, and with the keys mysteriously missing, no one could remove their masks; to make thing worse, phone lines were cut off and the heavy snow kept everyone trapped in the Mansion.
What's the real purpose of the house owner's strange invitation and his equally strange conditions? Who is the killer? Is the killer after the mysterious Future Mask (owned by the first house owner but then mysteriously went missing for years)? Who will survive in the end?
I like this book but I don't love it as much as I do with Murder At the Mansion of Clocks and Murder At the Mansion of Darkness (these two are the true masterpieces damnit). Although with Murder At the Mansion of Strange Masks, the Gothic atmosphere is being created very nicely and the story is also filled with some nice twists and turns.
The author successfully keeps you guessing from start to end; plus everything is reasonably and logically explained at the end, but I still feel To sum up, I feel a little underwhelmed.
August 6, 2015
A brilliant book! Haven't finished reading a whole book in one day for so long and this one has aroused my appetite to read on. I just couldn't put it down until I finished it, which was already midnight.
Anyone who likes Kindaichi Hajime would definitely like it too.
Anyone who likes Kindaichi Hajime would definitely like it too.
December 11, 2018
館系列很特別，ㄧ開始有奇幻的感覺但謎本身非常本格
September 21, 2019
對使用面具、砍下頭顱、砍下指頭這些本格常見的做法，作了全新的詮釋。謎團精彩，唯一問題是有發水之嫌，可以用三百頁完成的故事，居然用了足足五百頁，幸好劇情推演不算緩慢，是精彩的新本格。
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July 7, 2024Watched a walk through.
April 22, 2016
A mystery in the orthodox vein that tacitly challenges readers to solve two components: the "whodunnit" and the "howdunnit".
The set-up and premise is very vivid and engaging, assisted by detailed floor plan charts. Ayatsuji is also very meticulous about the details and investigation, making sure that the reader gets as much clues as possible. He even goes so far as to guide readers through the most apparent hypotheses that both novice mystery readers and genre-savvy readers would come up with.
The "howdunnit" solution is rather satisfying: Ayatsuji sprinkles just enough clues to illuminate the solution without making it too obvious. And this is a great feat, given that the solution, if used on another premise or setting, would definitely be considered to be "unfair".
However, the "whodunnit", along with the motive, is rather disappointing. The "whodunnit" seems almost to be an afterthought, with the motive seeming rather ad-hoc and contrived. Given how elaborate and intricate Ayatsuji was with the details, I would have hoped he could have instead paid more attention into weaving the "whodunnit" and "howdunnit" more intricately together.
The set-up and premise is very vivid and engaging, assisted by detailed floor plan charts. Ayatsuji is also very meticulous about the details and investigation, making sure that the reader gets as much clues as possible. He even goes so far as to guide readers through the most apparent hypotheses that both novice mystery readers and genre-savvy readers would come up with.
The "howdunnit" solution is rather satisfying: Ayatsuji sprinkles just enough clues to illuminate the solution without making it too obvious. And this is a great feat, given that the solution, if used on another premise or setting, would definitely be considered to be "unfair".
However, the "whodunnit", along with the motive, is rather disappointing. The "whodunnit" seems almost to be an afterthought, with the motive seeming rather ad-hoc and contrived. Given how elaborate and intricate Ayatsuji was with the details, I would have hoped he could have instead paid more attention into weaving the "whodunnit" and "howdunnit" more intricately together.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews