As far as genre-blend fiction goes, mystery-horror has a special place on my shelf. “Strange Houses” by Uketsu is an unputdownable read. The book is translated by Jim Rion who has popularly translated “Strange Pictures” and “Strange Buildings” by Uketsu as well as “The Devil’s Flute Murders” by Seishi Yokomizo.

I was drawn into this book instantly by the prospect of maps and diagrams in a murder mystery novel. This book threw me into a rabbit-hole of Japanese Murder Mysteries and I’m on a very enjoyable binge ever since. You have to brace for more reviews in the genre in the coming weeks from me. As the introductory book to the genre, “Strange Houses” was a breathless reading for me.

When an unnamed freelance writer specializing in the macabre comes across a weird floor plan in a house where murders have possibly taken place, what does he do?

Thankfully, he has an architectural draughtsman as a friend, Kurihara, who becomes the armchair detective for this case. The nuances of the floor plan are brought to spotlight as the friends go over the plan and what comes across as an usual house reveals its sinister secrets as a murder house. But this might not be the only such house or case in recent memory.

What follows is a wild goose chase based on this floor-plan mystery that uncovers generational secrets, cult activities, murders, money trail for motive and a number of unreliable characters. This novel got my heart pounding owing to its sheer ingenuity. The chilling plot derived its effect from its attention to detail.

The readers might find a lot of the initial conjectures to be speculative but they do make sense, I found myself agreeing and nodding along to the brainstorming sessions of the narrator and Kurihara. The reading experience felt like being a part of a true-crime podcast where people actually end up figuring out how the murders were committed.

I am a fan of the writing style and the way the narrative was structured to get the best of the twists. Needless to say, I devoured “Strange Picture” by Uketsu right after and have been waiting with bated breath for “Strange Buildings” and the future works of the author.

The fact that the identity of Uketsu is a secret only adds to the mystery of the books. The masked YouTuber-author has captured the imagination of the fans of the genre with the mystery surrounding his identity almost as much by his enigmatic writing.

You can grab your copy of “Strange Houses” by Uketsu here.

(I earn a small commission from every qualified purchase from the link to continue reading and reviewing)

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Have you read or watched “Strange Houses” yet? Or any other works by Uketsu? What are your thoughts on them?

Feel free to drop a comment or reach out to me across social media at @thecalcuttanbibliophile. I would love to hear from you.