番外編：The Clock House Murders Released

It is finally October 2025 and that means it's finally here! My English translation of The Clock House Murders (Tokeikan no Satsujin) by Yukito AYATSUJI was released last week by Pushkin Press. Or at least, it was released in the United Kingdom on the ninth of October. Readers in the United States have to wait until... June 2026. Sorry about that.

(And yes, I'm late with this announcement post. I was actually hoping for my own copy to arrive first before I'd make the announcement so I could make a personal picture, but it's still on its way...) 

It's been exactly a decade since I first translated The Decagon House Murders for Locked Room International back in 2015. Since then Pushkin Press has taken over the license, starting first with a revised re-release in 2021. Fortunately, they were interested in releasing more of the series and both Ayatsuji himself and Pushkin wanted me on board again, so then followed the sequel The Mill House Murders in 2023 and a third book, The Labyrinth House Murders in 2024. And now in 2025, it is time for The Clock House Murders, one of the most-praised entries in the series and also a personal favorite of mine. The book won Ayatsuji the prestigious Mystery Writers of Japan Award and it is a work I know Ayatsuji is very proud of and even since I got started again on The Mill House Murders, he'd mention how he'd want to see The Clock House Murders in English rather sooner than later. The book was originally released in 1991 and is set in the titular Clock House, a house with a huge clock tower and a floorplan designed like a clock, where a priceless collection of antique clocks are kept. Ghosts have been spotted in the neighborhood and a crew for the magazine Chaos are going ghost-hunting in the Clock House with the help of a spirit medium. The participants are locked inside the old section of the house where the collection is kept and they'll attempt to communicate with the ghost over the course of three days. However, they start getting murdered one by one, without any means to call for help from the outside world...

As I mentioned, The Clock House Murders is one of the most well-beloved entries in the series and can be kind of considered the grand "season 1 finale" of the series, as the first few books were written in quick succession, but after The Clock House Murders, Ayatsuji would slow down a lot more and also be more experimental in the directions he'd go with the series, with some entries being very different from others. The Clock House Murders is a grand cumulnation of Ayatsuji growing as a mystery author, starting with his debut with The Decagon House Murders and reaching one of his highest point with this award-winning novel. The Clock House Murders is being adapted as a live-action show for Hulu in Japan right now as a direct sequel to their earlier The Decagon House Murders adaptation by the way, with a scheduled release date of early next year.  

I myself am a big fan of the book: in a way I feel it's a more refined version of The Decagon House Murders and I really enjoyed revisiting the house while working on the translation this time. Oh, just allow me a little of bragging here: a while back I met Ayatsuji, and we're actually having a drink served in Decagon House Murders cups and on the table stood a Clock House Murders table clock. Miraculously, we all survived this meeting.

So if you liked The Decagon House Murders, The Mill House Murders and/or The Labyrinth House Murders, please pick up The Clock House Murders too. It is without a doubt one of the best works Ayatsuji wrote, and I have no doubt a lot of readers will enjoy this one. And don't remember, positive sales and reception is the most likely to ensure more translations follow (hopefully by me of course...), so it'd be great if you could pick up a copy!