THE MILL HOUSE MURDERS House Murders, Book 2

David Shih narrates Ayatsuji's locked-room tale of suspense with a neutral intensity that suits the pulp-noir book by the well-known Japanese author of horror and mystery novels. Once a year, a hideously scarred man who wears a rubber mask invites selected men to visit his strange house and view his deceased father's equally strange paintings. One year, paintings disappear, and people die. The next year, when more murders occur, a likable amateur sleuth steps in to help solve the crimes. Shih's pleasant tone, attentive pacing, and straightforward narration ease listeners into the prose, which features abrupt, adjective-heavy short sentences. By normalizing the intentionally unusual writing style, Shih serves as a reliable guide in this twisty unreliable tale. A.C.S. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine [Published: JULY 2023]