The Mill House Murders

At the beginning, there were so many characters and the two timelines. This and the habit of sometimes calling them by their family name and sometimes calling them by their individual names made it difficult to follow the first part of the book. I think it would have been easier if I had a physical copy of the book, so I could flip back and forth between pages as needed. As I kept reading, I was able to better figure out who was who.
As to the mystery, I was able to figure out part of it early on. However, there were other details that were not even on my radar. So I liked that surprise. There was also a twist as to the ‘bad guy' that I didn't see coming. I thought that was very clever as well.
I was also intrigued by the way that gender played out in the book. There were moments that felt like traditional Western gender roles were being fulfilled and other times when they felt like they were being subverted. Considering this is a Japanese novel, the fact that there was a difference was not surprising. However the way that difference played out was more enjoyable than I expected.
I have heard about people talk reverently about Japanese murder mysteries and I'm glad I was finally able to pick this one up. I will definitely be looking for more like this.