The Clock House Murders

By: Yukito Ayatsuji

Published by Steerforth Press, 2026-06-02

A deviously clever, locked room puzzle mystery from the celebrated Japanese author of The Decagon House Murders that’s perfect for fans of Uketsu’s Strange Houses

Brilliant detective Shimada Kiyoshi must save a team of paranormal investigators, trapped in an abandoned house, as they are picked off one-by-one!

Rumor has it that the mysterious Clock House—a remote mansion built by notorious architect Nakamura Seiji for a long-dead clock enthusiast— is haunted by the ghost of a young girl, who died there 10 years earlier. No one is more intrigued by this than the investigating team from the paranormal magazine CHAOS. They decide to visit the mansion, along with a psychic medium, in an attempt to make contact with the spirit.

The plan is for the group of investigators to spend three days locked in the house, but their stay has barely begun when a gruesome murder is committed. And then the survivors find that they are trapped in the house, with no possibility of escape…

Meanwhile, the brilliant detective Shimada Kiyoshi is investigating the enigma of The Clock House from the outside, eager to unravel the mystery of another of Nakamura Seiji’s twisted architectural creations.

But as his investigation proceeds, the team inside the house are being slaughtered one-by-one. Will Shimada crack the puzzle of the Clock House before all of them are dead?

The latest installment in Yukito Ayatsuji’s thrilling Bizarre House Mysteries series, this stand-alone puzzle mystery is par-excellence by a master of the form, packed with twists and culminating in a jaw-dropping, unforgettable solution.