The Intermittent LRI Blog

From Mysteries Ahoy:

“… an entertaining read. The puzzle has some really clever features… “

Lending the Key to the Locked Room by Tokuya Higashigawa, translated by Ho-Ling Wong

“… an immensely enjoyable impossible crime novel.” Starred review

https://www.publishersweekly.com/979-8-568497-21-9

Moonlight Detective calls this one of his favourite titles to come out of LRI.

http://moonlight-detective.blogspot.com/2020/12/lending-key-to-locked-room-2002-by.html

‘… a truly baffling problem… clever plotting, clueing, red herrings and false solutions…’

Here’s to a Much Happier 2021

The Moonlight Detective/Beneath the Stains of Time has posted a fabulous review of Marcel Lanteaume’s French Golden Age classic:

http://moonlight-detective.blogspot.com/2020/12/the-thirteenth-bullet-1948-by-marcel.html

‘…A glorious, unapologetic flight of fancy… can stand with the best pulp-style locked room mysteries.’

Lanteaume keeps throwing twists, surprises and dangers

Goodreads finds Lending the Key to the Locked Room “Interesting, intriguing and suspenseful… there is a tone of humour throughout the novel, which adds to its delight… Highly recommended.”

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3710559198

Who would disagree?

Seasons Greetings to all

John P.

The ebook version of this brilliantly clever and genuinely funny honkaku novel is now available in e-book format, just in time for the holidays.

Enjoy!

John P.

LRI is pleased to announce a brand new honkaku mystery from the pen of Tokuya Higashigawa.

In order to release it in time for the festive season, I’m not waiting for a review, but giving my own summary:

Ryuhei, a would-be film director, has just been dumped by his girl friend and his drunken threats to kill her have made him the prime suspect, as she has just been murdered.
His alibi is that he was watching a film in his friend’s home movie theatre at the time. Unfortunately, his friend has also been stabbed to death in his bathroom, with the door to the apartment locked with a door chain.
Worse still, Ryuhei was the only other person in the apartment at the time, and passed out until the following morning after he discovered his friend’s body. Fearing that the police will not believe him, because the door chain can only be locked from the inside, he panics and runs away. Not a good idea.
Lending the Key to the Locked Room is not only brilliantly clever, it is also genuinely funny.

Enjoy the holiday and spread the word

John

I realized when I published the review of “The Thirteenth Bullet” by The Grandest Game that I had unfairly neglected many of its past reviews, all highly intelligent and perceptive (and the only blog which gives spoilers in code!)

To partly rectify the situation, I am pleased to offer the great review of the recent The Red Locked Room, plus three fine Paul Halter Stories:

The Red Locked Room (Tetsuya Ayukawa)
Le diable de Dartmoor [The Demon of Dartmoor] (Paul Halter)
La Chambre du fou / The Madman’s Room (Paul Halter)
L’Homme qui aimait les nuages (Paul Halter)

John P.

First, I wish to thank everyone for the truly overwhelming response to my tenth anniversary announcement. It was truly heart-warming and a great encouragement to keep going.

Meanwhile, I am pleased to announce the following price changes:

Tpb from $19.99 to $15.99 and ebk from $9.99 to $7.99:
-The Moai Island Puzzle; The Howling Beast; The Double Alibi; Death in the Dark; The Ginza Ghost; The Seventh Guest; Death in the House of Rain; The Flying Boat Mystery; The Madman’s Room; The Man Who Loved Clouds

Tpb from $29.28 to $24.99
-Locked Room Murders Supplement

Tpb from $24.99 to $19.99

-The Derek Smith Omnibus

Best wishes to all

John P.

The Greatest Game says:

“… a wild, whirling ride… the explanations are ingenious, even brilliant… But let us not carp at a detective story whose major flaw is too much invention. If only more detective stories were so guilty.”

The Thirteenth Bullet (Marcel Lanteaume)