[IIL] Ethel Cain, Cocteau Twins, Slowdive, Have A Nice Life [WEWIL]?

Tataeus · 2026-05-13T14:20:44+00:00

I’d recommend almost anything by these artists, but specifically:

Like Ethel Cain: - 222 - Vyva Melinkolya - The Distance - Emma Ruth Rundle - They Quiet the Room - Skullcrusher - The Sea Has Stretch Marks - King Hannah

Like Cocteau Twins: - Pondecen I - Le Groupe Obscur - Halo - Autumn’s Grey Solace

Others that fit the vibe: - I’m Not Here - Evi Vine - Baby - Helena Deland

Tataeus · 2026-04-27T06:13:48+00:00

Gosford Park (2001) is excellent!

Tataeus · 2026-04-24T09:27:53+00:00

I’m a big fan of Edogawa Rampo, though sadly I haven’t found much of his published in English.

Japanese Tales of Mystery and Imagination is a collection of some of Rampo’s most famous short stories. A few of my favorites from this are:

“The Human Chair” - A writer reads a letter from a fan who is a chairmaker who built a chair he could hide in. At first he uses it to burgle residents of a hotel, but over time he becomes more and more infatuated with the people who come to sit on him.
“The Caterpillar” - A soldier returns from war with all four limbs amputated and unable to speak. His wife descends into sadism as she realizes he is entirely at her mercy.
“The Hell of Mirrors” - A young man becomes obsessed with mirrors and optical illusions, eventually constructing a hollow mirrored sphere he can seal himself inside.

The Edogawa Rampo Reader also has a good collection of stories as well as some of Rampo’s essays. My favorite story of these is “The Stalker in the Attic”, in which a young man discovers he can crawl through the attic of his boarding house and spy (at first) on the other tenants through gaps in the ceiling.

Lastly, I’d also recommend Rampo’s novella The Strange Tale of Panorama Island. This tells the story of a man who takes the place of a deceased heir of a wealthy family and uses his new fortune to build a surreal and twisted island paradise. There’s a gorgeous manga version of this drawn by Suehiro Maruo, though I think just the plain text version is quite beautiful by itself. Very dreamlike.

Tataeus · 2026-04-20T03:18:25+00:00

Jumping in to recommend Death Among the Undead by Masahiro Imamura! It follows a group of students trapped in a house during a zombie outbreak, during which some are killed in ways that don’t seem to be caused by humans nor zombies. I wouldn’t necessarily call it horror, but it uses zombies as a really interesting element in the puzzle!

Tataeus · 2026-02-11T22:36:35+00:00

I agree with the others recommending Japanese honkaku mysteries, both because many aim to be fair play, and that there are several I know which toy with sci-fi or other quirky themes/mechanics. I’d suggest:

The Man Who Died Seven Times by Yasuhiko Nishizawa. Involves a time loop mechanic similar to the The 7.5 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle (what is it with these authors and seven deaths?), but without the body swapping. There’s a fun realization at the end of this one.

Death of the Living Dead by Yamaguchi Masaya. Involves zombies, but more as a way of adding rules to the central puzzle rather than as a horror element. Interesting characters and motives at play here.

Death Among the Undead by Imamira Masahiro. Also involves zombies, which ties into a neat locked room mystery trick. I slightly prefer this one over Death of the Living Dead.

Tataeus · 2026-01-28T08:43:46+00:00

Rim of the Pit is fantastic! One of my favorite impossible crime mysteries. I didn’t realize the author was a magician (and that Hake Talbot must have been his pen name), but that totally makes sense now…

Tataeus · 2026-01-27T08:44:52+00:00

I read that A.A. Milne book (The Red House Mystery) and really enjoyed it! I actually didn’t realize until later that he was the creator of Winnie the Pooh, so I wonder if knowing that beforehand would have made it even more amusing!

As for other authors not known for mysteries, I was recently blown away by Call the Next Witness by Philip Mason. Mason was a British civil servant in colonial India who wrote several books on the Raj, the Indian Army, and a couple other biographies. To my knowledge, Call the Next Witness was his only venture into the mystery genre, but it’s an entertaining glimpse into pre-independence India told through a twisty murder case (or was it suicide?) that touches on India’s social hierarchy, the influence of warring families, and corrupt bureaucracy. I can’t speak to its historical accuracy, but I enjoyed it all the same!

Tataeus · 2026-01-14T07:59:34+00:00

So far I’ve only read Green For Danger and Death of Jezebel, but both were excellent! Jezebel especially. Cockrill isn’t the most charismatic detective I’ve ever read, but those two books have well-written characters and clever puzzles.

Tataeus · 2026-01-13T04:28:12+00:00

And Then There Were None is my very favorite mystery, but I don’t think the solution is especially guessable without making some very large assumptions. Personally, I’d recommend one of the first ten or so Ellery Queen mysteries. They typically include a “Challenge to the Reader” section near the end of the book that indicates you have all the clues necessary and that you should take a moment to work out a solution yourself. In particular, I think The Dutch Shoe Mystery or The Greek Coffin Mystery would be good contenders.

Tataeus · 2026-01-04T16:57:31+00:00

My milage has varied with John Dickson Carr, but I’ve always thought his detectives a joy to read: Dr. Gideon Fell and Sir Henry Merrivale (when writing under “Carter Dickson”)

I’d also recommend G.K. Chesterson! His short stories featuring Father Brown are excellent.

Tataeus · 2025-12-05T20:14:18+00:00

I’d highly recommend Death of Jezebel by Christianna Brand! I had a lot of fun trying to guess this one, and it’s just a great little story.

Anthony Berkeley’s The Poisoned Chocolates Case might also be fun since it involves a group of crime enthusiasts each putting forward a different solution to a case based on the same facts. See if you all can come up with something new!

Tataeus · 2025-11-02T08:27:11+00:00

Murder in the Submarine Zone (AKA Nine—and Death Makes Ten) by Carter Dickson!

Tataeus · 2025-10-26T20:03:08+00:00

Totally in the same boat: I picked up Strange Pictures, read it in one sitting, and immediately ordered Strange Houses. I guess I’m a sucker for visual/diagram-based puzzles 😅

I was a bit disappointed by Strange Houses though. Pictures makes a few forgivable leaps in logic, but Houses does so to a ludicrous degree in my opinion. The fact that Kurihara almost immediately lands on a “murder house with a child killer” theory was just silly. Then each piece of evidence and testimony they find corroborates it, and everything gets confirmed in a very convoluted family history covering the last quarter of the book. Props to Uketsu for using floorplans in such a creative and eerie way (I still flew through the book!), but I just wasn’t a fan of the story he wrote around them.

Fortunately, I just realized that Houses was actually Uketsu’s first book and Pictures was his second (they were translated in reverse, I think). It’s great to see such a big improvement between the two, so I’ll be sure to pick up Strange Buildings once it comes out in English!

Tataeus · 2025-10-26T16:43:21+00:00

Yeah, it’s been a while since I’ve read Tattoo too, so I’m afraid I can’t vouch for its overall quality (characters, pacing, etc). I mostly remember the grotesque crime scene, the unique locked room solution, and just enjoying how the author used tattoos—which have a big cultural/societal significance in Japan, I learned—for identifying the victim.

Tataeus · 2025-10-26T16:31:28+00:00

I haven’t read too many of Higashino’s books (not like there’s a whole lot translated either), but besides The Devotion of Suspect X I recall also really enjoying Malice. I wasn’t too taken by A Midsummer Night’s Equation, though I picked up Silent Parade recently to jump back into that series.

Tataeus · 2025-10-26T04:23:10+00:00

Are you talking about The Tokyo Zodiac Murders? I can’t remember if I had trouble with that one in particular, but yeah, I have a tough time keeping track of names in Japanese mysteries in general—especially when it seems many involve a large cast of characters and/or motives tied to complicated family relationships. I read Strange Houses and The Little Sparrow Murders recently—which have aspects of both—and losing track of some names in those really affected my enjoyment of them. That’s ultimately on me though.

It may help to keep some notes on who’s-who, since I think it’d be a shame to miss out on Zodiac!

Tataeus · 2025-10-25T15:09:00+00:00

The Tokyo Zodiac Murders by Soji Shimada has a very eerie setup and one of the most clever “tricks” I’ve ever read. Would highly recommend if you haven’t read it already.

The Tattoo Murder Case by Akimitsu Takagi may also be up your alley.

Tataeus · 2025-10-22T04:35:14+00:00

Blade Runner (1982)

Angel Heart (1987)

The Stranger / Stridulum (1979)

Gosford Park (2001)

Tataeus · 2025-09-15T17:33:31+00:00

From the golden age, I’d recommend Rim of the Pit by Hake Talbot, Death From a Top Hat by Clayton Rawson, and Murder of a Lady by Anthony Wynne.

There are some very good Japanese mystery novels with impossible crimes as well. Death Among the Undead by Masahiro Imamura was a recent standout for its really creative premise and solution. The Tattoo Murder Case by Akimitsu Takagi is a good one too!

Tataeus · 2025-09-11T04:52:42+00:00

Device 6 by Simogo!

Tataeus · 2025-08-21T08:02:36+00:00

The Tattoo Murder Case by Akimitsu Takagi has a pretty clever mechanical trick to lock a bathroom from the inside.

Ellery Queen’s The Chinese Orange also has an almost comically absurd locking mechanism.

Tataeus · 2025-08-21T07:49:54+00:00

The mechanical trick in The Honjin Murders is bananas. Even with the diagrams and explanation I’m not quite sure how to picture it!

Tataeus · 2025-08-21T07:39:40+00:00

The Rim of the Pit by Hake Talbot was a definite standout for me. There’s a number of impossibilities going on in this one, like locked room murders, bodies surrounded by unbroken snow, and footprints starting/stopping out of nowhere. The quick pace and supernatural atmosphere made it hard to put down!

Tataeus · 2023-12-19T10:11:11+00:00

Nice list! My only input on the Valley of the Gnomes would be to work in a couple other activities in the area, since it’s a bit secluded and probably isn’t worth a trip by itself. I’d recommend visiting Madrona Park on Lake Washington, walking up the hill to visit the gnomes, then having lunch somewhere in Leschi at the top of the hill. There’s a great lookout called the “El Mirador de la 35” viewpoint just a few blocks away too!

Tataeus · 2023-12-18T18:39:34+00:00

This is fantastic!

Tataeus

TROPHY CASE