The anonymous Japanese YouTuber known as Uketsu became a literary phenomenon in Japan with his debut mystery collection Strange Pictures. He hopes to replicate the success with follow-up Strange Houses, now released with an English translation by Jim Rion.
This unconventional crime thriller is written in first-person, from the perspective of an unnamed author who has discovered a floor plan to a seemingly ordinary house which has a number of unusual and unsettling details. What is that walled-off space in the corner of the bathroom? And why does the child’s room have no windows?
As he investigates the house – and a body found in its vicinity – the author presents us with transcripts of his conversations with an architect friend and a woman potentially related to the crime. Events escalate when he discovers two further houses with similarly mysterious details.
With the floor plans printed as part of the narrative – repeated, zoomed in, and added to as the characters discuss them – Strange Houses is a very involving read. It’s easy to get caught up in studying the plans, trying to solve the mystery ahead of the protagonists.
It does sag a little in the final chapter, though, as the overly convoluted truth behind the houses is revealed. The book loses some of its novelty and thrill as it gets lost in this backstory.
Nevertheless, Strange Houses is a remarkably original take on the crime thriller, which makes for a compelling read. It’s 208 pages – and a lot of these are diagrams! – making for a quick and easy weekend read.
STRANGE HOUSES will be released on July 3rd, 2025.
