This manga started off with a lot of promise, but the idea is not at all original, from the island murders, the house with secret passageways to the mystery club and the members being aptly named after famous writers. Nothing about it is remotely unique, but the art is very good and the overall mystery is decently fleshed out until it isn't.
The island setting is the only allure to this series. We have two POVs we follow. The mystery club amid being murdered ala And Then There Were None, and this ditzy boring girl who is pointless and nothing but eye candy she is pretty inept and led by the nose by a smarter side character (some monk) that has more prevalence than she does.
The time focused on her and their shenanigans is pretty boring, she's a boring Mary Sue and her clueless demeanor and comedic relief makes me think she's more or less there for the reader to insert into and live through as she watches all of this unfold around her while desperately (and failing) to piece this entire mystery together.
She follows the monk, and just watches him info dump and piece everything together for the most part.
The exposition is integral to the plot, but the fact that it's through her is very annoying she is clumsily handled and just has zero real personality, everyone on the island is so much more interesting than her, the POV shifts can kind of kill your interest in the story and momentum you have going while reading. I know it's to space out the buildup and pay off, but it just doesn't work.
I said this was going to be a spoiler-heavy review already but I am about to go into end-game spoilers so read at your discretion
Everyone on the island dies, they were killed for the most cliched reason possible, and the focus shifts to the slow side girl as she yet again watches the Info Dump Monk solve it all for her.
The reason for the murders, not only sucks, and not only does this side chick just spectate someone else solve it all after the only intriguing characters are killed off
but they saved the murderer from suicide, and it seems almost as if they redeemed him in the end.
the boring ass killer, with the most stupid motivations, literally kills everyone worth a damn and it just ends with him and the boring chick crying together
It's just mediocre man, painfully so, I don't recommend it unless you are bored.
