Strange Buildings: Eleven Crime Cases in Dark Architecture

Japanese author Uketsu and co-author Jim Rion are set to publish Strange Buildings with British publisher Pushkin Press in 2026 — a work that merges architecture and criminology into a single unsettling volume.

Eleven cases, one dark thread

The book is structured as a series of case files, presenting eleven fictional crime cases that all share one common element: bizarre or sinister buildings. From isolated forest cabins to houses marked by murder and hidden chambers, each case explores how a building's particular characteristics are bound up with the crimes that take place within its walls.

Architecture in Strange Buildings is more than a backdrop. Uketsu treats it as a character in its own right — one whose design, structure and history shape human behaviour and motivation in profound ways.

This approach will be familiar to fans of crime fiction who enjoy stories where setting drives the narrative as much as the people involved.

Case files as a literary form

The case-file structure gives readers an immersive experience that echoes real true crime reports, even though the stories are entirely fictional. The format draws on a well-established tradition in crime literature of blending documentary style with fiction — a technique that makes invented crimes feel disturbingly plausible.

The book is scheduled for release in 2026 through Pushkin Press.