It’s one of crime fiction’s oldest tropes, and one of its most perennially-appealing, too: a group of individuals find themselves locked in a hotel (or on an island, or in a house… you get the idea!), a murderer in their midst. Who among them is the killer? The locked room mystery is an unfailingly entertaining crime fiction subgenre. Clever plots, impossible solutions, red herrings a plenty—there is so much to love about books that fall into this category, and they’ve been a longtime favorite for me ever since I began reading Agatha Christie novels back in the day! With the recent popularity of locked room-style mysteries including THE GUEST LIST by Lucy Foley and THE SANATORIUM by Sarah Pearse, I’ve been receiving more requests than ever for a blog post dedicated to my personal favorite locked room mystery recommendations. Well, the day is finally here! I’m thrilled to share my list of Recommended Locked Room Mysteries with CBTB readers today. From Nordic mysteries to modern-day twists on the genre to classics and more, I hope that every reader will find a little something to catch their eye in today’s blog post.
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Most-Anticipated December 2020 Crime Fiction Releases
The end of the year is upon us, and I know I’m not the only one who won’t be sad to say goodbye to 2020. But before we close the book on this year and turn our attention to 2021, let’s not forget to celebrate the very exciting new crime fiction releases that December 2020 is bringing with it! This month, a few of my most highly-anticipated releases of the whole year will be releasing. From serial killer thrillers to detective novels and legal thrillers, this month has a whole variety of buzz-worthy new crime releases in store for readers, and I’m rounding up my personal most-anticipated list in today’s blog post! Read on for my picks for new crime fiction releasing in December 2020.
Read MoreNordic Noir November: Spotlight on Finnish Crime Fiction
Happy Sunday, readers! Welcome back to our final spotlight on Scandinavian crime fiction this year! If you’re new to CBTB, every Sunday this November, I’ve been spotlighting crime fiction from a particular Scandinavian country, and sharing with you a rundown of my personal favorite crime writers from that country. We’ve “traveled” (virtually!) to Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Iceland, and today we’re going to be exploring crime fiction from Finland! Of all the Nordic crime fiction traditions, I am the least familiar with Finnish crime fiction—but I’m on a mission to change that! As always, in today’s blog post I will share with you a rundown of the Finnish crime writers whose work I’ve read and loved. But given that I’m still in the learning-what’s-out-there phase of exploring crime fiction from Finland, I’m also going to give you a little sneak peek into another Finnish crime book that’s on my TBR list. I hope this will be a helpful resource for anyone else who wants to start on their own journey into Finnish crime fiction!
Read MoreWintry Mysteries & Thrillers for Your End-Of-Year TBR
Winter is the perfect time to cozy up with a crime book. For me personally, my holiday break from work is always my time to dig into some slow-burning and immersive detective novels—there’s nothing more blissful to me than a quiet morning cozied up under a blanket, sipping some coffee, and reading a murder mystery while the snow falls outside. If that sounds like your idea of a perfect winter morning too, today’s blog post is for you! In today’s blog post, I’ve rounded up a whole bunch of mysteries, thrillers, and suspense novels with wintertime vibes for your end-of-2020 reading list! Whether you’re in the mood for chilling psychological suspense, Nordic Noir, or a good old fashioned detective story, there’s a little something for everyone in this reading list. (I’m even sharing one of the books I bought for myself this year at the end of the list, too!) So grab your coziest blanket, put on a pot of coffee, and dig in to find your perfect winter read.
Read MoreNordic Noir November: Spotlight on Icelandic Crime Fiction
Happy Sunday, readers! Welcome back to our weekly spotlight on Scandinavian crime fiction! If you’re new to CBTB, every Sunday this November, I’m spotlighting crime fiction from a particular Nordic country, and sharing a rundown of my personal favorite crime writers from that country. We’ve already explored Norwegian crime fiction, Swedish crime fiction, and Danish crime fiction, and this week, we’re “traveling” to beautiful Iceland! This blog post is going to be shorter than my previous Nordic Noir November posts for a very simple reason: when it comes to Icelandic crime fiction, I have two ride-or-die authors whose work I will literally always read, no matter what, and those are the two authors I want to spotlight for you all today. There are a number of fantastically talented Icelandic crime writers whose work has been translated to English (and many more whose work looks very intriguing, and I hope will be translated to English soon!), but as has been the case with all my previous installments in this series, I want to keep this list focused on highlighting just my personal favorite authors from each country. When it comes to Icelandic crime fiction, that means I’ve got two authors to spotlight for you today! Whether you love creepy, horror-inspired thrillers, modern mysteries with classic crime vibes, or gritty procedurals, my two favorite Icelandic crime writers have a book for you.
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