I will happily read a wintry mystery any time of year, but there’s nothing more perfect (in my opinion!) than sinking into a chilling crime novel as the winter season approaches—and if you agree, you’ll want to add Emma Haughton’s recently-released mystery THE DARK to your to-read pile. THE DARK has garnered major buzz in the UK, and it’s easy to see why. This atmospheric and immersive crime novel transports readers to the desolate landscape of Antarctica, weaving a clever and claustrophobic mystery that will appeal to fans of classic “locked room” crime stories and psychological suspense alike. Following an emergency medicine doctor who accepts the job of a lifetime, THE DARK takes place in the isolated setting of a UN research station in Antarctica. Surrounded by nothing but ice and snow, unable to leave or be reached by outside help, our story’s unwitting characters settle in for months of isolation… with a killer in their midst. THE DARK blends immersive setting with palpable tension and ever-increasing stakes. A slow-burning first half builds to a white-knuckle conclusion in this chilling and atmospheric story. Consider adding this one to your winter to-read list.
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CBTB’s Recommended Locked Room Mysteries
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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Book Review: THE SANATORIUM by Sarah Pearse
As I write this review, I’m in a bit of a reading slump, and I blame it entirely on how much I loved Sarah Pearse’s atmospheric, sinister mystery THE SANATORIUM. This debut novel blends elements of Gothic suspense with a locked room mystery set in the Swiss Alps, and the result is an irresistible, just-one-more-page thriller perfect for your next wintry read. Selected as Reese Witherspoon’s February book club pick, Pearse’s debut novel delivers all the atmosphere, chilling intrigue, and hair-raising suspense that I hoped for and more. Following a woman who has recently taken a leave of absence from her work as a detective, THE SANATORIUM pits an unwitting group of individuals against a shadowy killer who appears to be at work in a high-end, minimalist hotel nestled in the Swiss Alps. When a snowstorm cuts off access to and from the hotel, it’s up to protagonist Elin to investigate a series of disturbing occurrences within the hotel, and get to the bottom of the case before anyone else gets hurt. What begins as a slow-burning suspense story gradually builds to a thriller that will have you up all night turning its pages. Sarah Pearse’s atmospheric, detail-oriented writing brings this sinister story to life, immersing readers in the beautiful-yet-unsettling world of sanatorium-turned-hotel Le Sommet—and all the deadly secrets hidden within its walls. Enter the world of THE SANATORIUM: you won’t want to leave, which is lucky, because you just might not be able to. THE SANATORIUM is a superb debut mystery novel, and I’m already looking forward to seeing what this author writes next.
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Book Review: SHIVER by Allie Reynolds
Last weekend, I had the pleasure of spending my Sunday doing just about nothing aside from reading. My book of choice? SHIVER by Allie Reynolds, a compulsively readable, superbly entertaining locked-room mystery perfect for fans of Ruth Ware and Lucy Foley. SHIVER is pure “popcorn reading” material: lighter on violence but heavy on entertainment value, this engaging, relentlessly suspenseful mystery begs to be devoured in one or two sittings. In SHIVER, readers travel to the French Alps, where a group of friends are arriving for a reunion. Ten years ago, the group met while training for a snowboarding competition. That fateful winter, things took a tragic turn, and one of their own went missing. Fast forward ten years, and each member of the group has tried to move on… but this reunion is poised to bring old tensions, rivalries, and secrets back into the light. As the group settles into the resort where their reunion weekend is set to take place, they discover that things aren’t quite right. The resort is abandoned, with not a soul in sight. Then their phones go missing. And when they discover that the person they each believed invited them on this trip didn’t actually plan this getaway, things take a dark and deadly turn. Who called this group together? And who is behind the increasingly sinister events of the trip? Moving between present-day locked room mystery and flashback chapters that illuminate the dynamics and relationships between our central cast of characters, SHIVER is deliciously readable and delightfully chilling mystery fun. This book thoroughly exceeded my expectations and left me wishing it were even longer, just so I could spend more time with its engaging, endearing characters. SHIVER had me, the least-athletic person I know, ready to throw it all away and move to the mountains to take up snowboarding. If that’s not saying something, I don’t know what is. Readers who love the modern-day locked room mysteries of Ruth Ware and Lucy Foley won’t want to miss Allie Reynolds’ chilling debut.
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Book Review: ONE BY ONE by Ruth Ware
Never has there been a more perfect time to read a “locked room mystery” than in 2020. This summer, while holed up in my house during lockdown, I had the pleasure of reading an advance copy of Ruth Ware’s chilling new mystery, ONE BY ONE—a book that puts a fresh, modern spin on the classic crime fiction “locked room” structure. The premise of Ware’s newest: a group of employees on a corporate retreat to a picturesque ski lodge in the French Alps find their getaway horribly disrupted when an avalanche cuts off their access to the outside world. In the claustrophobic confinement of the lodge, the group finds tempers rising, personalities clashing, and long-buried secrets threatening to reappear. Confined spaces and isolation, you say? If that doesn’t sound like 2020, I don’t know what does. Now, (thankfully!) my lockdown experience has been nowhere near as dramatic and sinister as the experiences of Ware’s ill-fated characters in ONE BY ONE, but if there ever were a moment when a “locked room mystery” rang especially true for me… this year is it. Ruth Ware’s newest suspense offering delivers a deliciously dark and dramatic tale of a group of individuals whose egos, secrets, and personal motivations clash in sinister and deadly ways when they find themselves isolated in close quarters with one another. Replete with red herrings a plenty, multiple narrators who will keep you on your toes, and an ever-intensifying sense of dread, ONE BY ONE is another outstanding crime novel from the writer who has rightfully been dubbed a modern-day Agatha Christie.
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