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.
Note: This blog post is by no means comprehensive, simply a roundup of my current personal favorite recommendations. As I continue to read within this genre, my goal is to come back and update this blog post with additional recommendations!
First things first: what is a locked room mystery?
The “locked room mystery” is, as defined by Wikipedia, a category commonly used to describe a story in which a crime, typically murder, takes place under a set of seemingly impossible circumstances, in a location that has been “locked” or sealed off from the outside world (think: a murder that takes place in a locked room without windows). It’s important to note that not just any mystery set in one location falls under the “locked room” category; essential to this genre is a plot that, to one degree or another, follows the classic crime plot structure in which the author gives readers the clues they will need to solve the story’s mystery for themselves, allowing them to play detective alongside the protagonist. I would also note that crime fiction experts differentiate between a “locked room mystery,” in which a crime takes place in a fixed location that is literally cut off from the outside world, and “closed circle” mysteries, which involve a limited number of suspects in a fixed location, though the location may not be quite literally “locked”—it might be more of a remote or inaccessible setting, for example, a ski chalet cut off from the rest of the world by a snowstorm. In modern-day crime fiction, there seems to be a strong trend towards locked room-style mysteries that might more accurately be described as “closed circle” mysteries: stories in which the “locked room” concept is applied to opulent estates, atmospheric islands, or even remote towns. There is obviously a tremendous amount of stylistic similarity between a traditional locked room mystery and a closed circle mystery, and given that, I have to admit that I’m not super concerned with the differentiations between the two. The effect, to me, is the same: a deliciously clever plot, a claustrophobic atmosphere, and tons of red herrings and suspicion to go around. For the purposes of this blog post, I’ll be lumping them all under the “locked room mystery” category, but I did want to mention this differentiation for folks who are interested in it.
Without further ado, let’s dive in to my recommendations for great locked room mysteries!
This blog post contains Amazon Affiliate links. CBTB may earn a small commission for items purchased through these links.
CBTB’s Recommended Locked Room Mysteries
Organized by Author Last Name
AND THEN THERE WERE NONE by Agatha Christie
My Quick Thoughts:
Agatha Christie is known as the Queen of Crime for a reason, and her classic novel AND THEN THERE WERE NONE is one of the finest examples of a locked room-style mystery out there. There’s a reason that AND THEN THERE WERE NONE is one of Christie’s most famous books: this novel exemplifies the elegant, simple brilliance of Christie’s plotting, delivering all the intrigue and intricacy that readers expect from the locked room mystery genre. In this classic story, a group of strangers receive a mysterious invitation to a mansion on an island. When they arrive, they discover that they have been invited under false pretenses, and things take a deadly turn. AND THEN THERE WERE NONE has inspired a whole slew of modern-day crime novels that aim to pay homage to this classic story—it’s absolutely worth reading the original! Just one note: given that this is a classic crime novel, its pacing and tone is much more reserved and slow-burning than some of the other books in this blog post, but don’t let that deter you. This is one of the rare books that I can re-read endlessly without getting tired of it.
About the Book:
"Ten . . ."
Ten strangers are lured to an isolated island mansion off the Devon coast by a mysterious "U. N. Owen."
"Nine . . ."
At dinner a recorded message accuses each of them in turn of having a guilty secret, and by the end of the night one of the guests is dead.
"Eight . . ."
Stranded by a violent storm, and haunted by a nursery rhyme counting down one by one . . . as one by one . . . they begin to die.
"Seven . . ."
Which among them is the killer and will any of them survive?
MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS by Agatha Christie
My Quick Thoughts:
Another Christie classic! MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS was one of the first Christie books I read, and it’s another clever and thoroughly entertaining take on a locked room mystery. Set aboard the infamous Orient Express train, this mystery involves brilliant sleuth Hercule Poirot solving a seemingly impossible crime: a murder that occurred in a locked train car. When a snowstorm strands the train, it’s up to Hercule Poirot to solve the case before the killer, who must be one of the train’s passengers, can strike again. Now, if I had to pick just one Christie book for you to read, I would pick AND THEN THERE WERE NONE, but MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS is another fantastic entry-point into the locked room mystery genre. This delightfully charming and wintry mystery is a perfect one to cozy up with, particularly during the winter season.
About the Book:
Just after midnight, the famous Orient Express is stopped in its tracks by a snowdrift. By morning, the millionaire Samuel Edward Ratchett lies dead in his compartment, stabbed a dozen times, his door locked from the inside. Without a shred of doubt, one of his fellow passengers is the murderer.
Isolated by the storm, detective Hercule Poirot must find the killer among a dozen of the dead man’s enemies, before the murderer decides to strike again.
THE HUNTING PARTY by Lucy Foley
My Quick Thoughts:
Lucy Foley’s debut novel THE HUNTING PARTY cemented her as one of the modern-day crime writers breathing new life into the locked room mystery genre, a quality that defines her sophomore novel, THE GUEST LIST, too—but more on that next! In THE HUNTING PARTY, Lucy Foley sets a group of college friends on a collision course with disaster. Every year, a group of college friends reunite to celebrate New Year’s Eve. This year, they’ve chosen to travel to a remote hunting lodge in the Scottish Highlands for their festivities… and as you can imagine, things are going to go from celebratory to deadly quite quickly when a snowstorm seals the hunting lodge off from the outside world. Lucy Foley has a true knack for blending elements of “popcorn thriller” writing (think: lighter suspense, juicy drama, + tons of entertainment value!) with the clever plotting of the locked room mystery tradition. Readers who love lighter psychological suspense and want to venture into the locked room mystery genre will love Lucy Foley’s work. (It’s worth noting that I enjoyed THE HUNTING PARTY, and I loved Foley’s sophomore novel THE GUEST LIST even more!)
About the Book:
Everyone's invited...everyone's a suspect...
During the languid days of the Christmas break, a group of thirtysomething friends from Oxford meet to welcome in the New Year together, a tradition they began as students ten years ago. For this vacation, they’ve chosen an idyllic and isolated estate in the Scottish Highlands—the perfect place to get away and unwind by themselves.
The trip begins innocently enough: admiring the stunning if foreboding scenery, champagne in front of a crackling fire, and reminiscences about the past. But after a decade, the weight of secret resentments has grown too heavy for the group’s tenuous nostalgia to bear. Amid the boisterous revelry of New Year’s Eve, the cord holding them together snaps, just as a historic blizzard seals the lodge off from the outside world.
Two days later, on New Year’s Day, one of them is dead. . . and another of them did it.
Keep your friends close, the old adage says. But how close is too close?
THE GUEST LIST by Lucy Foley
Read CBTB’s Full Review
My Quick Thoughts:
What do you get when you cross the drama and opulence of a high-society wedding with the sinister atmosphere of a remote island off the coast of Ireland? The result is Lucy Foley’s deliciously engaging mystery THE GUEST LIST. Like Foley’s debut, THE GUEST LIST delivers an irresistible blend of “popcorn thriller” and locked room mystery. I loved the way this book effortlessly blends inspiration from classic crime fiction with decidedly modern psychological suspense elements. The plot—a group traveling to a remote island—is straight out of your favorite Agatha Christie novel, while the characters and their secrets are worthy of their own reality television show. In THE GUEST LIST, readers attend the wedding of a powerhouse digital magazine editor and a TV golden boy. The wedding has been planned to perfection, the only wild card being the guests’ behavior during the weekend festivities. And as the guests settle in, old resentments and tensions begin to surface. This book is atmospheric, sometimes quite creepy, totally thrilling and page-turning fun to devour. This is one of my personal favorites on this list!
About the Book:
The bride – The plus one – The best man – The wedding planner – The bridesmaid – The body
On an island off the coast of Ireland, guests gather to celebrate two people joining their lives together as one. The groom: handsome and charming, a rising television star. The bride: smart and ambitious, a magazine publisher. It’s a wedding for a magazine, or for a celebrity: the designer dress, the remote location, the luxe party favors, the boutique whiskey. The cell phone service may be spotty and the waves may be rough, but every detail has been expertly planned and will be expertly executed.
But perfection is for plans, and people are all too human. As the champagne is popped and the festivities begin, resentments and petty jealousies begin to mingle with the reminiscences and well wishes. The groomsmen begin the drinking game from their school days. The bridesmaid not-so-accidentally ruins her dress. The bride’s oldest (male) friend gives an uncomfortably caring toast.
And then someone turns up dead. Who didn’t wish the happy couple well? And perhaps more important, why?
THEY ALL FALL DOWN by Rachel Howzell Hall
My Quick Thoughts:
Rachel Howzell Hall’s razor-sharp take on the locked room mystery was my first introduction to her work—I actually read this book on a vacation a few years ago, and it proved to be a perfect companion. THEY ALL FALL DOWN is another homage to Agatha Christie’s AND THEN THERE WERE NONE, but it’s totally unique from the other such books on this list. Blending moments of humor with a sharp eye for human nature and an unfailing ability to surprise her readers, Rachel Howzell Hall’s take on the locked room mystery is sure to thrill and entertain in equal measure. This story follows a woman who receives a surprise invitation to travel to a luxurious private island with six other strangers. It seems like an ideal vacation: where better than this beautiful private island to unwind? But this group of strangers soon realize they’ve been invited to the island for a very specific reason, and it’s nothing like they imagined. THEY ALL FALL DOWN is filled with intentionally unlikable characters (which I happen to love as a reader!), whose sins are about to catch up with them. THEY ALL FALL DOWN is a smart, sharp, take on a locked room mystery, laced with humor that will keep readers thoroughly entertained.
About the Book:
It was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime.
Delighted by a surprise invitation, Miriam Macy sails off to a luxurious private island off the coast of Mexico with six other strangers. Surrounded by miles of open water in the gloriously green Sea of Cortez, Miriam is soon shocked to discover that she and the rest of her companions have been brought to the remote island under false pretenses―and all seven strangers harbor a secret.
Danger lurks in the lush forest and in the halls and bedrooms of the lonely mansion. Sporadic cell-phone coverage and miles of ocean keeps the group trapped in paradise. And strange accidents stir suspicions, as one by one . . .
They all fall down...
SNOWBLIND by Ragnar Jonasson
My Quick Thoughts:
A longtime CBTB-favorite, Icelandic crime writer Ragnar Jonasson is a must-read author for anyone who loves classic crime fiction, particularly the work of Agatha Christie. (Fun fact: Ragnar actually translated a number of Christie books into Icelandic!) Ragnar Jonasson’s star has risen rapidly over the past few years, and it all started with his outstanding crime novel SNOWBLIND, which takes a locked room mystery premise and sets it against the backdrop of a remote town in the north of Iceland. There’s just one road leading into and out of Siglufjordur, the fishing village in northern Iceland where our story is set. When a catastrophic blizzard blocks off access to the road, the tiny town becomes its own sort of “locked room,” and when a young woman is found brutally attacked in town, it falls on rookie policeman Ari Thor to solve the case. Ragnar Jonasson brilliantly blends a plot worthy of the great Agatha Christie with the chilling atmosphere of Iceland in the midst of a snowstorm; readers who love slow-burning, immersive detective novels will find this book right up their alley.
About the Book:
Where: An isolated fishing village in the fjords of northern Iceland, where no one locks their doors.
Who: Ari Thór is a rookie policeman on his first posting, far from his girlfriend in Reykjavík.
What: A young woman is found lying half naked in the snow, bleeding and unconscious, and a highly esteemed elderly writer falls to his death. Ari is dragged straight into the heart of a community where he can trust no one, and secrets and lies are a way of life.
THE SANATORIUM by Sarah Pearse
Read CBTB’s Full Review
My Quick Thoughts:
I recently devoured Sarah Pearse’s outstanding debut crime novel THE SANATORIUM, and I’m pretty sure I’m still in a reading slump because of how much I enjoyed it! This sinister, engaging story blends elements of Gothic suspense with a locked room mystery premise. Set in the Swiss Alps, THE SANATORIUM takes place inside a luxury hotel with a dark past. Enter Le Sommet: a five-star hotel that was once a sanatorium which sat abandoned for years before it was renovated by a prominent hotelier. Vestiges of the past are everywhere in the hotel: in its decor, in its archive room… and worn by the anonymous killer who appears to be targeting the hotel’s guests. When a detective on leave from her job travels to the hotel to celebrate her brother’s engagement, she finds herself walking into a situation far more dangerous than she ever imagined. THE SANATORIUM starts as a slow-burn, and gradually builds into an utterly unputdownable story of intrigue, long-buried secrets, and murder—all set against the stunning backdrop of the Swiss Alps. Elements of Gothic suspense, exemplified by the hotel in which our story takes place, add atmosphere and touches of darkness to this thoroughly entertaining locked room mystery.
About the Book:
You won't want to leave. . . until you can't.
Half-hidden by forest and overshadowed by threatening peaks, Le Sommet has always been a sinister place. Long plagued by troubling rumors, the former abandoned sanatorium has since been renovated into a five-star minimalist hotel.
An imposing, isolated getaway spot high up in the Swiss Alps is the last place Elin Warner wants to be. But Elin's taken time off from her job as a detective, so when her estranged brother, Isaac, and his fiancée, Laure, invite her to celebrate their engagement at the hotel, Elin really has no reason not to accept.
Arriving in the midst of a threatening storm, Elin immediately feels on edge--there's something about the hotel that makes her nervous. And when they wake the following morning to discover Laure is missing, Elin must trust her instincts if they hope to find her. With the storm closing off all access to the hotel, the longer Laure stays missing, the more the remaining guests start to panic.
Elin is under pressure to find Laure, but no one has realized yet that another woman has gone missing. And she's the only one who could have warned them just how much danger they are all in. . .
SHIVER by Allie Reynolds
Read Cbtb’s Full Review
My Quick Thoughts:
If a locked room mystery in the Alps sounds up your alley, but you prefer your mystery novels on the lighter, more binge-worthy side, Allie Reynolds’ debut thriller SHIVER is the book for you. This irresistible “popcorn thriller” takes readers to the French Alps, following a group of former friends who have received an invitation to a reunion. Ten years ago, this group met for the first time while training for an elite snowboarding competition in the same ski town to which they are now returning. But as the group settles into the ski resort where they plan to stay and celebrate their reunion, things quickly take a dark turn. The group has been invited to the Alps under false pretenses, and someone doesn’t have any intention of letting them leave the resort before dark secrets from their past are revealed. I absolutely devoured this book—it looks like it might take a while to read (the US hardcover edition clocks in at 400 pages!), but I flew through it in less than 24 hours. If you crossed a “popcorn thriller” with a locked room mystery, you’d get SHIVER. Enhanced by flashbacks that give readers a firsthand glimpse into that fateful season 10 years ago when our central characters met for the first time, SHIVER explores the shifting dynamics, alliances, and tensions between the characters who fill its pages. Pure entertainment, and a seriously underrated early 2021 release.
About the Book:
When Milla accepts an off-season invitation to Le Rocher, a cozy ski resort in the French Alps, she's expecting an intimate weekend of catching up with four old friends. It might have been a decade since she saw them last, but she's never forgotten the bond they forged on this very mountain during a winter spent fiercely training for an elite snowboarding competition.
Yet no sooner do Milla and the others arrive for the reunion than they realize something is horribly wrong. The resort is deserted. The cable cars that delivered them to the mountaintop have stopped working. Their cell phones--missing. And inside the hotel, detailed instructions await them: an icebreaker game, designed to draw out their secrets. A game meant to remind them of Saskia, the enigmatic sixth member of their group, who vanished the morning of the competition years before and has long been presumed dead.
Stranded in the resort, Milla's not sure what's worse: the increasingly sinister things happening around her or the looming snowstorm that's making escape even more impossible. All she knows is that there's no one on the mountain she can trust. Because someone has gathered them there to find out the truth about Saskia...someone who will stop at nothing to get answers. And if Milla's not careful, she could be the next to disappear...
THE WOMAN IN CABIN 10 by Ruth Ware
Read CBTB’s Full Review
My Quick Thoughts:
Ruth Ware is the queen of blending classic crime-inspiration with modern-day mystery plots, and one of her earlier releases, THE WOMAN IN CABIN 10, remains one of my personal favorite modern locked room mysteries. In this page-turning suspense novel, a travel journalist gets a dream assignment: the chance to travel on and write about a luxury cruise line through the North Sea. But what starts a dream come true quickly takes a dark and sinister turn. One night, our protagonist witnesses something terrible that would suggest that one of her fellow passengers has been murdered. But no one on the ship is unaccounted for, and no one believes what she says she saw. Who can she trust? And is her own life now at risk? THE WOMAN IN CABIN 10 is a page-turning suspense novel in which the story’s “locked room” element takes the form of a luxury cruise ship. Readers are welcomed aboard alongside its protagonist, only to discover that both she and the reader are in for a dangerous journey. This is one of those mysteries that will have you questioning every single character, completely unsure who you can trust. Pick this one up for “locked room”-style suspense on the high seas.
About the Book:
In this tightly wound, enthralling story reminiscent of Agatha Christie’s works, Lo Blacklock, a journalist who writes for a travel magazine, has just been given the assignment of a lifetime: a week on a luxury cruise with only a handful of cabins. The sky is clear, the waters calm, and the veneered, select guests jovial as the exclusive cruise ship, the Aurora, begins her voyage in the picturesque North Sea. At first, Lo’s stay is nothing but pleasant: the cabins are plush, the dinner parties are sparkling, and the guests are elegant. But as the week wears on, frigid winds whip the deck, gray skies fall, and Lo witnesses what she can only describe as a dark and terrifying nightmare: a woman being thrown overboard. The problem? All passengers remain accounted for—and so, the ship sails on as if nothing has happened, despite Lo’s desperate attempts to convey that something (or someone) has gone terribly, terribly wrong…
With surprising twists, spine-tingling turns, and a setting that proves as uncomfortably claustrophobic as it is eerily beautiful, Ruth Ware offers up another taut and intense read in The Woman in Cabin 10—one that will leave even the most sure-footed reader restlessly uneasy long after the last page is turned.
ONE BY ONE by Ruth Ware
Read CBTB’s Full Review
My Quick Thoughts:
I read Ruth Ware’s latest release, another compelling homage to the classic locked room mystery, while in lockdown in 2020—and what a truly perfect time it was to read this page-turning mystery. Imagine getting snowed in on a corporate retreat, just you and your coworkers trapped in a resort in the mountains, with no way out. Now, I love my coworkers, but that sounds like a recipe for disaster… and a disaster it is in Ruth Ware’s ONE BY ONE. When a trendy startup company takes its small team of employees on a trip to a high-end ski chalet in the French Alps, it’s meant to be all teambuilding, brainstorming, and bonding. But things take a dangerous turn when an avalanche cuts off access to and from the resort. To make matters worse, it quickly becomes clear that teambuilding wasn’t the only reason this corporate retreat was arranged, and loyalties among the colleagues are about to be tested in more ways than one. Alternating narrators bring this locked room mystery to life; Ruth Ware draws readers into the lives of multiple central characters in this story, allowing readers to gradually build out a complete understanding of the book’s characters and their secrets. Red herrings and shifting suspicions abound in this atmospheric locked room mystery.
About the Book:
Getting snowed in at a luxurious, rustic ski chalet high in the French Alps doesn’t sound like the worst problem in the world. Especially when there’s a breathtaking vista, a full-service chef and housekeeper, a cozy fire to keep you warm, and others to keep you company. Unless that company happens to be eight coworkers…each with something to gain, something to lose, and something to hide.
When the cofounder of Snoop, a trendy London-based tech startup, organizes a weeklong trip for the team in the French Alps, it starts out as a corporate retreat like any other: PowerPoint presentations and strategy sessions broken up by mandatory bonding on the slopes. But as soon as one shareholder upends the agenda by pushing a lucrative but contentious buyout offer, tensions simmer and loyalties are tested. The storm brewing inside the chalet is no match for the one outside, however, and a devastating avalanche leaves the group cut off from all access to the outside world. Even worse, one Snooper hadn’t made it back from the slopes when the avalanche hit.
As each hour passes without any sign of rescue, panic mounts, the chalet grows colder, and the group dwindles further…one by one.
DEATH IN THE FAMILY by Tessa Wegert
Read CBTB’s Full Review
My Quick Thoughts:
This one was a surprise favorite for me last year! DEATH IN THE FAMILY is the first installment in author Tessa Wegert’s excellent crime fiction series following detective Shana Merchant. In this series installment, Shana finds herself called out to a private island owned by a wealthy family, where one of the family’s own has just disappeared in the middle of the night. As Shana and her partner investigate the seemingly impossible disappearance, they find themselves entrenched in the wild secrets of the fabulously wealthy family they are investigating. I loved this book’s homage to the locked room mystery genre. Following on the heels of two police officers, DEATH IN THE FAMILY immerses readers in a mystery that feels delightfully true to the tone of classic crime fiction, while still delivering the entertainment value and twists that modern suspense readers expect. Of all the recently-released books on this list, DEATH IN THE FAMILY is definitely the one that leans more towards traditional police procedural structure and pacing; this is a story that follows a detective on the hunt for a killer, and will make readers want to put on their armchair sleuth hats and join the search.
About the Book:
Thirteen months ago, former NYPD detective Shana Merchant barely survived being abducted by a serial killer. Now hoping to leave grisly murder cases behind, she's taken a job in her fiancé's sleepy hometown in the Thousand Islands region of Upstate New York.
But as a nor'easter bears down on her new territory, Shana and fellow investigator Tim Wellington receive a call about a man missing on a private island. Shana and Tim travel to the isolated island owned by the wealthy Sinclair family to question the witnesses. They arrive to find blood on the scene and a house full of Sinclair family and friends on edge.
While Tim guesses they're dealing with a runaway case, Shana is convinced that they have a murder on their hands. As the gale intensifies outside, she starts conducting interviews and discovers the Sinclairs and their guests are crawling with dark and dangerous secrets.
Trapped on the island by the raging storm with only Tim whose reliability is thrown into question, the increasingly restless suspects, and her own trauma-fueled flashbacks for company, Shana will have to trust the one person her abduction destroyed her faith in—herself. But time is ticking down, because if Shana's right, a killer is in their midst and as the pressure mounts, so do the odds that they'll strike again.
That’s a wrap on my list of recommended locked room mysteries! Looking for more book recommendations? Sign up for the CBTB Newsletter below to receive weekly book recommendations straight to your inbox, and follow CBTB on Instagram @crimebythebook for daily book updates. As always, thank you so much for following along with CBTB, and happy reading! xx A
Home ownership feel like a distant dream? Zillow listings have you convinced you’ll be renting for the rest of your life? The woman at the heart of Carissa Orlando’s debut The September House feels your pain—and she’s prepared to put up with a lot if it means she and her husband can finally have a place to call their own. In this case, that might just mean living in a house that’s haunted. Playful and irreverent, spine-tingling and spooky, The September House puts a fresh spin on the classic haunted house story, delivering an immersive tale about the secrets lurking within one building’s walls, and within the lives of its inhabitants.