From the Scottish highlands to islands off the coast of Ireland, Lucy Foley has a knack for transporting her readers to highly memorable and wanderlust-worthy locations—and now, in her newest novel of suspense, she sets her sights on Paris. In THE PARIS APARTMENT, Lucy Foley invites readers to explore a darker side of the City of Light. Following a young woman escaping turmoil in her personal life for the refuge of her brother’s home in a posh Parisian apartment building, THE PARIS APARTMENT invites readers into a world of intrigue, where everyone’s a suspect, and nothing is quite as it seems. This Hitchockian story tells a tale of suspicion, secrets, and murder, all set against the enchanting backdrop of Paris. THE PARIS APARTMENT reads like a cross between Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building, Riley Sager’s novel Lock Every Door, and the game of Clue; this immersive mystery delights and thrills in equal measure, weaving an engrossing tale that will keep readers guessing whodunnit until the book’s final pages.
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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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Wintry 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.
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My Quarantine Reading List (So Far)
I’ve officially been in lockdown for a full month now, and I thought I’d mark this very odd milestone with a different kind of blog post: a roundup of the crime books I’ve read so far in my time staying home! I’m very fortunate to be able to work from home, which has been keeping me quite busy over the past few weeks—but when I’m not busy working, I’m busy reading. In these crazy times, I’m more thankful than ever before for a great crime book to escape into when I need to clear my head, and the books I’ve been devouring in lockdown have been doing an excellent job of that! My lockdown reading list includes a mixture of upcoming releases and older titles I’m finally making time to read. For any book on this list that hasn’t yet been published, I’ve included two suggestions for books you can dip into right away, just in case you’re in the market for a new quarantine read yourself. As always, happy reading!
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Book Review: THE GUEST LIST by Lucy Foley
In a world obsessed with finding the next cutting-edge thing, sometimes the smartest way to stand out is to get back to basics. British author Lucy Foley has made a name for herself with two suspense novels that do exactly that, the newest of which will release in the US this summer. THE GUEST LIST is a delectable blend of Agatha Christie inspiration and modern-day psychological suspense. This is a “locked room mystery” built for the readers of 2020: a story concerned with secrets—among spouses, partners, and siblings—and their deadly collision. Set on a remote island off the coast of Ireland, THE GUEST LIST gives readers an exclusive invitation to one of the most buzzed-about parties of the year: the wedding of a powerhouse digital magazine editor and a TV golden boy. The wedding has been planned to perfection; the only wild card here is the wedding’s guest list. Will this reunion of old friends, classmates, and family go as smoothly as our bride and groom hope? Or will old secrets and resentments rear their ugly heads? When a storm traps the wedding party on the island, tensions ratchet up until someone winds up dead. With as much of an eye for high fashion and high-stakes secrets as it has for traditional crime novel structure and inspiration, THE GUEST LIST is a perfect reminder of why the classics never go out of style.
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