Locked-room mysteries
Locked-room mysteries books to start from. Open one to see books like it, or tell BookSense what you loved for four picks made for you.
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New to the genre? These 5 are the books to read first.
The Hollow Man
John Dickson CarrWidely considered the definitive locked-room novel; contains the famous Chapter 17 lecture classifying impossible crime methods.
The Mystery of the Yellow Room
Gaston LerouxOne of the earliest full-length impossible crime novels, setting the standard for floor-plan diagrams and strict fair-play deduction.
The Murders in the Rue Morgue
Edgar Allan PoeThe foundational text of detective fiction and the earliest prominent example of an impossible room murder.
Rim of the Pit
Hake TalbotA rural lodge mystery featuring apparent wind-walking and levitation explained through mechanical logic.
The Decagon House Murders
Yukito AyatsujiAn island mystery paying homage to classic tropes while updating impossible murder mechanics for modern readers.
Chosen and described with AI from our notes on the genre.
More locked-room mysteries books
- Death from a Top Hat
Death from a Top HatClayton Rawson - The Chinese Orange Mystery
The Chinese Orange MysteryEllery Queen - Hercule Poirot's Christmas
Hercule Poirot's ChristmasAgatha Christie - And Then There Were None
And Then There Were NoneAgatha Christie1939 - Murder on the Orient Express
Murder on the Orient ExpressAgatha Christie1933 - The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
The Adventures of Sherlock HolmesArthur Conan Doyle1892 - The Complete Sherlock Holmes
The Complete Sherlock HolmesArthur Conan Doyle1900 - The Oxford Book of Gothic Tales
The Oxford Book of Gothic TalesChris Baldick1992 - Whodunnit?
Whodunnit?Philip Pullman1998 - 65 Great Spine Chillers
65 Great Spine ChillersMary Danby1982 - 21 Great Stories
21 Great StoriesAbraham Harold Lass1969 - Prentice Hall Literature
Prentice Hall LiteratureSumner Braunstein1991
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