I must admit, I’m not typically a mystery reader. I’m impatient and I scare easily, which makes a genre that often features violent deaths and long solving processes difficult for me. I’ve found solace, though, in locked room mysteries, where the why and the how of the crime is often more interesting than the who. Book Riot defines locked door (also called locked room) mysteries as “a crime is committed with no possible way for a murderer to get in or out of an area, or a locked room. But the beauty of the genre is in the details, and the writer provides the reader all the clues they need to solve the case at the very beginning, layering in evidence and red herrings in expertly plotted mysteries that keep readers guessing.” If you loved Knives Out or even the classic Clue, take this as your push to pick up a locked door mystery book and get solving!
As a former Teen Services Librarian, the best way for me to start a genre is with a YA title. I’ll admit that this one is more of a “mystery where there are a lot of locked rooms” than a locked room mystery per the definition, but I’ve been obsessed with The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Barnes since it first came out and the three (and counting!) more in the series have been just as good. It’s pitched as a YA Knives Out, set in a mansion filled with more twists and puzzles than you can possibly take in on the first read. Avery Kylie Grambs is living a difficult life as a high schooler when Texas billionaire Tobias Hawthorne dies and Avery is left his massive fortune—never mind that she’s never met the man. The catch? To collect her inheritance, she must live in his mansion with his disinherited family, including four very attractive, very smart, and very competitive grandsons, for a full year. Is Avery the final piece of the eccentric man’s last puzzle? Read it and find out!
Kate Racculia’s Bellweather Rhapsody was described as “part ghost story, part mystery, part coming-of-age tale, and part love sonnet to music” by Library Journal. If that doesn’t draw you in, I don’t know what will! Minnie Graves was the witness to a murder/suicide in room 712 at the Bellweather Hotel on the couple’s doomed wedding night. 15 years later, Minnie returns to face her demons, but the disappearance of a high school music prodigy from the very same hotel room sets off a new mystery.
Keigo Higashino is a mystery master. Malice, the first in his Kyoichiro Kaga series to be translated into English from the original Japanese, is a great place to start. After acclaimed author Kunihiko Hidaka is found strangled in his home, Detective Kyoichiro Kaga is shocked to find their mutual friend Osamu Nonoguchi at the scene. Hidaka was found alone in a locked room, in a locked house, and all of his nearest and dearest have strong alibis. As Kaga moves through his investigation, it becomes clear that someone is lying, but the who keeps changing.
They All Fall Down by Rachel Howzell Hall is a modern adaptation of Agatha Christie’s classic And Then There Were None. Miriam is struggling: her husband left her for their daughter’s dance teacher, she lost her job, and she’s being questioned by the police for reasons we don’t quite understand. When she randomly gets invited to be in a new reality TV show on an exclusive island, it feels like the lifeline she needs. But as the other folks there start meeting untimely ends, Miriam must switch from celebrant to sleuth to figure out what’s afoot in this locked island mystery.
For something on the cozier side, try Gigi Pandian’s Under Lock & Skeleton Key. Magician Tempest Raj returns home after being disgraced by her stage double, Cassidy. Sure that Cassidy was out to get her, Tempest is shocked when she finds Cassidy’s body inside a wall on her dad’s latest construction site that’s been sealed for decades. A clever blend of magic, mystery, and misdirection with a good dose of family cooking and quirky characters.
~ posted by Jane S.
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