Box Set Locked Room Mysteries Murder

THE PATRICIDE After a fire, the wealthy landowner Patrice Lafarge is found alone and dead in his bedroom locked from the inside. Inspector Rimbaud reviews the case and counts on the help of his sharp-witted Aunt Emilie. What at first appears to be an accidental death is after the autopsy declared to be a homicide. One of the children at home on Clos Saint-Jacques to celebrate Patrice Lafarge’s 75th birthday over a May weekend has to be the killer, but – who did it, how was it done and for what reason? “This clever ‘whodunit’ set in 1935 France introduces a winning pair of sleuths who probe the death – behind a locked door – of Patrice Lafarge, whose heirs had gathered at his country estate to learn of a change to his will. As in many Golden Age puzzle mysteries, the plot is the key … Readers who enjoy pitting their wits against that of the author will find themselves satisfied by the surprising solution.” – The BookLife Prize in Fiction “It’s a very well written and edited book, which I recommend for readers who enjoy classic mysteries and want to immerse themselves in the pleasures of a locked-room murder challenge. This is a competent example in the locked-room mystery genre, and a very entertaining one to boot.” – Onlinebookclub Reviews THE MURDERS ON THREE BRIDGES In need of a change of scenery, Detective Inspector Arriaga boards Stella Australis for a trip around Tierra del Fuego. Before the ship reaches Cape Horn, the lone officer on the bridge is shot dead. When others come rushing, they find all doors leading to it locked from the inside. With most passengers and crew ashore on an excursion to a glacier and the runaway ship headed for shipwreck on the rocky coast, the captain is overwhelmed by the challenges. The inspector narrows down the suspects to nine – but how did the murderer escape with the doors locked from the inside? Then he faces the explanations for murders that have taken place on not one but three different bridges, including one that concerns his two fathers – the one he has never met and the one he is litigating. “This thriller is well-written and held my interest throughout, and there are a plethora of clues to figure out the perpetrator of the crime – fun for amateur detectives! The author has created a surprise ending … I’ll be looking out for more stories by this author.” – Reedsy Reviews “The writing itself is excellent; Ekemar’s prose is a pleasure to read. It’s a great locked-room murder mystery, rich in interesting characters, presenting a genuine puzzle for readers to solve. I thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommend it to all fans of crime and mystery.” – OnlineBookclub Reviews THE CRIMSON BLUEPRINTS Paul Crimson fought in the war that USA waged against Viet Nam. He kept diaries of everything he experienced, which he later concentrated into a manuscript that became a bestseller. Convinced by his editor to start writing a follow-up, he moved to a wintery town in Maine. Crimson started writing it with no idea how it would end. By fusing keen observations of people in the tranquil town with notes from his editor and his soldiering past, he launched The Ship – a terrifying scenario of snowstorms, survival and soul searching. Then his unstableness provoked events to spin out of control, with his work in progress mirroring his perceptions of them. “Richly textured, this novel evokes a smothering, claustrophobic atmosphere of evil and events spinning out of control in all its settings. Crimson’s three lives—his past in Viet Nam, his present in Maine, and his fictional world in the Arctic—create a revealing portrait of a tortured soul. This novel delivers a spooky and readable yarn.” – Kirkus Reviews “The characters are brilliantly crafted. Many readers will enjoy this book, especially those who are interested in the psychological effects of war, those who’d like to see how a writer finds inspiration and those who enjoy a crime thriller.” - OnlineBookclub Reviews

In this Hugo nominated science fiction thriller by Mur Lafferty, a crew of clones awakens aboard a space ship to find they're being hunted-and any one of them could be the killer. Maria Arena awakens in a cloning vat streaked with drying blood. She has no memory of how she died. This is new; before, when she had awakened as a new clone, her first memory was of how she died. Maria's vat is one of seven, each one holding the clone of a crew member of the starship Dormire, each clone waiting for its previous incarnation to die so it can awaken. And Maria isn't the only one to die recently. . . Unlock the bold new science fiction thriller that Corey Doctorow calls Mur's "breakout book".

This collection of criminal conundrums are more than whodunits, they're howdunits and are intended to stretch your powers of deduction to the limits.

Inspired by the classical world of Ancient Rome and authors such as C J Sansom, Drakenfeld marks the start of the thrilling fantasy crime series by Mark Charan Newton. They'll kill to hide the truth. He'll kill to find it. The monarchies of the Royal Vispasian Union have been bound together for two hundred years by laws maintained and enforced by the powerful Sun Chamber. Nations have flourished as a result, but corruption, deprivation and murder will always find a way . . . Following his father's death, Sun Chamber Officer Lucan Drakenfeld is recalled home to the ancient city of Tryum and rapidly embroiled in a mystifying case. The King's sister has been found brutally murdered - her beaten and bloody body discovered in a locked temple. With rumours of dark spirits and political assassination, Drakenfeld has his work cut out to separate superstition from certainty. His determination to find the killer quickly makes him a target, as the underworld gangs of Tryum focus on this new threat to their power. Embarking on the biggest and most complex investigation of his career, Drakenfeld soon realizes the evidence is leading him towards a motive that could ultimately bring darkness to the whole continent. The fate of the nations is in his hands.

This is a Supplement to Locked Room Murders, Second Edition Revised, by Robert Adey, the standard bibliography of mystery fiction featuring locked room mysteries or other impossible crimes. The previous volume, also available from Locked Room International, covered the field from the beginning of the detective story until 1991. For over 25 years fans of the impossible crime have been waiting for an updated edition. This Supplement brings the combined bibliography up to date through 2019 and also includes older items not included in the previous editions. There are over 1,150 additional entries listed here that identify novels, short stories, TV shows, movies, and other media with puzzling impossibilities.

The most famous of all locked-room mysteries - a classic in the crime genre. 'The first deadly walking of the hollow man took place when the side streets of London were quiet with snow and the three coffins of the prophecy were filled at last...' The murderer of Dr Grimauld walked through a locked door, shot his victim and vanished. He killed his second victim in the middle of an empty street, with watchers at each end, yet nobody saw him, and he left no footprints in the snow. And so it is up to the irrepressible, larger-than-life Dr Gideon Fell to solve this most famous and taxing of locked-room mysteries.

While stranded in the desert, Ellery Queen stumbles across a religious cult It’s 1943, the war is raging, and sleuthing scribe Ellery Queen wants to do his bit. After a tortuous cross-country drive, he takes a job writing scripts for a Hollywood propaganda house—twelve hours a day of hack work that quickly turns his mind to jelly. After a few weeks, he is so worn down that he can type nothing but gibberish, and he decides to drive home. The trouble starts as soon as he reaches the desert. His ancient roadster breaks down on the edge of Death Valley. Wandering in search of help, he is saved by a man known as the Teacher, who takes him to an oasis called Quenan. Here, Queen finds a bizarre, reclusive cult that seems to have come straight out of the ancient past. A murder has been committed in the desert, and the Quenanites plan on delivering some Old Testament justice. Queen is just the detective they’ve been waiting for.