Locked Room Bibliography

[Brian]

Bob Adey wrote the standard bibliography of Locked Room Murders and other Impossible Crimes, called, if you can believe it Locked Room Murders. The first edition came out from Ferret Fantasy in 1979, and a revision was published in 1991 by Crossover Press.

Last year Locked Room International released another version of the 1991 book--it was just a minor revision with some corrections and additional sources for short stories.

This year I'm finishing a brand new edition that will contain all the locked room mysteries since 1991. I was trying to be done in time for June, but I think it will go into July.

[Kevin Burton Smith]

Any truth to the rumour that to help you comply with your deadline, Kate has locked you in a windowless room at the top of a eight-story tower on a desert island?

[Brian]

Kevin,

She did do that, but not because of the bibiliography...

 

[Becke Davis]

Any truth to the rumour that to help you comply with your deadline, Kate has locked you in a windowless room at the top of a eight-story tower on a desert island?

LOL - thanks for this, I needed it this morning.

[SarahLovesMystery]

Oooh, looking forward to this, Kevin!

Do you find standard themes/solutions in locked room mysteries, the way there are standard themes and standard "basic tricks" in stage magic?

[Becke Davis]

I don't go out of my way to seek out locked room murders, but I do enjoy reading them. In a way, they are the ultimate "puzzlers." I remember going through a period where I was reading a lot of vintage murders. Books by John Dickson Carr, aka Carter Dickson, often featured very tricky locked room mysteries. Ellery Queen often tackled this type of plot, too.

Agatha Christie seemed to use short stories to try out ideas that she later developed into books (Yellow Iris/Sparkling Cyanide). I remember a couple of locked room short stories, but her most famous locked room-type mystery would have to be AND THEN THERE WERE NONE. Taking the concept a little further, MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS is like a locked room mystery, in that everyone is stuck on a train in a blizzard when the murder takes place.



Here are some lists of recommended locked room mysteries:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jan/29/top-10-locked-room-mysteries-adrian-mckinty

https://www.criminalelement.com/six-of-the-best-classic-locked-room-mysteries/

https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-18108498

https://bookriot.com/2019/07/23/classic-locked-room-mysteries/

https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/locked-room-mystery

https://bodiesfromthelibrary.com/2017/11/20/agatha-christies-locked-room-mysteries-part-55/

https://bookriot.com/2019/05/15/locked-room-mysteries/

[Brian]

The Locked Room Murders Supplement is finally complete and available!

https://www.amazon.com/Locked-Murders-Supplement-Brian-Skupin/dp/1695608615

In the end I added over 1100 entries to the previous list of about 2,000 from the Second Edition. If anyone looks at feel free to let me know of anything I missed, or any errors.

I already have a list for the next update!

[Becke Davis]

The Locked Room Murders Supplement is finally complete and available!

https://www.amazon.com/Locked-Murders-Supplement-Brian-Skupin/dp/1695608615

In the end I added over 1100 entries to the previous list of about 2,000 from the Second Edition. If anyone looks at feel free to let me know of anything I missed, or any errors.

I already have a list for the next update!

Congratulations! I'm impressed - that was quite a project! I put it on my Wish List - I definitely need that in my reference collection.