Some of the 99+ novels featured in the Locked Room Library polls originally started by Ed Hoch, with a couple of my own additions based on comments in the link. Feel free to add some of your favorite locked-room mysteries not already on this list and vote for your favorites overall.
http://mysteryfile.com/Locked_Rooms/L...
1

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3.63 avg rating — 25,938 ratings
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3.98 avg rating — 111,354 ratings
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4.02 avg rating — 97 ratings
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6

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3.93 avg rating — 71 ratings
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8

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3.69 avg rating — 319 ratings
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8

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3.74 avg rating — 164,597 ratings
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8

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4.02 avg rating — 7,109 ratings
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11

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3.65 avg rating — 14,511 ratings
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12

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3.80 avg rating — 1,230 ratings
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12

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3.62 avg rating — 6,148 ratings
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14

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4.08 avg rating — 1,050 ratings
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14

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3.52 avg rating — 23,847 ratings
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16

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3.26 avg rating — 964 ratings
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16

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3.74 avg rating — 1,615 ratings
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18

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3.67 avg rating — 388 ratings
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19

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3.64 avg rating — 1,867 ratings
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20

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3.85 avg rating — 190 ratings
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21

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3.74 avg rating — 511 ratings
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22

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3.56 avg rating — 644 ratings
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23

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3.79 avg rating — 741 ratings
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24

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3.84 avg rating — 169 ratings
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25

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3.95 avg rating — 1,111 ratings
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26

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3.89 avg rating — 70 ratings
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27

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3.80 avg rating — 1,523 ratings
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28

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3.87 avg rating — 1,324 ratings
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29

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3.81 avg rating — 1,215 ratings
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30

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3.85 avg rating — 955 ratings
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31

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3.74 avg rating — 988 ratings
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32

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3.67 avg rating — 962 ratings
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33

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3.46 avg rating — 1,232 ratings
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34

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3.56 avg rating — 613 ratings
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35

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3.58 avg rating — 187 ratings
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36

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3.73 avg rating — 220 ratings
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37

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3.88 avg rating — 409 ratings
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38

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3.52 avg rating — 855 ratings
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39

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3.54 avg rating — 730 ratings
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40

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3.78 avg rating — 490 ratings
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41

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3.84 avg rating — 2,056 ratings
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42

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3.71 avg rating — 48 ratings
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43

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3.94 avg rating — 72,370 ratings
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44

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4.10 avg rating — 51,282 ratings
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45

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3.73 avg rating — 496 ratings
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46

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3.46 avg rating — 74 ratings
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47

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3.50 avg rating — 701 ratings
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48

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3.40 avg rating — 62 ratings
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49

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3.95 avg rating — 60 ratings
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50

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3.93 avg rating — 105 ratings
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51

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3.67 avg rating — 103 ratings
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52

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4.11 avg rating — 66 ratings
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53

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3.37 avg rating — 41 ratings
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54

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3.38 avg rating — 32 ratings
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55

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3.78 avg rating — 2,627 ratings
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56

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57

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58

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59

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60

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61

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62

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63

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3.83 avg rating — 84 ratings
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64

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4.14 avg rating — 77 ratings
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65

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 43 ratings
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66

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3.61 avg rating — 38 ratings
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67

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3.74 avg rating — 432 ratings
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68

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3.80 avg rating — 184 ratings
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69

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3.87 avg rating — 12,814 ratings
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70

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3.56 avg rating — 4,970 ratings
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71

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3.61 avg rating — 384 ratings
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72

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3.73 avg rating — 7,866 ratings
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73

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3.43 avg rating — 2,051 ratings
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74

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3.50 avg rating — 2 ratings
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75

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3.40 avg rating — 649 ratings
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76

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3.97 avg rating — 38 ratings
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77

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3.22 avg rating — 212 ratings
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78

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3.91 avg rating — 41,136 ratings
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79

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3.78 avg rating — 117 ratings
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80

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3.72 avg rating — 177 ratings
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81

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4.02 avg rating — 53 ratings
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82

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3.67 avg rating — 94 ratings
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83

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2.92 avg rating — 24 ratings
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84

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3.85 avg rating — 3,731 ratings
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85

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3.75 avg rating — 81 ratings
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86

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 44 ratings
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87

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3.86 avg rating — 947 ratings
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88

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3.88 avg rating — 57 ratings
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89

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3.87 avg rating — 90 ratings
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90

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3.93 avg rating — 2,448 ratings
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91

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3.51 avg rating — 3,780 ratings
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91 books · 5 voters · list created June 22nd, 2021 by JDL (votes) .
2 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


People Who Voted On This List (5)

JDL 4849 books
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Saturday's 2284 books
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Sue 0 books
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Comments Showing 1-4 of 4 (4 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by Len (new)

Len Just for the sake of infuriating completeness I have to mention The Christmas Holiday Mystery by Geoffrey Trease. It doesn't appear on the Goodreads database and I don't want to punish myself by putting it there. It was published in the 1930s and the public lost contact with it before World War Two. In the story a group of young men and schoolboys go on holiday to a remote hotel in the English Lake District and end up cut off by a heavy snowfall. As it was written for a young audience there isn't a murder; something is stolen which means that someone in the isolated community must be the thief. I read it at least thirty years ago and goodness knows why I remember it. However, it fits in with this list. So, as far as I know it has never been reprinted and a copy of the first edition will not be cheap - best of luck if you want to read it.


message 2: by JDL (new)

JDL Hmmm... this one sounds interesting. I've never heard of this one before and searching for it on Google does not yield a plethora of results. Seems like another one of those lost Golden Age detective stories (even if written for younger readers) just waiting to be unearthed one day for more people to enjoy. It's always intriguing to hear of a juvenile mystery with a locked-room or impossible mystery within it. Thanks for the recommendation!


message 3: by Len (new)

Len JDL wrote: "Hmmm... this one sounds interesting. I've never heard of this one before and searching for it on Google does not yield a plethora of results. Seems like another one of those lost Golden Age detecti..."

There is a short review of the book on the website treaseproject.livejournal.com. Based on what I can remember the reviewer sums up the basic idea of the plot but plays down the nature of the story as a crime thriller. She fails to mention the reason for the characters having to solve the mystery themselves is that they are snowed in and completely cut off from the outside world and not all of the characters trust one another.


message 4: by H (new)

H Since there's voting happening on the new locked room library, I became curious if Goodreads had a list for the old one and searched this up. JDL, I enjoyed reading many of your comments here.

I don't agree with everything (such as Decagon or Chinese Orange being locked rooms/impossible crimes), but it's a good list, and I appreciate it having modern examples like Tom Mead, James Scott Byrnside, and LRI's works.


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