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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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4.27 avg rating — 1,711,955 ratings
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3.63 avg rating — 27,982 ratings
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3.98 avg rating — 112,801 ratings
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4.06 avg rating — 109 ratings
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3.90 avg rating — 72 ratings
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8

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3.70 avg rating — 328 ratings
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8

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3.73 avg rating — 168,893 ratings
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8

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4.02 avg rating — 7,622 ratings
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11

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3.64 avg rating — 14,871 ratings
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12

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3.79 avg rating — 1,272 ratings
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12

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3.62 avg rating — 6,689 ratings
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14

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4.07 avg rating — 1,115 ratings
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14

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3.52 avg rating — 24,268 ratings
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16

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3.27 avg rating — 978 ratings
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16

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3.73 avg rating — 1,753 ratings
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18

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3.65 avg rating — 395 ratings
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19

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3.64 avg rating — 1,906 ratings
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20

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3.84 avg rating — 196 ratings
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21

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3.74 avg rating — 570 ratings
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22

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3.57 avg rating — 659 ratings
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23

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3.78 avg rating — 799 ratings
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24

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3.84 avg rating — 173 ratings
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25

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3.95 avg rating — 1,120 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 — 1,591 ratings
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28

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3.86 avg rating — 1,387 ratings
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29

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3.81 avg rating — 1,255 ratings
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30

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3.84 avg rating — 993 ratings
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31

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3.75 avg rating — 1,004 ratings
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32

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3.67 avg rating — 994 ratings
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33

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3.46 avg rating — 1,246 ratings
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34

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3.55 avg rating — 638 ratings
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35

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3.61 avg rating — 256 ratings
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36

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3.74 avg rating — 225 ratings
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37

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38

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3.53 avg rating — 878 ratings
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39

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3.55 avg rating — 759 ratings
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40

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3.77 avg rating — 551 ratings
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41

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3.83 avg rating — 2,141 ratings
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42

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3.73 avg rating — 49 ratings
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43

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3.94 avg rating — 74,165 ratings
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44

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4.10 avg rating — 52,226 ratings
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45

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3.72 avg rating — 503 ratings
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46

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3.50 avg rating — 76 ratings
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47

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3.49 avg rating — 722 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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3.98 avg rating — 63 ratings
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50

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3.93 avg rating — 107 ratings
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51

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3.66 avg rating — 105 ratings
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52

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4.12 avg rating — 68 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 — 34 ratings
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55

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3.78 avg rating — 2,663 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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64

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65

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3.98 avg rating — 44 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 — 439 ratings
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68

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3.79 avg rating — 191 ratings
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69

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3.86 avg rating — 14,038 ratings
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70

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3.56 avg rating — 5,304 ratings
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71

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3.61 avg rating — 404 ratings
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72

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3.73 avg rating — 7,960 ratings
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73

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3.43 avg rating — 2,108 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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3.41 avg rating — 661 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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3.23 avg rating — 215 ratings
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78

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3.91 avg rating — 42,035 ratings
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79

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3.78 avg rating — 120 ratings
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80

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3.69 avg rating — 183 ratings
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81

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4.02 avg rating — 58 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 — 3,794 ratings
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85

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3.76 avg rating — 83 ratings
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86

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3.98 avg rating — 45 ratings
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87

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3.84 avg rating — 993 ratings
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88

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3.89 avg rating — 57 ratings
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89

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3.89 avg rating — 91 ratings
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90

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3.93 avg rating — 2,549 ratings
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91

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3.51 avg rating — 3,888 ratings
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91 books · 5 voters · list created June 22nd, 2021 by JDL (votes) .
3 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


People Who Voted On This List (5)

JDL 4976 books
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Jennifer 2556 books
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Saturday's 2308 books
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Sue 158 books
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Yuan 5598 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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