Locked-Room Mysteries With Solutions Worth the Setup

A locked door is only the start: the pleasure comes when the explanation makes the room, the witnesses and the awkward physical details add up. These 25 selections put impossible crimes at the centre, including sealed bedrooms, an unapproachable tennis court and a body behind a wall. Most are novels; two are story collections. The recommendations distinguish compact deduction from elaborate contrivance, explain how much patient reconstruction is involved and keep the important mechanisms unspoiled. Start with The Judas Window for courtroom scrutiny, Death and the Conjuror for a modern homage, or Diagnosis: Impossible for shorter problems.