A body is found in a sealed chamber, definitely murdered, but there is no way the culprit can have got in or out. How was it done?
Special thanks to my guest Jim Noy. He writes about detective fiction at theinvisibleevent.com, makes a podcast called In GAD We Trust, and once compiled a useful list of his 15 favourite impossible crime novels.
Become a member of the Shedunnit Book Club and get bonus audio, listen to ad free episodes and join a book-loving community at shedunnitshow.com/bookclub.
Books and sources:
—The Murders in the Rue Morgue by Edgar Allen Poe (actually published in 1841, not 1843 as I wrongly say in the episode)
—A Master of Mysteries by L.T. Meade and Robert Eustace
—The Documents in the Case by Dorothy L. Sayers and Robert Eustace
—“The Adventure of the Speckled Band” in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
—The Big Bow Mystery by Israel Zangwill
—The Great Thinking Machine: “The Problem of Cell 13” and Other Stories by Jacques Futrelle
—The Four Just Men by Edgar Wallace
—“The Invisible Man” by G.K. Chesterton
—“The Round Room Horror” by A. Demain Grange, available in Ye Olde Book of Locked Room Conundrums edited by Jim Noy
—Hag’s Nook by John Dickson Carr
—The Plague Court Murders by Carter Dickson
—The Problem of the Green Capsule by John Dickson Carr
—The Problem of the Wire Cage by John Dickson Carr
—Green for Danger by Christianna Brand
—Tour de Force by Christianna Brand
—Death of Jezebel by Christianna Brand
—The French Powder Mystery by Ellery Queen
—The Crooked Wreath / Suddenly at His Residence by Christianna Brand
—Murder in Mesopotamia by Agatha Christie
—Hercule Poirot’s Christmas by Agatha Christie
—The House That Kills by Noel Vindry
—La Treizieme balle by Marcel Lanteaume
—Six crimes sans assassin by Pierre Boileau
—The Mystery of the Yellow Room by Gaston Leroux
—The Honjin Murders by Seishi Yokomizo
—Invisible Green by John Sladek
—Black Aura by John Sladek
—The Case of the Little Green Men by Mack Reynolds
—Puzzles Of The Black Widowers by Isaac Asimov
—Asimov’s Mysteries by Isaac Asimov
—The Real Town Murders by Adam Roberts
—Goodnight Irene by James Scott Byrnside
—The Opening Night Murders by James Scott Byrnside
To be the first to know about future developments with the podcast, sign up for the newsletter at shedunnitshow.com/newsletter.
The podcast is on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and Instagram as @ShedunnitShow, and you can find it in all major podcast apps. Make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss the next episode. Click here to do that now in your app of choice.
Find a full transcript of this episode at shedunnitshow.com/lockedroomtranscript.
Music by Audioblocks and Blue Dot Sessions. See shedunnitshow.com/musiccredits for more details.
