Jenn McKinlay: When I signed up for Left Coast Crime, I wasn't sure if I'd attend the banquet or not. I was bringing the Hub and thought it might be a nice date night since he plays a lot of gigs and nights out for just the two of us are a rarity. But then my friend Gigi Pandian reached out and asked me to host a table with her. Well, now I had a purpose so of course I said yes.
Because I've been on deadline for what feels like forever, I didn't realize she had a book coming out the following Tuesday until we caught up to each other the day of the banquet. Naturally, I had to share my excitement!
THE RAVEN THIEF is the second in a new series, the Secret Staircase Mysteries, by Gigi and they are fabulous. In fact, if you saw my post on Tuesday you know the first in the series UNDER LOCK & SKELETON KEY was nominated for the Lefty in the Best Mystery category. Gigi visited us last year to tell us all about it, which you can read here: What's a Gothic Cozy Mystery.
What I love about this series so much is the locked room aspect of the mysteries. So many of my favorite mysteries like Agatha Christie's AND THEN THERE WERE NONE, Lucy Foley's THE HUNTING PARTY, and Rachel Howzell Hall's THEY ALL FALL DOWN fall into the locked room mystery scenario which is different from the closed circle. A locked room mystery means that the murder has taken place in a locked room or an area sealed off from the rest of the world and the murder seems impossible. A closed circle mystery is a limited number of suspects in a fixed location and not so impossible.
How about you, Reds and Readers, are you a fan of locked room mysteries? What are some of your favorites?
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Hhhmmm . . . I really enjoy locked room mysteries and am looking forward to reading Gigi's story. Favorite locked room stories? Megan Goldin's THE ESCAPE ROOM, Lucy Foley's THE PARIS APARTMENT and THE GUEST LIST, James Patterson's THE SUMMER HOUSE, Ruth Ware's THE WOMAN IN CABIN 10, J.T. Ellison's HER DARK LIES . . . .
ReplyDeleteOh, those are some really good ones!
DeleteThanks, Joan!
DeleteI loved many of those books you mentioned, but I'd actually consider those closed circle mysteries. Locked together in one place, but not seemingly impossible. I'm a locked-room mystery geek, though, so I'm particular about the distinction ;)
I do enjoy them. I think Elly Griffiths had one.
ReplyDeleteYes, I think she does!
DeleteI love Elly Griffiths. She has a novel called The Locked Room, but I haven't read it yet.
DeleteThe Ellie Griffith book is set during Covid, not s locked room mystery.
DeleteIn Elly Griffiths' The Locked Room, a death does occur behind a locked door in a room in a house, so there is that "locked room" aspect of it, but I don't think it is really what would be considered a locked room mystery. As Anonymous says, Covid plays a big part, and it's probably more of a "locked down" mystery. However, there is that puzzling question of how the person in the locked room died, and so if you want to think of it as a locked room mystery, I guess you could.
DeleteI love all Gigi's writing and can't wait to devour this new locked room mystery. She's a master at creating them, but I'm not even going to try.
ReplyDeleteLOL - I know my brain hurts even thinking about it.
DeleteThanks, Edith! Ha. Sometimes I'm banging my head against the wall, but they're such fun.
DeleteI do like locked room and closed circle mysteries. This sounds terrific. Congratulations, Gigi for your new book release. Another for my TBR stack!
ReplyDeleteYou'll love it!
DeleteThank you, Elizabeth!
DeleteNice to hear about Gigi Pandian's new series. My favorite locked room mystery is one I read long ago. It's by the Swedish duo Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö and is called---guess what?---THE LOCKED ROOM! Copyright 1972. It's a police procedural in the Martin Beck series.
ReplyDeleteI've seen that one but I haven't read it. I'll double back and check it out.
DeleteThank you for mentioning that book--I will have to check it out!
DeleteOkay, how did I miss that Gigi has a new series?? Will be finding #1 ASAP! Love locked rooms, closed circles, you name it. Can't think of any BC (before caffeine), just keep writing them!
ReplyDeleteLOL - I hear you on the BC!
DeleteFlora, there are just so many books out there! I can't keep track of my own list. I hope you enjoy the new series! I'm alternating between these books and Accidental Alchemist Mysteries.
DeleteYay Gigi! Locked room mysteries are so fun! My brain is not awake yet so I can't recall any specific ones.
ReplyDeleteThey are fun - very complicated!
DeleteThanks, Pat! I'm typing my comments just as I'm having my first sip of caffeine for the day, so I hope they're coherent ;)
DeleteWelcome Gigi, and congrats on the new book and series! I have to say I did not like AND THEN THERE WERE NONE--so claustrophobic and scary! (I guess that's the point!) Locked room mysteries must present a special challenge to the writer--I would love to hear your process of thinking through what happens!
ReplyDeleteYes, I can't even fathom how to begin plotting a locked room mystery.
DeleteThanks, Lucy. Ha! It's true about locked-room mysteries sometime being darker than I'd like. That's why I love to put my own cozier spin on the genre :)
DeleteI did not understand the difference between locked-room and closed-circle mysteries, so thanks for explaining it, Jenn. Congrats to you, Gigi! I'm off to find your books.
ReplyDeleteYou bet! I always thought they were the same, too, but now I get it.
DeleteThanks, Amanda!
DeleteI love locked room mysteries. AND THEN THERE WERE NONE is one of my favorites and I really enjoyed THEY ALL FALL DOWN, too. I've tried to write one, but just haven't gotten the knack - yet.
ReplyDeleteIt's so tricky!
DeleteTricky but fun!
DeleteNot technically a closed room mystery but Jenn Mckinley's The Plot & The Pendulum's murder victim was found in a closed and locked room with an Edgar Allen Poe book.
ReplyDeleteOh, yeah!!! That was probably the closest I'll ever get. Thanks for reminding me!
DeleteI'm behind on Jenn's books (eep! she's so prolific) so I need to move THE PLOT & THE PENDULUM to the top of my list!
DeleteI need to move THE PLOT & THE PENDULUM up on my TBR pile!
DeleteGIGI: I enjoyed reading THE RAVEN THIEF. Like you, I read locked room mysteries by ELLERY QUEEN and JOHN DICKSON CARR.
ReplyDeleteExcellent examples, Grace.
DeleteThank you, Grace! Love Ellery Queen and especially John Dickson Carr.
DeleteJenn, it was so wonderful catching up with you at Left Coast Crime! Thanks so much for featuring THE RAVEN THIEF today!
ReplyDeleteThe locked-room versus closed circle mystery question is tricky! I just finished putting a locked-room mystery page on my website, which has definitions as well as recommendations!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.gigipandian.com/locked-room-mysteries
Gigi, I am in awe of the skill it takes to write a locked room plot! Love your definitions of locked room vs closed circle, too. Congrats on the new book and I can't wait read it!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much! It's so much fun to do, that I put up with all the hair-pulling that accompanies writing them ;)
DeleteCongratulations, Gigi! I am way behind on your Alchemist series, but have really enjoyed entering that world. If I ever get caught up, I've been meaning to read your Jaya Jones series. You are writing faster than I can read them.
ReplyDeleteCoincidentally, we watched a locked room mystery on La Dame Blanche last night.
Thanks, Karen! I'm behind on ALL of the books I want to read — so many great books out there. Thanks for the tv recommendation. I've heard of the Madame Blanc Mysteries, so I will have to look up that episode.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteGigi,
ReplyDeleteI loved your other mysteries, and now I plan to start reading the new series. As for locked room mysteries, I’ve loved some and was disappointed by others. I have trouble remembering book titles these days, so I’m unable to tell you which ones I enjoyed!
DebRo
Thanks you. I hope you have fun with the books! I try to keep track of everything I read both on paper and on Goodreads, because otherwise I'd never remember the names of anything.
DeleteCongratulations, Gigi !
ReplyDeleteRaven's Thief sounds like a great locked room mystery and I look forward to reading the book! I am sure that it is a busy time launching the Raven's Thief. Love the name Tempest. Was Tempest a family name? Tempest is half Scottish and half Southeastern Asian (Indian), correct? And I love the beautiful cover of this book with the blue background.
Jenn, this is a great guest post today! I met Gigi at my first Malice Domestic. Sounds like you and Hub had a great time at the LCC in Tucson.
Trying to recall if I have read other locked room mysteries besides the Secret Staircase mystery.
Just waking up this morning...
Diana
Thank you, Diana!
DeleteTempest isn't a family name—she was a character who sprung from a short story, and she insisted on me doing more with her! She does share a similar multicultural background to mine, with Indian and Scottish ancestry.
Congratulations, Gigi! This looks like a stellar read.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kait!
DeleteCongratulations, Gigi! I love locked room mysteries - they are some of the best kinds of puzzles. Can't wait to read The Raven's Thief!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Judi! I love the puzzle of locked-room mysteries.
DeleteI'm a big fan! A new book from Gigi is good news indeed.
ReplyDeleteLocked room... realized reading this that I've never been sure about whether that also includes something like Murder on the Orient Express or Murder on the Nile where the suspects are all in the confines of a place they can't leave. Or if it's more like Sherlock Holmes's The Adventure of the Speckled Band where the murder took place in what appears to be a locked room. There was an episode of Poker Face on TV that was a locked room - so complicated and convoluted how it was done. I'm more of a fan of the larger version than the smaller version.
Thanks, Hallie! A true locked-room mystery is like the Speckled Band, because it looks impossible in addition to being in a sealed room. I love that added layer to a closed circle mystery, because it then becomes not just WHOdunnit in the isolated setting, but also HOW. Sometimes the puzzles can be dry, if they're only a logic puzzle, so my favorites, and what I try to do, have both character depth and the puzzle.
DeleteI definitely enjoy them. Although there is something about them that makes me even more impatient to figure things out than I am with a regular mystery. I think it's the impossibility of it all drives me crazy.
ReplyDeleteMy pre-order of Gigi's new book should be arriving from Barnes and Noble today!
Thanks for getting a copy, Mark. I hope you have fun with the puzzle, rather than it driving you crazy. Personally, I love going along for the ride when I read a puzzle plot, and then slapping my forehead with satisfaction at the end when I didn't guess the solution but it's perfect.
DeleteI have to grab this right away, Gigi, because I LOVE locked room mysteries, and there just aren't very many around these days. Of course, in the Golden Age, books were much more about the puzzle, and less about the people, which doesn't work as well for contemporary readers. I'd love to know who you juggle a satisfying puzzle with developing character arcs.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Julia. I admit it's sometimes a difficult balance. I don't please all readers with the balance—some Golden Age purists don't think I spend enough time with the puzzle, and some character-driven readers would prefer less of a puzzle.
DeleteBut for me, I love this balance, so it's an instance of writing the books I want to read. I also have one main locked-room mystery in each book, and a secondary character arc mystery, so it's fun to get to know my characters more deeply in each new book in the series.
That answer was way too long, so I'll stop now ;)
I'm going to bring a little Scarlett O'Hara into my comments, "As God is my witness, I'll never go hungry again." Well, as God is my witness, I will read Under Lock & Skeleton Key and The Raven Thief this year. I know I'm going to love them both. Congratulations, Gigi on this successful new series.
ReplyDeleteAww, thank you so much, Kathy! I hope you have fun with the books.
DeleteCongratulations on the new book, Gigi! When I was about 10, I read with horrid fascination Edgar Allan Poe's "The Murders in the Rue Morgue." Now I think it's unfair to nonhuman primates.
ReplyDeletePriscilla, I love Poe! He's one of my inspirations for the book, BUT he's a bit too dark for me, in spite of how much I love the macabre. So I think of my own books as "Gothic cozies," as Jenn mentioned in this post. Spooky and macabre elements, but all done in lighthearted fun.
DeleteWhen I first read Poe, I was too naive to realize how dark he was. "The Cask of the Amontillado" is one of the creepiest stories ever. Continued success with your Macabre Lite.
DeleteMacabre Lite — love that :)
DeleteThanks again, everyone, and to Jenn for this post!
ReplyDelete