locked-room mystery
Impossible crime story
A locked-room mystery is a crime story—typically a murder—where the deed occurs in a sealed space with no apparent way for the killer to enter or exit.
The detective must explain how the seemingly impossible crime was committed.
The form tests ingenuity: The novel was a classic locked-room mystery with the victim found dead in a bolted study.
Also called an impossible crime story.
- detectiveProfessional crime investigator
- red herringsMisleading clues or information
- sleuthPrivate investigator
- evidenceFacts supporting truth
- deductive reasoningDeriving specifics from generalities
suspect · deduction · fair play · clues · impossible · secret passage · hidden room · misdirection · sealed · amateur sleuth · country house · unreliable narrators · alibi · poisoning · strangulation · investigation · stabbing · motive
- mystery fictionwhodunit, whodunnit, sleuth, detective novel, detective fiction
- genresaction, comedy, detective fiction, fantasy, horror
- sleuthssleuth, amateur detective, private eye, gumshoe, armchair detective
locked-room mysterypolice procedural
Crime fiction emphasizing investigation
whodunit · noir · thriller · spy thriller · procedural
mystery, locked, mysterious, locker, roommate, locking, mysteriously