Hooked on Books

Vol. 3: Locked Room Puzzles consists of four locked room mysteries...

The Third Bullet by John Dickson Carr-  5 stars

I liked it a lot. It's about a judge that's found murdered in his study which no one had access to. There was also 1 gun found, 1 suspect in the room & 3 bullets from 3 different guns so where did the other 2 bullets come from??  It was a fun locked room mystery and I didn't figure it out until the very end after all of the clues were pretty much announced already. : )

Booktaker by Bill Pronzini- 5 stars

This was a favorite of mine particularly because the setting was a bookstore. Some one had been stealing rare and valuable maps, prints & documents from the store during the hours of 11-2. The owner, Mr. Rothman, was at a loss to who was committing the thefts because the store had a faulty alarm system, sensors, locked windows and fire doors and he had taken back the two keys to the antiquarian room after the first theft occurred. So Mr. Rothman hires a private investigator to pose as an employee in hopes of catching the thief. 

From Another World by Clayton Rawson- 5 stars

In From Another World, a very wealthy man that's been murdered and an unconscious psychic apport medium, are found inside his study which has been sealed from the inside. Merlini, the famous magician, was asked in by police to help discover how the murder was committed. I liked this one a lot because of its paranormal and magic undertones. It was pretty entertaining and a challenge to figure out.

Day of the Wizard by Edward D. Hoch- 2 stars

This mystery features one of Hoch's leading characters, Simon Ark, who is said to be a two-thousand year old Coptic priest. He is asked to "solve the mystery of a wrecked plane in the desert and its strange cargo, an enigmatic magician and a drugged blonde. This one started out pretty good but I didn't care for how it ended and the multiple threads weren't tied together very well it seemed like. I just felt confused when it ended instead of satisfied. 

I read this for my 2016 Halloween Bingo: ~Locked Room Mystery~ square.