The Enigma of Room 622

A Novel

By: Joël Dicker

Narrated by: Chris Harper

Length: 16 hrs

Publisher's summary

A Wall Street Journal "Best Mystery of 2022"

A September 2022 Amazon Best of the Month Pick

“Dicker salutes Agatha Christie even as he drops the reader through one trapdoor into another, so that by the end, we doubt we’ve ever read another novel quite like it. (We haven’t.) Fans of Ruth Ware and Lucy Foley will hug this book in between chapters; the many readers who love Anthony Horowitz’s mysteries will celebrate. And me? I’ll be reading it again.”—A. J. Finn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window

"[The Enigma of Room 622 is an] exhilarating tour de force"–The Wall Street Journal

A burnt-out writer’s retreat at a fancy Swiss hotel is interrupted by a murder mystery in this metafictional, meticulously crafted whodunit from the New York Times bestselling author of The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair.

A writer named Joël, Switzerland’s most prominent novelist, flees to the Hôtel de Verbier, a luxury resort in the Swiss Alps. Disheartened over a recent breakup and his longtime publisher’s death, Joël hopes to rest. However, his plans quickly go awry. It all starts with a seemingly innocuous detail: at the Verbier, there is no room 622.

Before long, Joël and fellow guest Scarlett uncover a long-unsolved murder that transpired in the hotel's room 622. The attendant circumstances: the succession of Switzerland’s largest private bank, a mysterious counterintelligence operation called P-30, and a most disreputable sabotage of hotel hospitality. A European phenomenon, The Enigma of Room 622 is a matryoshka doll of intrigue–as precise as a Swiss watch–and Dicker’s most diabolically addictive thriller yet.

Translated from the French by Robert Bononno

©2022 Joel Dicker (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers

In and out of Time

This is the first Dicker book I’ve heard and will listen to another. This story cuts backward and forward in time in an enthralling tale. I enjoyed it.

Excellent!

I had been really looking forward to death walk after reading the truth about the Harry Quebert affair, and it did not disappoint. Adding on that I am a huge Agatha Christie fan, but there were a lot of Christie elements to it. So it was doubly enjoying for me! It was a moving and suspenseful book that lent itself to raw emotions and heartfelt moments. I highly recommend this book!

Solid murder mystery, felt rushed at end

Thoroughly enjoyed the build-up and development of the characters, but felt the ending left the reader feeling somewhat unfulfilled, as it felt rushed and without as much care and thought as was given to the rest of the novel. All-in-all, though, I really enjoyed it! A fun and intriguing read.

Complicated murder plot

This multifaceted story delves into more than just a murder, encompassing multiple layers of storytelling. It unfolds through various love stories and follows several characters on journeys of self-discovery. The narrative shifts back and forth between the present, where the writer and his assistant investigate an unsolved murder, the time period of the actual murder, and the past of the characters involved.

The complexity of the tale is expertly interwoven, as the author, Joel Dicker (not the main character), strategically reveals information, keeping the reader engaged and guessing. The narrative kept me uncertain about the true culprit until the big reveal. I found myself suspecting multiple characters, some of whom I believed were confessing when they were not.

While I enjoyed the book, I only awarded it four stars due to my feelings about the final wrap up.

A Tangled, Subtle, Stunning Book

I was not prepared for how completely I would become entangled in the mysteries in this book. The plot is mesmerizing as it moves through its Swiss watch action. Most of the characters feel distant but even that is with purpose. No matter what get to the end even if you don’t feel connected because this ending is staggering.

Agree with others

Like others I found the first half was quite tedious but the rest of the story zipped right along with interesting although somewhat unbelievable twists

Enjoyed this read

I rather enjoyed this read. It’s a translated into English book, so I imagine quite a bit of nuance and natural language doesn’t compose as sweetly as originally written. Fun sorry. Tormented characters. I rather preferred Macarre to any other character, and it would have been nice if he instead of his memos is received a happy ending.

A convoluted mystery

I like the book, but it is such a convoluted mystery that it becomes tough to believe. The reader does a great job, so I was able to follow what was going on, if not the reasons/motivations.

If you like plot twists, this book has them. The plot changes directions so often that it feels more like a Scooby Doo Mystery or a Mission Impossible episode than a mystery novel.

The bigger problem was that I could not suspend disbelief on the underlying parts of the story. Specificaly, the novel is set in the offices of a Swiss Bank and revolves around the executives and owners of the bank. Even though it was not necessary to understand the plot, I could not grasp how this bank was being run or the motivations of its owners and executives. Admittedly, this may have been a problem with translation, or with my lack of knowledge of French culture, but I was constantly feeling like nothing would make sense to any of the characters.

Predictable

The story moves between 4+ different timelines and is still predictable. I finished but just wanted to be done.

Captivating

I couldn’t stop listening. It was a fascinating story. Would make a great movie or series.