When Joelle unknowingly forgot his new girlfriend‘s birthday she broke up with him and with his assistant Bing away he decided to go to the Alps to get a little perspective on his first night there he meets Scarlet a divorce woman from England when they start discussing the fact there’s no room to 22 the last thing Joelle thinks is that it will be the beginning of an adventure full of lies and intrigue. From rich bankers to CD customers to dangerous people that will go down a rabbit hole worth reading about. I started reading this book on a Friday night and stayed up till four in the morning not wanting to press pause it really is a great book it seems to like a book made out of nothing and then to an interesting tale of intriguing espionage. I highly recommend this book! I received this book from net galley and the publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind to dictate my review.

I'm finding it quite difficult to review this novel because even though the writing style didn't appeal to me that much, I had issues with some of the plot and I wasn't too keen on the setting of the Geneva banking world, I can't deny that I did enjoy it anyways and felt invested in the story.
I definitely think that it works well as an audiobook. The narrator does a great job at making the characters come to life and keeping you hooked. There were some places where I felt that the prose became quite repetitive and I was glad to be listening rather than reading myself because I definitely would've been tempted to skip over some of the pages and might have missed a few details in the process.
Besides the occasional repetitiveness and the feeling that the plot was kind of going in circles, my main issue with The Enigma of Room 622 was that I found it very difficult to grasp the characters. Whenever I thought I had gotten closer to understanding the way they think, they would do something that didn't match their previous behaviour, which I found quite frustrating as there wasn't much consistency with the characterisation at times. Moreover, parts of the plot-twists simply felt absurd and completely unbelievable. Granted, this didn't make me lose interest in the story but a lot of the answers that were given were quite unsatisfactory. I also felt that there was too many plot-twist that got increasingly less credible, which is why I think the book would've benefited from being a little bit shorter. I quite liked having different storylines and jumping back and forth in time, but it would've worked better and felt more authentic if the same thing had been done on a slightly smaller scale.

I love a good mystery and Joel Dicker always delivers! Brace yourselves as this is what a lengthy audiobook and can't lie that I got lost a bit, but the back and forth of the flashbacks and mystery got me hooked and powered my reading through.

Room 622 has a dark secret the book starts and ends here, the main body of the book tells the story in between. I really loved the writing and very up to date and relevant. The characters are well developed and you learn more about them throughout the story, there are a few chapters where you think what was that about? but it does all fall into place later. Politics, double crossing, deals and power are the main topics with a love interest of course, Interesting plot and pleasantly surprised at the end. Thank you #NetGalley for the audiobook to review.

This is a very odd book and I wonder if it might have been more successful and engaging if I had read it rather than listening to the audiobook.

This book is in the vein of a meta – literary work, think ‘ If on a winters night a traveller. Close “but it is not as clever as it thinks it is.

The story concerns of mysterious murder in room 665 of a luxurious Hotel in Verbier in Switzerland. The characters Mostly consist of slightly smug Literary types and rich Swiss bankers. I have nothing personal against Rich Swiss bankers but it does get a little bit samey. I think part of the problem with this book is that it always sounds like a translation.

I sympathise with this, as I know translation is notoriously difficult to get right. Unfortunately, the narrator here sounds so detached from the story it is difficult to care about the characters or the plot.

I might try and look at the printed book and see if hearing the story in my own head helps but it feels rather old-fashioned in its obsession with privileged white man in Europe. The women Are largely written as ciphers for the male gaze and that In 2022 is deeply disappointing.

I was far too confused by this and honestly hated the narration. Is this fact or fiction? Everywhere says novel but the main character has the authors name so is it fictionalised truth? I don't get it

The voice of the narrator was very monotone and that’s why I ended up reading the book by myself without the audio.

EXCERPT: Prologue - the day of the murder - Sunday December 16

Six-thirty in the morning. The Hôtel de Verbier was dark. Outside, it was pitch dark and snowing heavily.

On the sixth floor, the doors of the service elevator opened. A hotel employee appeared with a breakfast tray and made his way to Room 622.

When he reached the room, he noticed that the door was ajar. Light spilled through the opening. He knocked but there was no response. Finally, he decided to go in, assuming that the door had been left open for that purpose. He walked in and let out a scream. Running from the room, he went to alert his colleagues and call for help.

As the news spread through the hotel, the lights went on, floor by floor.

On the carpet of Room 622 lay a corpse.

ABOUT 'THE ENIGMA OF ROOM 622': One night in December, a corpse is found in Room 622 of the Hotel Verbier, a luxury hotel in the Swiss Alps. A police investigation begins without definite end, and public interest wanes with the passage of time. Years later, the writer Joel Dicker, Switzerland's most famous literary ingenue, arrives at that same hotel to recover from a bad breakup, mourn the death of his longtime publisher, and begin his next novel. Little does Joel know that his expertise in the art of the thriller will come in handy when he finds himself investigating the crime. He'll need a Watson, of course: in this case, that would be Scarlett, the beautiful guest and aspiring novelist from the next room, who joins in the search while he tries to solve another puzzle: the plot of his next book. Meanwhile, in the wake of his father's passing, Macaire Ebezner is set to take over as president of the largest private bank in Switzerland. The succession captivates the news media, and the future looks bright, until it doesn't. The bank's board, including a certain Lev Levovitch-Geneva's very own Jay Gatsby-have other plans, and Macaire's race to the top soon becomes a race against time...

MY THOUGHTS: I was looking forward to a 'book within a book' mystery, which is not what I got. Think 'corporate conspiracy' instead.

I spent a great deal of my listening time confused. There are constantly changing non-linear timelines and points of view.

I was, initially, far more interested in the Joël Dicker/Scarlett storyline, but this accounts for few of the 600 plus pages and, really, not much happens.

The characters border on the ridiculous and act like idiots.

So, The Enigma of Room 622 was, for me, an incredibly convoluted corporate conspiracy that confused the heck out of me involving people who have equally convoluted personal lives, and the point of which I never got. 🤷‍♀️

The final lines of The Enigma of Room 622 are, “for life, like a novel, must be an adventure. And adventures are life’s vacations.” This was no adventure. Think The Beatles 'A Hard Day's Night', but without the 'feel all right' factor. This was a very long 596 pages.

⭐⭐.4

#TheEnigmaofRoom622 #NetGalley

I: @joeldicker @quercusbooks

T: @JoelDicker @QuercusBooks

#contemporaryfiction #crime #murdermystery #mystery

THE AUTHOR: Joël Dicker was born in 1985 in Geneva, Switzerland, where he studied law. He spent childhood summers in New England, particularly in Stonington and Bar Harbor, Maine.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Quercus Audio, MacLehose Press via Netgalley for providing an audio ARC of The Enigma of Room 622 written by Joël Dicker and narrated by Chris Harper for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This review and others are also published on Twitter, Amazon and my webpage

Thanks to “The Enigma of Room 622”, I became a big fan of Joël Dicker’s works!

Without giving too many spoilers, all I can say about the story is that what starts as a murder mystery novel, quickly turns into a page-turning listening of 10+ characters whose stories span back and forth over a period of c. 20 years. Take a moment to read again and take it in. The myriad of diverse characters, combined with the contemporary scenery, and back-and-forth narrative is sure to keep you entangled in the reading through its 16 hours of recording. Enjoy!

Special thanks to NetGalley, Quercus Audio, MacLehose Press, and the editorial team for giving me the opportunity to review the ARC in audiobook format and to you, my reader, for taking the time to read this honest personal book review.

If you are interested in other of my book reviews, make sure to follow me on GoodReads!

#TheEnigmaofRoom622 #NetGalley #LifeLongLearning

I enjoyed listening to this through audiobook format. I personally thought the narrator was really good and developed as the story went on. Sometimes as I got distracted I did lose where I was in the story, but that’s on me and not the writing or narrator. I would like to get a physical copy of this as I think I might get a better grasp of what’s going on in comparison to an audiobook.

>I received an audiobook copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review<

Lots of themes run through this fabulous whodunnit! Love, family, honour, wealth, etc, All the characters have a back story and the author weaves them together well. The author moves forward and back in time and keeps you guessing. I felt it was slightly longer than necessary but enjoyed it all the same. A great narrator too!

“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒘𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒔. 𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆, 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒂 𝒏𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒍, 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒅𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒅𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆’𝒔 𝒗𝒂𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔.”

I definitely was intrigued by the premise of this novel when seeing it featured in the HarperCollins Fall Preview session. It sounded like my kind of novel: a locked-room mystery at a hotel trying to figure out what happened in room 622?!

I was so glad that I had both a digital ARC and an audiobook copy of to both read and listen too. This book is LONG and I wouldn’t have gotten through it as easily without switching back and forth. Listening to the narration by Chris Harper at first was tough; I felt like he was a little flat, but it almost seemed to become more animated as he got into the book. The audio was super useful in knowing how to pronounce many characters’ names too! There is also a TON of backstory; some of it is super interesting and some of it is not. Part 1 in particular reminded me of Agatha Christie’s Towards Zero, where it’s the lead up and drama between characters to a murder that is almost more important than the actual murder itself. The story switches back and forth between being meta (Joël Dicker as both author and character in the story) and, I think, being the novel the character is writing. While I appreciated getting to learn about these characters in depth, it took a long time for the story to truly pick up. Once it got Part 3 and 4 though, I couldn’t listen and read fast enough, with red herrings being revealed and some twists that had me stunned! I did feel like in the end, there was too much detail and repetition that tended to be confusing and drawn out; it was not the locked-room mystery I thought it was going to be, but rather a character study of a love triangle and brotherhood.

The Enigma of Room 622 is a story about deception, remembrance, complicated parental relationships, and the importance of using the time we have well. Thank you to HarperCollins, Quercus Audio and NetGalley for the ARCs!

The Enigma of Room 622
By Joel Dicker

I recently read and loved The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair, and craved a similar reading experience, so was delighted to discover that this author's latest work is also now translated to English. And an experience is exactly what it is. Such an unusual way to tell a story.

This is another tale within a tale of an author trying to solve a mystery, whilst writing the story. It's complicated, it's flamboyant, it's glib and utterly compelling. Somewhere between satire and farce.

Set in the elusive world of Swiss banking it is the story of what a person might do to ensure their heart's desire. We get the ins and outs of the exclusive luxury hotel, the trials and tribulations of life at the top of private banking, a love triangle, espionage, love and betrayal and a deal with the devil.

You have to think of this as a big adventure, It took me a full 10% to find my feet in the plot and get comfortable with the characters. After that, I trusted the author to weave his intricacies and not allow myself to get too bogged down with trying to solve anything too early, otherwise my head might have exploded. As in his earlier book, it twists, it turns, it defies belief, it makes you question everything and trust me, you cannot believe anything. Just go with the story, enjoy the ride and I promise it will all come to a very satisfying conclusion.

This is a very long book, at almost 600 pages, or on audio 16 hours. I thought it would be a slow but steady read for me over a week or so, but I found that I couldn't get it out of my head, so I had to power through over 2 days. Kudos to Chris Harper for an excellent narration. He truly performed his part; his accents were incredible, and he brought each and every character to life.

Thanks to #netgalley and #quercusaudio for the ALC

Thank you, NetGalley, for the opportunity to read an advance copy of The Enigma of Room 622 by Joël Dicker.

I loved this book. Harking back to the golden age of mysteries, it was an onion of layers and riddles. It kept me guessing right to the end of the book, with multiple elements to solve. Who is the killer? Who died? What was the deal? What happened to them? These questions are just a couple of the many you have to ask throughout the book. My favourite, Is he really the Devil?

Given all of the twists, the book kept to the golden age rules, and you can solve it with the information available from the start. The clues were all presented, but it would be impossible to predict how the story will unfold.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the opportunity to read an advance copy of The Enigma of Room 622 by Joël Dicker.

I loved this book. Harking back to the golden age of mysteries, it was an onion of layers and riddles. It kept me guessing right to the end of the book, with multiple elements to solve. Who is the killer? Who died? What was the deal? What happened to them? These questions are just a couple of the many you have to ask throughout the book. My favourite, Is he really the Devil?

Given all of the twists, the book kept to the golden age rules, and you can solve it with the information available from the start. The clues were all presented, but it would be impossible to predict how the story will unfold.

Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the audio book.

This was highly recommend to me, so I was excited to see it on netgalley and receive an ALC.

Unfortunately it fell very flat for me. So many reasons. It was too long, too convoluted, too much really. I am struggling to come up with anything positive to say, except I liked or the Joel and Scarlett storyline. I would have loved to read more on that.

I feel like I have read this book before although I haven’t but I mean that in the sense it was quite predictable and what you expect from a mystery like this.

There were lots of separate characters who ended up entwined with seperate plot lines all related to this one murder.

I’m not sure that I enjoyed the narrator, the narration was quite flat and didn’t excite me and bored me a little but that could have also just been the story.

I wouldn’t rush out to buy this so I’m thankful to NetGalley for the audio alc.

I think it was written with a movie in mind and not just to be a novel itself.

The story is a thriller about a fictionalised author, Joël Dicker, who goes for a short stay in a top class hotel in Verbier in an attempt to get over the death of his publisher and the break-up of his relationship and to get on with his new book. He notices that Room 622 is missing from the sequential row of rooms on his hotel floor. This intrigues him and he and a fellow, aspiring author - Scarlett - set out to solve the mystery. It’s not spoiling the plot to say that a murder took place in the room which was quickly renumbered. Their investigation takes them into the worlds of high end hospitality, Swiss banking, with a bit of showbiz and espionage thrown in. Oh, and a love triangle! I thought that the ‘how it was done’ was a bit unrealistic but lo and behold, the next crime/thriller I read, used the same device! With all of that and a narrator with a very pleasant voice, I never once got bored. I enjoyed it … But …

The problem FOR ME was that I chose the audio version of this book. The plot has multiple layers and timelines … and I’m a lazy reader and I most definitely don’t listen actively enough for an audio book like this. If I’d had the physical copy of the book, I’d have been able to flick backwards to check previous events. This is not so easy on audio. This affected my enjoyment of the story. I’d probably have given it four stars if I’d read a physical copy but only three for the audio version. And I should point out that that deduction of one star is to do with the ease of following the plot, NOT the quality of the audio production which I thought was very good.

Thanks to @Netgalley and @quercusbooks for the ARC in return for my personal views.

#joeldicker #thrillerthursday #crimenovels #newfiction #fictionreads #readersofinstagram #mysterybooks #justreads

Set in the snowy Swiss alps, this books journeys between past and present to investigate the murder that took place in Room 622 of a prestigious hotel. Diving between an authors writing to a bankers poor decisions and a busboys upbringing, this is a novel of breadth and scale.

To me, this book had vibes of The Grand Budapest Hotel, but maybe that was just cause it was set in a snowy European hotel. Maybe not though, as there was also something quirky and mesmerising in its storytelling.


I had so much fun listening to this book. There were times when I felt like maybe it was a little too long, and could’ve done with being condensed. However that’s my only qualm with it. I enjoyed the multiple timelines and characters that we followed, and I found the mystery to be intriguing and unusual. It’s a book that sat with me a while after I’d finished it because it was executed very well, and now I’m on the way to investigating more of the authors works.

I really couldn’t get into this book, and it’s a shame as the story has real potential. But I found the narration quite boring and found it really hard to follow.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quercus Audio for letting me listen to this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.