Review: The Enigma of Room 622 by Joël Dicker
Looks Like Books contains affiliate links and is a member of the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you make a purchase using one of these affiliate links I may receive compensation at no extra cost to you. See my Disclaimer to learn more.
If you’re looking for a complicated mystery with enough twists to keep you guessing, The Enigma of Room 622 by Joël Dicker certainly delivers.
I wasn’t convinced at first. Why was the author’s name also the main character’s name? Was this fiction? Autobiography? And at 574 pages, it was a pretty big commitment for a book I wasn’t sure I even wanted to read.
Then I read the first page.
So much for my skepticism. I was hooked.
My Take: The Enigma of Room 622 was one of those wonderful reading surprises: a book I wasn’t sure I wanted to read that quickly became almost impossible to put down. The Swiss setting, private banking intrigue, unusual book-within-a-book structure, and seemingly endless twists kept me guessing through all 574 pages. My verdict? ReRead. There were still things I wasn’t entirely sure about when I finished, which is exactly why I’d like to go back someday and see what clues I missed the first time.
What Is The Enigma of Room 622 About?
Writer Joël travels to the Hôtel de Verbier in the Swiss Alps hoping for a quiet escape after a breakup and the death of his longtime publisher. Instead, one peculiar detail catches his attention: the hotel has no Room 622.
Together with another guest, Scarlett, Joël begins investigating why — and discovers an unsolved murder connected to the missing room.
What follows is a complicated mystery involving a powerful Swiss private bank, family rivalries, romance, betrayal, espionage, and a murder whose solution has remained hidden for years.
The Enigma of Room 622 – What I Liked
The Swiss Setting
The setting was one of the first things that pulled me into this book. Much of the story takes place in Geneva and Verbier, Switzerland, and having visited Switzerland myself, I could easily imagine walking the streets of Geneva or escaping to a luxurious hotel in the Alps.
And then there’s the Swiss banking world. I’ve always found all that secrecy surrounding international banking fascinating, so give me a mystery involving a powerful Swiss private bank and I’m probably going to keep reading.
If international intrigue is part of the appeal for you too, The Omega Factor by Steve Berry gave me that same irresistible urge to keep following the mystery wherever it led.
The Mystery
This book is fast-paced, twisty, and complicated – sometimes very complicated.
For someone who initially wasn’t sure I’d make it through the first 20 pages, I somehow raced through all 574 of them. Every time I thought I had a handle on what was happening, another piece of the story seemed to shift.
That’s exactly what kept me reading.
The Unusual Storytelling
One of the strangest things about the book is also one of the things that eventually made it so interesting to me.
There’s a book-within-a-book quality to the story, and Dicker actually gives the writer in the novel his own first name, Joël. Initially, I couldn’t quite wrap my head around it. Was I reading fiction? Was some of this autobiographical?
Once I settled into the structure, though, the unusual storytelling became part of the fun.
And I learned how to type the two dots over the ë in Joël while writing this review. You never know what useful skill a 574-page Swiss murder mystery is going to teach you.
The Enigma of Room 622 – What I Didn’t Like
The unusual structure that eventually intrigued me was also confusing at first. Having an author named Joël writing about a writer named Joël took some getting used to, and I wasn’t initially sure where fiction ended and reality began.
The story also jumps around considerably in time. Even after finishing the book, there were a couple of things I wasn’t completely certain I’d pieced together correctly.
Normally that might frustrate me. In this case, it actually contributed to my desire to read the book again.
The Enigma of Room 622 – Read, ReRead, or Reconsider?
And now, it’s time for my 3 Rs of book reviews. Should you read, reread, or reconsider The Enigma of Room 622?
This one earns the less-common ReRead from me.
I want to wait long enough for some of the details to fade and then go back through the story knowing where it ultimately leads. With so many twists, time shifts, and pieces of information scattered throughout the novel, I’m curious to see how many clues I failed to notice the first time.
That’s probably the biggest compliment I can give a 574-page mystery: I finished it and actually wanted to read all 574 pages again.
Frequently Asked Questions About The Enigma of Room 622?
Is The Enigma of Room 622 part of a series?
No. The Enigma of Room 622 is a standalone mystery, so you don’t need to read any of Joël Dicker’s other novels first.
Why is the main character named Joël in The Enigma of Room 622?
Dicker uses a fictionalized writer named Joël as part of the novel’s unusual metafictional structure. It confused me initially, too, but it becomes part of the way the story is told.
Is The Enigma of Room 622 difficult to follow?
It can be. The novel moves among different time periods and contains a complicated cast of characters, relationships, and revelations. I occasionally had to stop and think about where I was in the story – but the complexity was also one reason I found the mystery so engrossing.
Is The Enigma of Room 622 Worth Reading?
Yes – especially if you enjoy mysteries that make you work a little.
The Enigma of Room 622 isn’t a simple, straightforward whodunit. It’s long, layered, occasionally confusing, and packed with twists. But that’s also what made it so much fun for me.
I went into this book expecting very little and came out wanting to read more Joël Dicker. That’s a pretty dramatic turnaround.
And credit also goes to Robert Bononno, who translated The Enigma of Room 622 from French into English. Considering how completely absorbed I became in the story, the translation certainly didn’t get in the way of my reading experience.
What To Read Next
- The Omega Factor by Steve Berry – Another fast-moving mystery for readers who enjoy international settings, complicated plots, and plenty of twists.
- Portrait of an Unknown Woman by Daniel Silva – Try this for another sophisticated international mystery involving deception, money, and an intricate scheme.
- The Murders at Fleat House by Lucinda Riley – A more traditional whodunit, but another good choice when you’re in the mood for an atmospheric mystery with plenty of suspects.
- The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley – Another mystery built around a strange location where something clearly isn’t right.
- Louise Penny Books In Order – Explore another mystery world with complex characters and mysteries that reward close attention.
- Solving the Mystery of the Mystery Books Genre – Explore more types of mysteries and find your next corner of the genre.
Dragged out way to long to care about who killed who
Hi Abigail, that’s an interesting opinion! I found the book a bit confusing, but I’m not sure I thought it was dragged out too long. I’m going to have to reread my own review LOL! It’s been awhile since I read the book.