At 1222 metres above sea level, the train to Oslo is derailed by icy tracks and the passengers are forced to move to a nearby hotel. Outside, the worst storm in Norwegian history rages while, inside, a murderer is at work.

1222, by Norwegian author Anne Holt, is a locked room mystery reminiscent of Agatha Christie's 'Then There Were None'. As the number of possible suspects dwindles, Hanne Wilhmson, once a police detective, now wheelchair bound, uses her considerable deductive skills with only the aid of her 'little grey cells' a la Hercule Poirot to eventually solve the case.

Like the books from the Golden Age of Mysteries it pays homage to, 1222 is more puzzle than gore. However, if this superb novel follows many of the conventions of the British Cozy, it certainly does not adopt all of them. This is no sexually repressed, slowly evolving story. Hanne is a lesbian who, with her Muslim partner, has a daughter. And, as for the plot, let's just say that 1222 has all the twists and turns, as well as the cast of quirky characters, of any modern thriller but it is able to keep the reader enthralled without the need for long, and often deeply disturbing, descriptions of murder's aftermath.