This was such an interesting concept! I don’t believe I’ve ever read a book set in the sea before so it was great to get such a new (to me!) setting.

I also really enjoyed learning more about sat diving. It made such a perfect environment for this locked door mystery.

I would definitely recommend if you enjoy a locked door setting!

I am a huge fan of a locked room mystery, and also a huge fan of Will Dean. And boy was this a locked room, edge of your seat gripper. Will’s description of life as a Diver is so real and you can picture every detail and feel the hardships they endure. Also his characters are always so real and this one each of their stories has you guessing til the very end. I love Wills Tuva novels but his stand alones never fail to grip me and I highly recommend this whodunnit, it will not disappoint . Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for this early copy.

I’m sure you’re all aware of that oft mentioned sentence used recently in many novels, “ She released the breath she hadn’t realised she’d been holding “, Well yes, such was the feeling of claustrophobia in ‘The Chamber’ in this case, that’s exactly what happened!

Ellen Brooke is about to enter a hyperbaric chamber with five other Saturation divers. They will spend a month beneath the ocean, where each day they will take it in turns to be placed in a diving bell which takes them down to the sea bed in order to repair oil pipes. This is a close knit team, let’s face it, it would be disastrous if they weren’t, because no one can leave the chamber in a hurry due to the need for decompression - not decompressing correctly will cause the bends, with its myriad of medical problems, and possibly death.

Things are going well until one of the divers is found dead in his bunk. No one has any idea what caused it, so the powers that be decide to bring the team back to the surface, and begin decompression. This will take four long days, all the while giving the divers minds time to suspect their colleagues, either that or something within the chamber is poisoning them.

Imagine being locked in a tiny chamber miles out in the North Sea if you suspect one of your teammates of murder, or indeed that there’s some harmful bacteria/substance that’s caused the death of your colleague. You can’t open the door or you will all die! The finger of suspicion gets a real workout in this excellent locked room thriller. As the hours tick down, the psychological pressure builds, as does the claustrophobia, leaving the reader breathless with anticipation! Another winner from the talent that is Will Dean. And breathe!!

Ellen Brooke is a deep sea diver heading out to complete a job in the depths of the North Sea repairing oil pipelines. She knows she'll have to spend nearly a month sealed inside a hyperbaric chamber with five colleagues. Although the financial rewards are high, it's dangerous work. Everything goes according to plan until one of the divers is discovered critically ill in his bunk. Soon, another diver suffers the same fate. Desperate to prevent more deaths, what follows is a game of cat and mouse, sealed inside the chamber. . .

This is yet another cracking thriller from talented author Will Dean. The action takes place inside a hyperbaric chamber, which, as you can imagine, creates the perfect claustrophobic atmosphere. Tension literally drips from every page making it a fantastic locked-room mystery. As the six divers begin to die one by one, the killer's identity and motive is unknown. Suspicion and paranoia are rife. The hyperbaric chamber can't be opened until decompression is complete. As the hours count down no one inside is safe.

Will Dean has taken the locked room mystery to a whole new level. Just like the divers inside the chamber I felt claustrophobic and tense. The writing is that good.
I enjoyed the exploration of the divers' characters through the sharing of their past experiences. All seem to have hidden aspects that could make them more villainous than they seem, though.
I couldn't stop reading this book. It ran away from the pages and seared into my mind, there to stay for quite some time to come.
Brilliant.

5* The Chamber by Will Dean. It will take me some time to decompress and get my breath back, what an absolutely stunning locked room book. One that Christie would applaud!

Six experienced saturation divers are set for a job in the North Sea. They all know each other save for a young rookie on his second outing. They are sealed into a small chamber from where they will work in shifts on the sea bed . Once the job is done, they cannot leave their chamber until 4 days worth of re-pressurisation. This is highly skilled lucrative work, with a hundred strong boat crew catering to their every whim and monitoring their every move.

After the first dive, a tragedy unfolds. One of the divers is dead. The job is called off but they cannot leave the chamber for another 4 days ... and then a 2nd diver dies.

I have enjoyed all of Will Dean's books but he has absolutely nailed it with The Chamber. The characters are all likable and the tension is palpable from the first death. Despite the tiny setting and the technical details there isn't one wasted word in the book. From about two-thirds in I was actively counting down the hours with the divers until the hatch opened and, as a reader, I was having to slow both my breathing and my reading speed, as I was so desperate to find out what had happened. I read Will's The Last Thing To Burn in a day and raved about it. The Chamber is even better.

I should add that my colleague's husband is a sat diver. I will be strongly suggesting that they don't read this book until he has retired!

With huge thanks to Hodder and Stoughton and Netgalley for an ARC. Highly recommended.

I'm always a bit wary of 'locked room' type thrillers. I often find that they can get a little boring when one of a story's key features, location and place, are very limited. And trust me, there can be no more of a locked room than thousands of feet below sea.

The novel begins with Ellen getting ready to set off for a prolonged deep sea dive with five other divers, all getting paid handsomely for their efforts. However, not long after the dive begins, one of the divers is found dead, and with a limited number of suspects, and no escaping, the scene is set for a thrilling ride.

And what a thrilling ride it was. Firstly, the authors knowledge (or research) on diving was spot on. The reader is given enough information to educate us on a topic most of us probably know very little about, but we aren't overly bogged down in details.

The best thing for me about the story was the pacing. Will Dean expertly draws the story along, with a limited number of characters and only one location, with such precision, you can't help but be sucked into the story with a sense of claustrophobia.

Brilliant novel and a great conclusion.

Thanks to Netgalley and Hodder and Stoughton for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

Anyone who have enjoyed previous Will Dean books will not be disappointed.

At first you are introduced to what the Deep sea Chamber is and the protocols and procedures needed when 6 adults are enclosed into a very small space weeks at a time. By the second chapter I became invested in the main character Ellen Brooke the only female diver in the group who has problems whilst out in the sea working. Shortly after she returns into the capsule she finds another of the divers being worked on by her companions as he's collapsed on the floor.........

The story follows what happened to her colleague and will more die.......why , how.......when ..........who?

My advice when reading the book ensure you have enough time set in next two days to read as you truly won't want to put this book down.....it is a fantastic locked room suspense novel written in the perspective of Ellen Brooke

Thank you netgalley and publishers for allowing to read this ARC in return for my honest and independent review

It's rare to find a new concept on a well-known trick, but my word, Will Dean has taken the locked room mystery and given us what will probably be one of the most unusual takes on it that I've read, or will read, in a long time.

Necessarily, there is much scene-setting in the early part of this novel, and a lot of technical language introduced that becomes relevant as the story progresses; while this creates a slow burn for these first few chapters, perseverance is rewarded.

The titular chamber is a North Sea divers' decompression chamber, the size of a family bathroom, if that, and home to six individuals for up to a month - the stamina and training needed to cope with the environment, let alone the work they're conducting on the seabed, sounds horrendous and, for someone, it seems that it maybe just was. Just days into the month long shift, in this impenetrable chamber where everyone knows everyone, six become five...

Exploring the back stories of all six individuals, examining what makes them who they are (or were?) and what has led someone on board this vessel to commit a crime in the most public of ways creates some marvellous suspense, and the intrigue is maintained until the last page is turned. Oh yes.

Deep sat diving is restricted to only the most experienced personnel. A carefully brought together team of six divers is installed on the DSV Deep Topaz, and after thorough checks they are guided into the diving bell to ready themselves for their mission. Well paid and lucrative, the job brings personal wealth and satisfaction, but at what cost? For twenty eight days, five men and one woman will be at the mercy of those that support them and will have to live with each other’s little foibles. Or will they?

This is a very claustrophobic read! I enjoyed the start, but felt there was too much repetition midway. To compensate for the lack of action there were tales of previous dives, told by the six person crew. The feelings of isolation and protocol were described well, and the characters interactions interesting, with the story being told from the POV of the only female on board well done. Not a page turner, but interesting enough to keep reading. I’m not sure the ending was as well written as the rest of the book, too sketchy for me.

A book full of well researched diving jargon (thanks for the glossary!), it will be of interest to those who enjoy technical writing.

Thank you NetGalley and Hodder and Stoughton.

This author comes out with some of the most unique settings and stories and this book was no exception. I’m already claustrophobic but learning about saturation diving has now unlocked a new fear!

This book is clearly very well researched and is one of those books that make you want to learn more about the subject, it’s certainly not something I’d ever heard of before. The book was engaging from the outset and the last few chapters my heart was racing! The only criticism is that at the mid point some of the content felt a little repetitive to me but nonetheless I was still excited to see where it was going and enjoyed the book overall.

3.5 rounded up.

Thank you to net galley for providing an ecopy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Six divers are to be locked into a pressurised chamber resembling a mini submarine, they will be lowered to the bottom of the North Sea and work there for a month. They breathe a mixture of oxygen and helium so their bloodstream becomes saturated with it so the pressure is the same as the surrounding waters. They’re lowered, twenty metres, fifty metres, a hundred metres below sea level. All ready Mike, Jumbo, Andre, Spock, Tea-bag and our narrator Brooke??? Affirmative. The mother ship, Deep Topaz will see you all in a month ….. or will they?

Wow. This is an absolute must read for fans of the locked room mystery thriller genre. Right from the start it gives me chills and goosebumps, just the very thought of being trapped in the chamber makes me want to risk the bends to escape. The six divers are submerged and confined in a very small space making this a creative and original setting for a locked room mystery and they don’t get much more claustrophobic than this. They resemble tinned sardines so the feeling of being closed in is off the scale intense. It’s physically and mentally challenging at the best of times without the And Then There Were None premise.

It’s very well written, the pace is fast, its an exciting and gripping edge of the seat read with off the SonarChart tension. Will Dean chucks little info bombs into the mix with jaw dropping effect. As they’re submerged in a hidden seabed world in a darkly mysterious setting, a terrific atmosphere to accompany the tale is a given. At times the setting provides a dreamlike quality, a hypnotic tone to the storytelling or maybe that should be nightmarish as the dangers are obvious and it becomes terrifying. The toll it takes on the original six is exhausting and that doubles down as their fear levels rise. Who to trust is the big conundrum.

It’s hard to explain how an already tension fuelled atmosphere can escalate but the last part is a countdown and it sure does. Dread builds as suspicion flits hither and thither. Can they stay alive to exit the chamber?

Overall, I love this latest novel from this talented author who has nailed the locked room mystery. It’s apparent he’s done a great deal of research so it feels authentic and is conveyed clearly so it’s easy to visualise the scenarios. It creates a heart pounding reading experience, I feel the need to take great gulps of fresh air! It’s an addictive clever page turner with a terrific enigmatic ending. So well played Mr D, I’m eagerly anticipating what you come up with next. We’ve been on the sea, under the sea - in the air next time????

Highly recommended.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Hodder and Stoughton for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

Will Dean is the master of clever, gripping, intelligent thrillers- and The Chamber is perhaps his best yet. The panic, claustrophobia and confusion that he induces had me hooked- and he combines this with compelling characters and amazing technical detail. If this isn’t a film or a tv mini series in a couple of years, I’ll eat my hat

After loving The Last Passenger, I was very excited to read this one - I’m loving these books that are set at sea! It’s very clear that a lot of research went into writing this book, and things were explained very well. I don’t know much about diving, but all of the terms and equipment were explained very well so I wasn’t confused at all. The storyline was very tense, and it was hard to put this book down - I read it in less than 24 hours! I really liked the characters and the storyline, although I was a little bit confused by the ending. I highly recommend this book, and I’m looking forward to reading more from Will Dean in the future!

After finishing this book in the early hours of this morning because I absolutely could not put it down, what can I say but WOW!
Will Dean has created yet another masterpiece of a thriller, with an incredible atmosphere of claustrophobia and tension. This one has gone straight to the top of my recommendations for the year, just as his brilliant The Last Thing To Burn did when it came out. Bravo Will - and please, please keep writing!

Wow, Will Dean has done it again. After reading the highly addictive The Last Passenger, I was excited to be given an arc of his new book. A few pages in and I was feeling claustrophobic, expecting it to be a scenario where divers are trapped in a chamber under the sea with hours left to find a safe way out…..I was wrong!
Ellen works as part of a deep sea dive team, employed this time by an off shore oil rig to check pipelines at great depths. This involves 6 of them in a tiny chamber, lowered to the seabed where they take turns going out to do the maintenance. Every step every breath is monitored by the ship they are attached to and by the other crew members. There are strict rules they have to adhere to, to keep themselves safe and alive. When one of them dies for no apparent reason it shocks them all but when a second person dies it brings unanswered questions and irrational thoughts amongst the remaining 4.
Told through Ellen’s eyes, Will Dean has crafted a superbly suffocating premise, a locked room scenario that is as so awful that at times I felt like I couldn’t breathe. The rigorous procedures and the crews mantra add to the atmosphere of impending doom.
I highly recommend

#TheChamber. #NetGalley

Well ... talk about your locked room mystery. This couldn't be more locked if the evil doer had taken the key, thrown it in some concrete and shipped it out to sea over the deepest possible crevice in the seabed known to man. Not only are the (potential) murder victims stuck in said locked room, where any one of them could be a suspect, assuming that what comes to pass is as a result of foul play, but they cannot be released for four whole days. Why? Because they are in a pressurised vessel in preparation for work in the murky depths of the North Sea, and any attempt to open the vessel before it has been carefully decompressed will result in what is, for all intents and purposes, their blood boiling ... or worse. I won't look at raspberry jam in the same way again, put it that way. I also won't stop eating it, but still. Bleurgh.

What Will Dean has served us here really is a classy piece of writing. Six suspects, assuming that the first death on board is a dastardly deed and not just some unfortunate incident. And I say six as there is no way of knowing that the victim didn't take their own life. That is the problem facing the five remaining divers. Noone really knows anything. Not only are they trapped in a pressurised, all too teeny weeny, can like some sacrificial sardines, but the boat their vessel is attached too is out in the North Sea, miles from port, with little chance of any external help as they are slaves to the ever changing weather conditions. So it really is locked room, key, concrete, deep sea ... I wasn't lying. There is a vestige of hope - also teeny tiny - in that if they can survive the four days, they get their freedom. As we are soon to learn, that is a rather large ask. They haven't compared the book to 'And Then There Were None' for no reason.

This is a somewhat claustrophobic tale, for reasons that probably don't need explanation. As someone who isn't a particularly strong swimmer and didn't cope well just snorkeling to see Manatees, I can't think of anything worse than being miles beneath the sea working on pipes and such like, totally beholden to your crew mates for your life and safety. There has to be absolute, unerring trust. Shame that this is soon in short supply as suspicion falls from one crewmate to another in a case of what may, or may not, be murder. You can feel the tension leech from the page, see tempers flaring as swiftly as their temperatures, and it's not long before it's not just the metal of the vessel creaking at the seams. But, as with any intense situation, the divers need to remain calm which they do by recounting missions and times from their past, allowing us to learn more about them in turn and making what comes to pass all the more shocking.

We have one key narrator in this story, the only female diver on board - Ellen Brooke. She is relatively unique in her line of work, and is recording her time on board in a bid to try and encourage more women into the industry. That could be good, or bad, depending on who you are and how much evidence you want of what it going on. Ellen is a strong character and someone it was easy to spend time with, Will Dean using her observation and thoughts to help escalate the tension and sense of fear on board. It also allows us a very unique perspective as Ellen is the only person of the group to actually spend time on the ocean floor working on the North Sea oil lines they've been recruited to repair. Now I have no experience in this arens, but it certainly felt authentic, and the calm of the sea - not without the odd moment of jeopardy in it's own right - certainly serves as a contrast to what is to come. There is one moment, perhaps a portent that helps to elevate the sense of foreboding, where I wondered just where the author may take this story. A distraction for sure, but soon forgotten in the hell that Ellen and her job partner, André are soon to join.

It's really hard to say too much more about the book without spoilers, but Ic an say that the finger of suspicion points in many directions, including towards Ellen. The more we learn of each of them, the more plausible it is that any one of them could be responsible -assuming that it really is a case of foul play. There really is no way of knowing until very late in the novel. It keeps the tension and suspense high, and that constant, literal, ticking clock of a countdown to the vessel being fully decompressed adds another layer of intensity to an already fractious team and the atmosphere is stifling. Each page we move closer to the end, kicks the sense of dread up a notch, knowing we are moving to some impossible end game, but never quite knowing what it might be. There are plenty of surprises still to come and a lot of questions left to be answered. Whether we ever truly get answers to them all ... well, you'll have to read to find that out for yourselves.

With all the intensity of The Last Thing To Burn, albeit it with water and not fire, it's definitely recommended.

As I start writing this review, I’m struggling, as I’m having to resist the urge just to write, “YOU NEED TO READ THIS BOOK!”. I feel I must do the author, Will Dean, and the book justice, so I will try to string some words together.

The Chamber is centred in a DSV, a deep sea vessel. A hyperbaric chamber, where 6 of the most experienced saturation divers are preparing for a dive. It is quite normal for them to spend a month in cramped, claustrophobic, oppressive conditions like these. They are highly trained, but nothing can prepare them for what lies ahead, on this particular dive. One of team, a rookie, dies, which would be awful in any circumstance. But being on the bed of The North Sea, with a 4 day decompression in front of them, makes for a very intense read.

As the hours and minutes to tick by, as the physical pressure in the chamber slowly decreases, the mental pressure ramps up exponentially.
Each of the divers has their own story, their personal baggage which weighs more heavily on them, than their diving helmet.

The Chamber is set in a world completely alien to me, before reading this book, it was beyond my imagination. The author’s very well researched words, etched this foreign landscape into my mind, where it will stay for a long while I suspect. The intensity, the pressure, the claustrophobia, the mistrust is fed to the reader through the wonderful writing.

I read the book so quickly, I couldn’t bear to put it down. The speed at which I read, further intensified the already fraught storyline. As soon as I had finished reading, I had to be outside. I’ve just spent nearly 2hrs gardening, as I needed to be in the light, to feel the sun on my face, breathing fresh air. I genuinely felt like I needed to mentally decompress.

I make no secret that The Last Thing to Burn is my favourite read from the last 3 years, I recommend it to anyone who asks for a recommendation, and many who don’t. I haven’t felt such intense claustrophobia and pressure while reading since, until I opened the pages of The Chamber. I felt like I was there, in that horrific chamber. I was completely immersed. Will Dean, you are the King of Claustrophobia for me.

The Chamber is the ultimate locked room thriller. If somehow you weren’t sure, it’s 5⭐️ from me without doubt or question. This book is good, so very good, buy the book, just do it.

Thanks Netgalley for the ARC and Will Dean for another 5 star read.

I don't think there are enough expletives for this book! Stunning, gripping, claustrophobic, murky, tense. At some points I had to remember to breath. This is the ultimate locked room thriller and there's definitely no quick escape. The research Will has put into sat diving is extensive and second to none to the point where I thought sat diver, not author, was his job.

Six sat divers are about to be locked in a hyperbaric chamber under the North Sea for the next four weeks. We meet each character when they enter and get to know a bit of their background. Once submerged and at full pressure the crew start to die. With no quick escape decompression must begin it's long, slow process before the remaining crew can get help. That's when the mind games begin. Fuelled by no sleep and no food the crew must pit their wits to stay alive for the next four days and make it back to shore. Will anyone make it?

Just brilliant.

Wow. This was such an intelligent, highly researched, and gripping read. I was gripped from the first few pages. I was so immersed in this book that I was literally holding my breath throughout the book.

The story follows 6 saturation divers. They go on a job that is contracted for a month where they will live in a hyperbaric chamber, breathing helium. The Chamber is no bigger than a mini bus.

The procedure is for two saturation divers to work at a time. On the first shift, the two saturation divers come back to find one of the other divers is deceased on his bunk.

They then make the decision to decompress the chamber. However, to decompress safely, it will take 4 days. Will anyone make it out alive?

This was suspenseful, gripping, anxiety inducing, and made me feel claustrophobic throughout the book.

Will Dean did such an amazing job at researching this topic, and it was so cleverly written.

I would highly recommend it. Will Dean has now become an auto buy author for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for the ARC, e-copy in exchange for an honest review.