“A family united all together under the same roof, in an old manor, with a generous and very rich man. If this were a novel, it would end in tragedy.” It would seem that the madman here is yours truly. My problematical relationship with author Paul Halter has been well documented on this site. And … Continue reading PUZZLING PUDDLES: Paul Halter’s The Madman’s Room
John Dickson Carr
DEAD MAN WALKING, PART ONE: Hake Talbot’s Rim of the Pit
In the world of locked room mysteries, everyone’s always talking about tracks. Tracks on the sand (The Problem of the Wire Cage), footprints in the herbaceous border (The Murder of Roger Ackroyd), tracks in a courtyard thick with mud (The Plague Court Murders). And don’t get me started on snow! I trekked in the snow … Continue reading DEAD MAN WALKING, PART ONE: Hake Talbot’s Rim of the Pit
ENTER SIR HENRY: The Plague Court Murders
One of the things I love about John Dickson Carr is that he is the perfect meta-author! He never pretends that what he is writing takes place in the world around him. In fact, throughout his career, he eschewed realism for a healthy dose of melodrama and mayhem and then called attention to the very … Continue reading ENTER SIR HENRY: The Plague Court Murders
BACK TO BEFORE: Carr’s The Emperor’s Snuff-Box
Summer vacation goal #2: Read a lot and get some blogging in. Ah, the best laid plans . . . yada yada . . . gang aft a-gley.” With a TBR pile fairly bursting with juicy titles by authors both familiar and new, you’d think this goal would be a cinch. But I’ve had an … Continue reading BACK TO BEFORE: Carr’s The Emperor’s Snuff-Box
SACRE BLEU! Caught Having a Good Time with Paul Halter
Those of you who have been kind enough to follow my excursions into classic mystery fiction know that along my reading travels there have been one or two travails, no more so, I fear, than my attempts to embrace Paul Halter, the modern-day French John Dickson Carr devotee and wannabe. God knows I’ve tried - … Continue reading SACRE BLEU! Caught Having a Good Time with Paul Halter
CHRISTIE/CARR SCATTERGORIES
Omigosh! I am so sorry, people! I was supposed to post this yesterday, as JJ so graciously reminded me this morning. (“Hey, um . . . so are you gonna post, or what?”) My excuse is that I’ve spent the weekend at work, producing the spring play. But here you go, as promised: the sequel to … Continue reading CHRISTIE/CARR SCATTERGORIES
THE 2017 CHRISTIE VS. CARR SMACKDOWN
. . . isn’t here! So hie thee quickly hence, over to JJ’s blog site, The Invisible Event, to find out what all the hoopla was about. See what two humble (sorta) Carr and Christie fans made of the pair of titles YOU voted as the best of the best! I warn you that, in … Continue reading THE 2017 CHRISTIE VS. CARR SMACKDOWN
DICKSON CARR’S “ROGER ACKROYD”: The Burning Court
Get ready, folks! The tension is mounting! April nears, and JJ (The Invisible Event) and I are about to get hot and heavy with our two favorite mystery authors: Agatha Christie and John Dickson Carr. After intense polling that involved thousands of mystery fans - okay, maybe thirty? – the top novels by each author … Continue reading DICKSON CARR’S “ROGER ACKROYD”: The Burning Court
STEP BY (FOOT)STEP: Carter Dickson’s She Died a Lady
Maybe it’s because of the company I keep: JJ over at The Invisible Event, Tomcat over at Beneath the Stains of Time, and Ben at The Green Capsule all focus much of their energies on impossible crimes and the work of the Master of that sub-genre, John Dickson Carr. (Heck, The Green Capsule is entirely … Continue reading STEP BY (FOOT)STEP: Carter Dickson’s She Died a Lady
TAKING A NEW CARR ROUND THE BLOCK: The Ten Teacups
I’m envious whenever I read another mystery fan describe how much they love the ten Agatha Christie novels they’ve read . . . or the fifteen, or the three, and so on. The lucky devils! What pleasures they still have in store. I often wish that someone would unearth previously unpublished titles by my favorite … Continue reading TAKING A NEW CARR ROUND THE BLOCK: The Ten Teacups
Ah Sweet Mystery! 