John Dickson Carr
John Dickson Carr (1906-1977) was an American writer of crime novels, referred to by some as the king of the locked room or impossible mystery story. He wrote under a number of names, including Carter Dickson. The best place to start or get a flavour of whether you like John Dickson Carr’s writing might be the short story, “The House in Goblin Wood”, which dates from 1947 and was recommended on Five Books by Golden Age mystery specialist Martin Edwards.
Books by John Dickson Carr
“It’s one of the most famous of the impossible crime stories…The mystery is very ingenious, the characterization is quite sharp, the atmosphere is fantastic. And the solution is great. There’s an absolutely chilling finale to it, the sort of thing you don’t really expect in a traditional golden age novel. It’s not in the least cozy, I think that’s fair to say.” Read more...
Martin Edwards, Literary Scholar
“The Hollow Man is not only my favourite Carr novel, I think it’s my favourite mystery novel overall. It’s a perfect mystery, a perfect puzzle, and it’s a wonderful balance of meticulous plotting and a sense of the Gothic, the fantastic and the almost surreal, at which Carr was particularly brilliant.” Read more...
The Best Locked-Room or Puzzle Mysteries
Tom Mead, Thriller and Crime Writer
“He has a number of detectives. Some of his early writing, featuring Henri Bencolin, have been republished by the British Library in recent times. He also created a character called Dr. Gideon Fell, whose case, The Seat of the Scornful, has been republished recently. (Fell is modeled on GK Chesterton, who was also very keen on locked room mysteries and impossible crimes and the idea of paradox.” Read more...
Martin Edwards, Literary Scholar
Interviews where books by John Dickson Carr were recommended
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1
The Detective Stories of Edgar Allan Poe: Three Tales Featuring C. Auguste Dupin
by Edgar Allan Poe -
2
The Mystery of the Yellow Room
by Gaston Leroux -
3
The Third Bullet and Other Stories
by John Dickson Carr -
4
Hercule Poirot's Christmas (1938)
by Agatha Christie -
5
The Tokyo Zodiac Murders
by Ross and Shika Mackenzie (translators) & Soji Shimada
The Best Golden Age Mysteries, recommended by Martin Edwards
The Best Golden Age Mysteries, recommended by Martin Edwards
Partly as a response to the horrors of World War I, the 1920s and 30s saw a surge in the writing of whodunnits, a period often referred to as the ‘golden age’ of mystery writing. Here, Martin Edwards, one of the leading experts on the genre, picks out some key works, with a special focus on ‘locked room’ mysteries.
The Best Locked-Room or Puzzle Mysteries, recommended by Tom Mead
In the Golden Age of mystery between the two World Wars, writers loved to devise fiendish plots where seemingly impossible crimes were committed. Tom Mead, author of two ‘locked-room’ mysteries set in the 1930s, introduces us to some of his favourite books in the genre, from the Golden Age itself to books written in more recent decades that pay tribute to its traditions.
