Indeed, he read very little except detective stories, which he devoured at a rate of one a day. Ronald Knox, The Motive
In the summer of 1939, Howard Brooke is living just outside the town of Chartres with his wife Georgina and son Harry. Harry, who is the apple of his parent’s eyes, has become engaged to Brooke’s secretary, Fay Seton. But when sinister rumors begin to swirl about the girl, Brooke is determined to buy her …
Continue reading He Who Whispers by John Dickson Carr (1946)
Mr. Justice Horace Ireton is well known for his belief in his own abilities to interpret the law and pass judgment. His idea of which is not tempered with mercy, and his method of delivering that justice is often compared to that of a game of cat and mouse. Then he was found with a pistol …
Continue reading Death Turns the Tables by John Dickson Carr (Sep 1941)
On the night of his death Angus Campbell retired to his bedchamber at the top of Shira Castle. The following morning, his body was found at the base of the tower, dead from a fall through it’s one window. A post-mortem shows he was not overcome by drink or drugs, and therefore accidental death is …
Continue reading The Case of the Constant Suicides by John Dickson Carr (Jun 1941)
Anjana, Kate and I recently took on a group read and review of JDC’s Castle Skull. You can take a look at our joint review here. As you’ll see opinions varied.
There are stories about Longwood House with its reputation for strange deaths and bizarre incidents. A death, over a century previous, attributed to witchcraft; an elderly, and reputedly sane, butler swings from a heavy chandelier, only to have it fall and crush him to death; a chair jumps across a room, flying at a man. …
Continue reading The Man Who Could Not Shudder by John Dickson Carr (1940)
Hugh Rowland found Brenda White outside of the wire cage. Inside is a wet clay tennis court, in the center of which lies the body of Frank Dorrance, strangled by his own scarf. The footprints of Frank and Brenda can be seen going out to the body, but only one set coming back, Brenda’s. She …
Continue reading The Problem of the Wire Cage by John Dickson Carr (1939)