"The Judas Window"

Prepare to be dazzled, hoodwinked, and generally led around by the nose at the hands of a master magician. "The Judas Window" is a locked-rooom mystery by Carter Dickson, the pen name of John Dickson Carr. It is, without question, one of the best such novels ever written - and the subject of today's Classic Mysteries podcast review.

Consider the opening gambit: a young man awakens in a room, feeling as if he had been drugged. He finds himself alone with the body of his fiancee's father, who appears to have been stabbed to death with an arrow. The room is locked and bolted on the inside; the windows are shuttered and locked. There is nobody else in the room. And somebody is hammering on the door demanding that the young man unlock it.

Assuming that the young man is innocent - a fair assumption - can you come up with a rational explanation that does not automatically assume his guilt? Obviously, the police - and other witnesses - can not, and the young man is charged with murder. But he is defended by Dickson's detective, Sir Henry Merrivale. H. M., as he is called, claims to know exactly what happened: the crime was committed through use of what he calls a "Judas window."

A what? H. M. says almost every room has a Judas window. It's just that so few people ever notice it.

I'm giving away nothing here. That point is drummed into us over and over - it's even quoted in the back-cover blurb for this Rue Morgue Press edition. But I'm willing to bet that not many readers will beat H. M. to the correct conclusion. Don't miss it. To hear the full review, click here.