"The Plague Court Murders"

John Dickson Carr is generally recognized as the undisputed master of the locked room mystery. In some of his books, too, he was a master at creating a truly terrifying atmosphere, so that the crimes committed in his books appeared to be the work of supernatural forces. You'll find that talent is on display in his 1934 book, "The Plague Court Murders," written under the pseudonym "Carter Dickson." It was the first book to introduce his "other" series detective, the irascible Sir Henry Merrivale. It's the subject of this week's review on the Classic Mysteries podcast, and you can listen to the full review by clicking here.

For fans of Sir Henry, be forewarned: there's very little of the humor (often slapstick comedy) displayed by Sir Henry in most of the later "Carter Dickson" novels. What you have, instead, is an often-terrifying story of a night spent in a supposedly haunted house - a night which culminates in a murder inside a locked and bolted room, one being watched by the police, where the murderer has apparently disappeared - but the very distinctive and unusual knife which was used remains inside that room.

Carr weaves this into a story about a rather horrible man named Louis Playge, an assistant to the public hangman some three hundred years earlier, whose malevolent ghost may be responsible for the very modern crimes in Plague Court. At the same time, the reader is given fair - but well-disguised - clues to the real solution, which Sir Henry pursues with only a minimum of his usual antics. The reader is warned: there are some very well-done surprising twists in store here. It's not my favorite Carr (or Dickson) book, but it's a fine puzzle plot, concealed nicely inside what appears to be a first-rate ghost story. For readers of vintage mysteries from the Golden Age of Detection, this is well worth your interest. It's available in print, and an e-book version is available for the Amazon Kindle.

Comments

[Patrick]

This is a really good book- I'm not a huge fan of the answer to the locked room, but it's surprising, as well as being a clever and satisfying resolution to the frightening events.

And I find the comedy so much funnier because it's (a) restrained and (b) not so frequent. The small touches really work, such as the safe labelled "Important State Documents" but containing the drink, or H.M. picking up the phone and telling the caller they've reached the Zoo.

[Les Blatt]

Patrick, I must admit the locked room solution does leave me with a raised eyebrow, but I was very much surprised by a couple of the final twists. I also agree with your point about the humor: I think the best H.M. novels are the ones where there's some restraint (to the extent that, say, causing a riot in the New York City subway system, as in "A Graveyard to Let," can be called "restrained"), rather than the all-out slapstick of some of the later books. "The Plague Court Murders" does have plenty of small - and pleasant - touches.

[Bev@My Reader's Block]

This is one of the Carter Dickson (Carr) books that I have yet to read...beckoning to me from the TBR pile. Your review makes me want to move it up in line. Must resist. Too many challenges to fulfill.

[Les Blatt]

Far be it from me to lead you into temptation, Bev, but you really WILL enjoy the Plague Court Murders! Hey, I'm just sayin' ... ;-)