It is certainly a matter of recorded fact that the city of London was decimated by bubonic plague in the 17th century. It is also a matter of recorded fact that "plague doctors" roamed the streets of the city during that plague, dressed in bizarre outfits: an ankle-length coat, gloves, a broad hat and a mask, with a kind of long beak where the nose should be. But what would such people, wearing such an outfit, be doing in the streets of London nearly three centuries later, in 1938? How could the body of an apparent plague victim disappear from a stretcher - practically in front of witnesses - and reappear a half mile away when an astounded police officer looked inside a giant waste bin that had been searched - and found empty - moments before?
That's just the beginning of a spectacular "impossible crime" story by the French author Paul Halter, first published in 1991, called The Seventh Hypothesis
Paul Halter has written some 30 mysteries, most of them dealing with impossible crimes and locked room situations. His ingenious plots and marvelous atmospherics are often compared to John Dickson Carr, the 20th century master of such books. But Halter, fortunately for us, is alive and well and continues to write his stories, some of which are now being translated into English by John Pugmire.
In The Seventh Hypothesis, Halter's investigators, the criminologist, Dr. Twist, and Inspector Hurst, are confronted with the curious problem of the moveable corpse of an apparent plague victim in modern London (the book is set in 1938). What's more, there is evidence that this impossible situation may be linked to a most unusual conversation overheard between two prominent theatre people, who appear to have challenged each other to commit a murder in such a way that their murder would be pinned on the other person.
This is a terrific mystery. The impossible nature of the crime, the element of the "moving body" and the plague doctor, the deadly challenge - all form part of a fascinating plot. Despite a very small cast of characters, Halter manages to keep the reader guessing about who is really doing what to whom. if you enjoy a crime story filled with apparent impossibilities to confound the reader, by all means introduce yourself to Paul Halter and to The Seventh Hypothesis.
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