The Hollow Man aka The Three Coffins by John Dickson Carr

A murder has been committed on the Cagliostro street by an invisible killer, there were witnesses and yet they saw nothing, there was snowfall and yet no footprints and there were whispers but no clue as to who spoke them.

But then there is another murder and this one even more baffling. Professor Grimaud a man who studies the Supernatural is found shot in his room by an apparition who wore a child mask and had black hair which look like they were made of paper mache. 

A few days before Professor Grimaud is murdered, he is threatened by a strange man who reminds him something about his past. Petrified and worried the professor does something strange, he goes out and buys a large painting of three graves with the backdrop of a gigantic tree in an unknown country. Was the professor trying to protect himself by a charm?

The murderer had locked the professor in a room with only two entrances, a door which is being watched by two witnesses and a Window 50 foot high. After shooting, when the door of the room is broken down there is no sign of the murderer. He could not have gotten out of the door as there were two witnesses who swear they saw the childish mask wearing apparition go inside but not come outside, then there is the impossible situation of the Window, which is 50 foot high and anyone jumping outside the Window would surely leave footsteps outside on the snow but there are none. so when the poor professor is found shot in his study he is alone and there is no trace of the killer who is lighter then air and is surely the Hollow man.

Dr. Fell investigates the most famous case of his career and the gives the most famous lecture in detective fiction.

Review:

The start of the story is a cracker, it is absolutely mystical and intriguing. One impossible locked room murder committed under creepy circumstances by a guy who looks right out of the Halloween movies and another one in the middle of the street with witnesses who say they saw a man die but did not see the killer! The Hollow Man was voted as the best locked room mystery of all time by a panel of mystery authors and reviewers and I don't want to challenge them, but the ending and the explanation is way too complicated for me, I would have liked something a bit simpler like the Judas Window or the Reader is Warned. That said this novel has too many great things and very few negatives, for example the famous locked room lecture by Dr. Fell.

In the lecture Dr. Fell address the readers and tells them various methods in which a hermetically sealed locked room can be constructed and then challenges the reader to find out which one was used to murder Professor Grimaud.

Ratings: 4 out of 5






Where can you buy it? Infibeam or try Landmark, this is not easy to find and you might have to shell 500 bucks

The Reader is Warned by Carter Dickson

Dr. Sander's gets an invitation from Mina and Sam Constable to spend a weekend at their house with few friends and a mind reader. Dr. Sanders meets the mysterious and unobtrusive Herman Pennik, Pennik is a telepath or claims to be one. He can read minds and demonstrates it.

Pennik says "That Thought has a physical force like sound. Notes in sound can shatter a glass or even kill a man. The same applies to thought "

An unfortunate accident has landed all the domestic help in the hospital, so Pennik offers to cook for the Constables and there guests, Sam Constable is surprised by knowing that Pennik can cook in addition to his other out of the world skills. Sam asks Pennik if dinner would be ready by 8?

Pennik: "If you like. But I do not think that Mr Constable that you will get any Dinner" to which the irate Constable questions "Not get my dinner? Why the Devil shouldn't I get my dinner"

to which Pennik replies "I don't think you will be alive at 8 o'clock!!"

The Grandfather clock stood at one minute to eight when Mina Constable began to scream so loudly and with such terror that it could mean only one thing ~ The Reader is warned

Review:

This is a case of Classic misdirection by Carr. I have read a few Carr's in my life time but this one is probably one of the best. The murderer has a water tight alibi. The one who don't have an alibi and are suspects in the murder are the next victim themselves and so it becomes confusing. The book keeps on getting more and more mysterious as you keep on turning the pages, it is not unit the final 10 pages that the mystery is completely revealed and what does come out as the solution is not for the weak heart. The way and the manner in which the murderer confesses, boasts and explains the crimes is a little chilly, This is not a locked room murder but an impossible one none the less.

There are parts in the book which are very gripping like when Sanders tells Chief Inspector Masters about the three ways a person can die of violence(murder) without any sign, internal or external to show what killed him. There is also one part where HM tells Sanders about why a certain person is lying.

This novel is part of the HM series and like most of HM novels this is a Classic. Highly recommended but this comes with a warning there are some explicit signs of Racism and the use of the 'N' word and a little derogatory language against the Africans, but you need to keep in mind when this book was written. At that time Racism was at its peak and these authors were following the traditions of the society.

Deducting half a star for the little racist comments:

Where Can you buy this: I got this for 854 bucks from Infibeam, the book was second hand and in not the best condition but totally worth it, the book is out of print I think cause of the racist comments.

One Two buckle my shoe by Agatha Christie

There is a common nemesis for the elite, the powerful, the rich, the sly and the brilliant it is their Dentist. Hercule Poirot's Dentist is found murdered after his visit and so Inspector Japp calls on Poirot to help him solve the case as it involves the wealthy and powerful banker Alistair Blunt who might have been the target in this case but the unlucky dentist ended up dead.

Blunt is England's Banker. part of the old guard who is a symbol of stability in the times of the second world war. His dentist getting murdered minutes after him leaving the clinic is worrying for the government and they don't want to take this as a coincidence. Another curious incidence takes place an American whose name is difficult to spell then "arnold schwarzenegger" gets murdered. He visited the Dentist right after Blunt and now the police, government and Poirot are deeply worried.

Poirot is thrown into a world of Politics, Deceit and Spies and how he loves it!

Review:

Reading about the infallible Poirot getting scared of the dentist's chair and then taking advise from a retired home officer should be worthy enough to warrant a read. Throw in there a triple murder and political intrigue and this one goes off the charts. The third murder is extremely brutal and the way Christie narrates the aftermath is vivid and not for the weak hearted. Poirot's little speech in the end is enjoyable.

I wanna add that Poirot working alone is Golden. I always find that his association with Hastings provides with some of the weaker stuff, but not everyone thinks that. all in all this one's a hidden gem and very underrated. If I ever do a poirot top five I might find space for this one.

Where can I buy this: you can get this easily from any bookstore like Om or Landmark and online from Flipkart. All Christie books are dirt cheap

The Plague Court murders by Carter Dickson

Ken Blake the faithful assistant of HM(Henry Merrivale) is bored to death sitting in a bar drinking, Ken is approached by Halliday an old friend who asks Ken to spend a night with him in a haunted house. Ken readily takes up the challenge. On a rainy, dark and mysterious night Blake and Halliday reach a house like no other, the house is known to be haunted by no other then Louis Plague a malevolent soul always watchful, always cunning and always waiting to posses a living body and to exchange that body's weak brain with its own just had it done since it's first appearance in 1665.

The family of Halliday hires a Psychic Roger Darworth to exorcise the Plague court ghost, the exorcist was not an ordinary one. He was a first rate fraud and under police surveillance for months. Darworth wanting to Impress his Acolytes by exorcising the ghost of Plague court, locks himself in a small stone house which has solid stone walls on four sides, a wooden door locked from both inside and outside, its windows barred and with no secret weapon is found brutally murdered. And the murder weapon? no ordinary one. It was the ancient knife which was the property of the Plague Court ghost.

Review:

The Plague Court murders starts of as a haunted house story which gives you the chills on every page and then very soon it becomes a Locked room murder mystery. This was Carr's genre and he was the master at it. In many Carr books you will find the element of Supernatural. Carr will put forward an impossible crime and then have you believe that there could be no other explanation for it other then the supernatural and then HM or Dr. Gideon Fell would prove otherwise. This is the debut of the "Old Man" i.e. Henry Merrivale. This is a good debut not HM's best but still good enough. The locked room itself is pretty solid but how it was cracked was not very satisfactory also it won't be easy to guess the identity of the murderer because of a twist in the end which I was not content with. In conclusion this is a nice read with an impenetrable locked room murder, a ghost story and HM making his debut.

Ratings: 3 out of 5

Where can you get this: Unfortunately this is not easy to get as this book is out of print, I found a second hand book on Infibeam in a good condition worth Rs 580.

He Who Whispers by John Dickson Carr

Miles Hammond is invited to the meeting of the mysterious "Murder Club", the murder club meets to discuss impossible and intriguing murders and on a very rainy and mysterious Friday night it's guest speaker is Professor Rigaud, but to the surprise of Miles Hammond all members of the murder club are absent except for the speaker and a young girl, so with the lights gone and three of them sitting in a lonely dark room Professor Rigaud starts to narrate his story about Fey Seton. The red hair beauty who when walks in a room leaves all the men gasping.

Professor:

Fey Seton comes to the little french city of Chartes where she works as a secretary to the Wealthy Industrialist Howard Brookes, but wherever Fey goes rumors follow. Inevitably the young son of Mr. Brookes falls for Fey but the Sr. Brookes would have none of it, having heard some very disturbing stories about Fey, Mr Brookes decides to bribe Fey out of love and arranges a meeting on top of an old stone tower, Fey is seen coming down from the tower when Mr Brookes is seen well and alive on top of the tower, soon Mr. Brookes is found dead on top of the tower with just one entrance door and nobody seen going inside and no one seen going outside, there is no explanation of his murder, who entered the tower? where did they go?

The villagers do have an explanation and it is that Fey Flew to the top of the 40 foot tower!! surprised?

they say she is a Nosferatu or a Vampire!

A telephone call ends the murder club meeting abruptly, Miles Hammond goes back to his life and his Library of antique and rare books, but soon he gets a message from a job applicant for the position of a Librarian who miles wanted desperately, on inquiring Miles founds out that the Applicant has come down from France and is a tall, red haired, beautiful woman called "Fey Seton"!

Review: You start reading the novel and you begin to realize what a master Carr is. Carr weaves the supernatural into the fabric of the book so well that you feel that you are reading a horror story where the explanation of the murder cannot be anything but Supernatural, the book is from the Gideon Fell Series.

Who is Gideon Fell? he is an amateur sleuth who is an expert on locked room crimes, he is the fictional hero of the greatest locked room mystery of all time "The hollow man" where in chapter 17 Fell gives a full lecture on the how locked room murders might be committed.

Where can you buy this: Flipkart or Infibeam will cost around 550 bucks

Ratings: 4.5 stars, do not miss this!

The Crooked House by Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie calls The Crooked house as one of her personal favorites and a book that she really enjoyed writing, first published in 1949 The Crooked House is part of the non series books by Agatha Christie which means there is no popular fictional detective like Miss Marple or Hercule Poirot in this one.

Plot:

Charles is the son of the AC of the Scotland yard and is in love with the beautiful Sophia Leonides, when Charles shares his feeling of Love with Sophia, she refuses Charles but not because she does not love Charles but because she might be one of the accused in the murder of her millionaire grandfather. Charles like a knight in shining armor comes to the rescue to help his Fiance and find the true identity of the murderer. But has he bitten off more then he can chew? will the truth save him or hurt him?

Review:

This is only the second non-series Agatha Christie book that I have read and without a doubt her non-series books have been the best, This is an absolute intriguing read. I read the whole book in one day! no doubt people refer to this one as one of her best novels. The Absence of Marple and Poirot in the book is perfect had any of the two of them been in this book then that would have ruined it for me, The amateur sleuth Charles proves to be a great narrator and detective and you can relate more to the Human errors of Charles then the sometimes Snobbish Poirot, the ending of the book is perfect the last 4 chapters are absolutely spell binding and working out the identity of the killer is not easy, I was not able to work this one out, why don't you give it a try too? A must read.

Where can you get it: I got this one from Landmark for Rs 150, I think you can get it cheaper from FlipKart.

A pocket full of Rye by Agatha Christie

This one was written in 1953 and is a typical cozy English mystery with lots of murders and even more suspects, the title and cover of the book are highly attractive.

Plot:

A Highly successful Banker after drinking a cup of tea falls seriously ill and dies within hours from poisoning, the banker's pockets are found to be full of rye!! no one knows why there was cereal in the dead man's pocket until his wife is also poisoned eating bread and honey and his maid is found strangled with a clothes pin on her nose, Miss Marple deduces that someone is arranging the murders along the nursery rhyme Sing a song of Sixpence, is someone extracting revenge on the family? or is there a madman on the loose or something even more sinister?

Sing a song of sixpence,

A pocket full of rye.
Four and twenty blackbirds,
Baked in a pie.

When the pie was opened,
The birds began to sing;
Wasn't that a dainty dish,
To set before the king?

The king was in his counting house,
Counting out his money;
The queen was in the parlour,
Eating bread and honey.

The maid was in the garden,
Hanging out the clothes;
When down came a blackbird
And pecked off her nose.

Review:

This is the third book that I have read in the Miss Marple series and my interest in the series has only increased, the difference between Miss Marple and other detectives I feel is that she is not all over the place she appears in parts briefly in her books and then comes in the end to provide an elegant solution, here in A Pocket full of rye I don't think she makes her appearance before the first 125 pages. The book in it self is a nice read, the characters are well written and interesting. The mystery is intriguing and the plot with victim having his pocket full of rye is quite enthralling, I would highly recommend this book to someone who is new to the genre but for me I was able to figure out the Identity of the murderer halfway through the book, once I'm able to figure out the Identity of the murderer and then it is corroborated, I feel a little disappointed that is because I love to be surprised by the twist endings. that said the book is still very interesting and Miss Marple books are supposed to be workable, light and easy mysteries. 

Ratings: 3.5 out of 5

Where can you find it: this is easily available in local bookstores and can also also be ordered online from Flipkart.

And So To Murder by Carter Dickson

And so to murder by John Dickson Carr was written in 1940 at the early stages of the second world war, this is NOT a locked room mystery and like many Carr books this also has a lot of Anti-Nazi themes (which is not surprising since Carr was a part of the English Governments propaganda for the Allies i.e. US, UK, France and the rest of the West), but the underlying theme of this book is not War but Movies and the Film Industry in merry old England, Carr takes us through movie sets and characters typical to the Film Industry.



Plot:

Monica Stanton, the pretty and rather naive daughter of a British clergyman, is the author of a surprisingly scandalous best-seller. As a result, she's been hired as a script writer for Albion Films, working with William Cartwright, a script writer from the world of detective novels.

However, she's not going to be working on her own novel—she's helping Cartwright adapt his latest detective novel, “And So To Murder”. Tilly Parson is a dumpy, bustling chain-smoking American woman in her early fifties who is the highest-paid scenario writer in the world, imported from Hollywood at great expense to adapt Monica's novel.

Glamorous movie star Frances Fleur, whose punctilious husband Kurt selects all her parts, will be the star. Against the backdrop of Pineham Studios and Fleur's current movie, a series of mysterious attempts on Monica's life begin—they are exceptionally nasty and completely inexplicable, involving sulfuric acid.

When someone poisons Tilly Parsons' cigarette and nearly kills her, Sir Henry Merrivale helps Chief Inspector Masters to bring home the crimes to their unlikely perpetrator.

Review:

To begin with I have a complaint with Carr, I think Carr broke a rule of the Fair play detection which is rule number 8 "The Detective is bound to declare any clues which he may discover", I think Carr cheated on this one by giving the murderer a very strong alibi and then falsifying the alibi, I can't reveal the exact details cause this is a spoiler free blog, besides that I thought the writing was poor and since there was no murder committed it can't be termed as a murder mystery and with all the talk about movies, Nazis and poisons this seems more like a James Bond novel then a John Dickson Carr, Carr should stick to Locked room mysteries, this is Carr at his weakest only good thing is the humor in the book especially between the idiotic Director and his Assistant.

Ratings: 2 out of 5

Where can you buy it: it's in print and you can get it from any online book selling website like Flipkart or Infibeam.