Cliquer sur une vignette pour aller sur Google Books.
Chargement... The Crooked Hingepar John Dickson Carr
Books Read in 2011 (402) Chargement...
Inscrivez-vous à LibraryThing pour découvrir si vous aimerez ce livre Actuellement, il n'y a pas de discussions au sujet de ce livre. The current Farnleigh of Farnleigh Close comes under scrutiny when questions arise as to if he is really the John Farnleigh who is descended from the long line of Farnleighs. A man has shown up claiming to be the real John Farnleigh and the current one is a fraud. It is brought out that the real John Farnleigh had been shipped off to America after he disgraced his family, when he was 15, 25 years ago. He sailed on the Titanic and was thought lost at sea. It now seems he had been living in America all this time under another name. People from John Farnleigh’s past are brought in to help determine which man is the real John Farnleigh. When the current head of Farnleigh is found dead in his garden, with his throat slashed, the question of who is the real John Farnleigh becomes even more important than who killed him. Dr. Gideon Fell is called in to reconstruct the known facts and to determine who the real heir is. Gideon finds that determining the rightful heir isn’t the only problem; there are also complications regarding who is really entitled to the estate. John Dickson Carr doesn’t write simple mysteries, but rather ones with many twists and turns. This is definitely one of them! aucune critique | ajouter une critique
Appartient à la sérieAppartient à la série éditorialeAdey's Locked Room Murders (0301) DuMont's Kriminal-Bibliothek (1093) Listes notables
Banished from the idyllic English countryside he once called home and en route to live with his cousin in America, Sir John Farnleigh, black sheep of the wealthy Farnleigh clan, nearly perished in the sinking of the Titanic. Though he survived the catastrophe, his ties with his family did not, and he never returned to England--not even for the funerals of his mother, his father, or, most recently, his older brother Dudley. Now, nearly 25 years since he was first sent away, Sir John has finally returned home to claim his inheritance. But another "Sir John" soon follows, an unexpected man who insists he has absolute proof of his identity and of his claim to the estate. Before the case can be settled, however, one of the two men is murdered, and Dr. Gideon Fell, who happens to be passing through the village, finds himself facing one of the most challenging cases of his career. To solve it, he'll have to confront a series of bizarre and chilling phenomena, diving deep into the realm of the occult and brushing up against witchcraft, magic, and a sinister automaton to explain a seemingly impossible crime.Selected by a panel of twelve mystery luminaries as one of the ten best locked-room mysteries of all time, The Crooked Hinge is a creepy and atmospheric puzzle inspired by a real life case. It is the ninth installment in the Dr. Gideon Fell series, which may be read in any order. Aucune description trouvée dans une bibliothèque |
Discussion en coursAucunCouvertures populaires
Google Books — Chargement... GenresClassification décimale de Melvil (CDD)813.52Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1900-1944Classification de la Bibliothèque du CongrèsÉvaluationMoyenne:
Est-ce vous ?Devenez un(e) auteur LibraryThing. |
Review of the Penzler Publishers American Mystery Classics eBook (October 1, 2019) of the Harper and Brothers hardcover original (1938)
The Crooked Hinge is from towards the middle of the pack of Carr's Dr. Gideon Fell mysteries. I had randomly picked it up as a Kindle Deal of the Day and it isn't necessary to read the books in order. It is also listed quite high at #4 in a ranking of best "locked rooms / impossible crimes" novels. Carr is often considered the top writer of those scenarios. They usually involve a solution which is by necessity extremely elaborate and not very realistic, but as long as you are willing to go along, they can be very entertaining.
This one is par for the course. It takes a sort of Return of Martin Guerre scenario where there are two claimants to a baronetcy. One of them has already established themself in the position when another claimant appears, they have a lawyer and a supposed proof of their claim. Then one of the claimants dies, perhaps by suicide or was it an impossible murder? The man was observed standing outside with no one else seen nearby when he dies. The supposed "proof" also disappears. Somehow an automaton in the attic is involved, which seemingly moves unaided. Then a maid disappears. Then there appears to be a tie-in to a murder from a year ago which had previously been thought to be solved. Then there is apparent witchcraft involved.
You will think that there can't possibly be a solution to all this. Dr. Gideon Fell is of course on hand to explain it. In the end, the culprit also provides a complete confession which contains reveal after reveal, twist upon twist.
See cover at https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/...
The front cover of the original 1938 Harper and Brothers hardcover. Image sourced from Goodreads.
Trivia and Links
John Dickson Carr (1906-1977) is one of the 99 authors listed in The Book of Forgotten Authors (2017) by Christopher Fowler. He is No. 20 in the alphabetical listing which you can see towards the bottom of my review here.
This edition of The Crooked Hinge is part of the Otto Penzler American Mystery Classics series (2018-ongoing). There is a related Goodreads Listopia here with 57 books listed as of mid April 2024. There are currently 71 titles listed at the Mysterious Press online bookshop. The official website for the series at Penzler Publishers seems to show only the most recent and upcoming titles.
John Dickson Carr took the inspiration for Dr. Gideon Fell's appearance from that of author G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936), writer of the Father Brown mysteries and other works.
See photograph at https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/75/Gilbert_Chesterton.jpg...
Photograph of G.K. Chesterton. Image sourced from Wikipedia.
The source of the name Dr. Fell is apparently from the apocryphal epigram:
( )