Although John Dickson Carr was a prolific writer–he wrote under the pseudonym of “Carter Dickson,” too–most of his books are out-of-print. Carr specialized in locked-room mysteries and impossible crimes. The Three Coffins (aka, The Hollow Man) was published in 1935 and proved to be one of Carr’s most popular books. In 1981, a panel of 17 authors and reviewers voted The Three Coffins the best locked-room mystery ever written. Two murders are committed in rapid succession, one of them in a locked room. Dr. Gideon Fell investigates and eventually solves the crime. But, before Fell reveals how the baffling murders were committed and who the murderer is, he expounds on his specialty: locked room murders. This famous “Locked Room Lecture” became the standard template for the many locked room mysteries that followed. If you haven’t read The Three Coffins you’re missing one of the most historically important mysteries ever written. It’s also a very clever novel.
I read a lot of Carr (and a few Dicksons) back int he 1970’s and this one does stand out, if mainly for the locked room lecture. Back then a lot of his books were easily available in mass market paperbacks.
Sadly, few Golden Age classics (other than Christies) are readily available today.
I haven’t read all of John Dickson Carr’s work so I don’t want to make a blanket statement like “it’s his best book” but I found THE THREE COFFINS entertaining.
Overrated. The best locked room stories are those in which the basic gimmick is simple, as in The Crooked Hinge, where the entire complex of impossibilites is explained in one sentence of 4 words, 11 letters The Three Coffins explanation goes on for pages, detailing what are essentially elaborate stage illusions, with mirrors yet! Two other Carrs (Dicksons, actually, I think) that belong in the top rank are The Judas Window, and The Curse of the Bronze Lamp.
I’m off to LA & the paperback show.
Thanks Art! I have THE CROOKED HINGE, THE JUDAS WINDOW, and THE CURSE OF THE BRONZE LAMP. Now, I have to read them. Yes, the solution to THE THREE COFFINS is elaborate. But, so were Harry Stephen Keeler’s mystery plots. Have fun at the LA paperback show!
THE CROOKED HINGE is the Titanic one, right?
I’m not sure, Bill, but I’ll check. Here’s the list of the “best” locked room mysteries chosen in 1981:
1. John Dickson Carr The Three Coffins 1935
2 Hake Talbot Rim of the Pit 1944
3 Gaston Leroux The Mystery of the Yellow Room 1907
4 John Dickson Carr The Crooked Hinge 1938
5 Carter Dickson The Judas Window 1938
6 Israel Zangwill The Big Bow Mystery 1892
7 Clayton Rawson Death from a Top Hat 1938
8 Ellery Queen The Chinese Orange Mystery 1934
9 Anthony Boucher Nine Times Nine 1940
10 Carter Dickson The Peacock Feather Murders 1937
11 Ellery Queen The King is Dead 1952
12 Helen McCloy Through a Glass Darkly 1950
13 Carter Dickson He Wouldn’t Kill Patience 1944
14 Randall Garrett Too Many Magicians 1967
15 John Sladek Invisible Green 1977
Participants: Robert Adey, Jack Adrian, Jacques Barzun, Jon L. Breen, Robert E. Briney, Jan Broberg, Frederick Dannay, Douglas G. Greene, Howard Haycraft, Edward D. Hoch, Marvin Lachman, Richard Levinson & William Link (joint list), Francis M. Nevins, Jr., Otto Penzler, Bill Pronzini, Julian Symons, and Donald A. Yates
I’m not a huge Carr fan, but I would like to read HINGE someday.
I’m off to the paperback show too, but living closer I won’t leave until Sunday morning. Have to go really early though, the L.A. marathon is starting at Dodger Stadium and my route takes me right past there. The other way around is three times as far…
I can’t wait to hear what you and Art bought at the LA paperback show, Rick!
So much for my credentials as a locked room specialist! Rim of the Pit is at the top of my Most Overrated impossible novels list. Again, way too elaborate, with a you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me gimmick (hint – it’s an Olympic event). Chinese Orange is surely the worst of the early Queens — the everything-backwards hook is OK, but the locked room solution is way too clumsily mechanical. Rest of the list I’ll pass, several of the voters are friends of mine.
Obviously I’ve made it as far as LA, where they’re airing one of my favorite tv shows, Emergency!
I respect your judgment, Art. I just wanted to document who named THE THREE COFFINS the best locked room mystery.
I’ve read four of that list, and I thought the Queen KING IS DEAD was wildly unlikely and contrived, but I suppose most locked room stories are like that. I recall liking the Boucher.
I hope I have a good report for you, George.
Remember, Rick, you and Art are supposed to stimulate the economy in LA!
The Three Coffins has always been my favorite, because it is the most direct challenge to the reader: Carr sets out, in his opening paragraph, precisely what he intends to do – and then does it, while providing fair and honest clues (even calling attention to them!) along the way.
But both The Crooked Hinge and The Judas Window are also excellent, fair puzzles – and, thanks to the Rue Morgue Press, both of those are still in print. It’s amazing that both Mystery of the Yellow Room and The Big Bow Mystery, both more than a century old, hold up so well (and they’re still in print as well). I haven’t read all the other books on the list, though I’ve heard of most of them; good to know I still have some good reads awaiting me.
Great posting, Les! I’m going to read THE CROOKED HINGE soon and include it in Patti Abbott’s FORGOTTEN BOOKS series. And, like you, I’ll be reading those other recommended locked room mysteries.