John Dickson Carr was 25 years old when he published The Corpse in the Waxworks in 1932. Mademoiselle Duchene was seen entering the Gallery of Horrors at the Musee Augustin waxworks in Paris. Later, she was found murdered in the Seine.
Henri Bencolin, head of the Paris police, tackles this crime as another woman’s body is found in the waxworks. The investigation leads Bencolin into the dark underworld of private clubs where masks hide identities…and sexual transgressions.
In his informative Introduction, Martin Edwards surveys Carr’s Bencolin mysteries and gives an overview of John Dickson Carr’s career. As a bonus, a rare Inspector Bencolin short story, “The Murder in Number Four,” is included in this wonderful British Library Crime Classics edition. GRADE: B+
He was a writer I took great pleasure back in the day.
Patti, I’ve read many of John Dickson Carr’s mystery novels, but I didn’t realize that Carr had written THE CORPSE IN THE WAXWORKS when he was only 25 years old until I read Martin Edwards’s wonderful Introduction to this edition. Impressive!!
I read all the Bencolin books in the ’70s. It only struck me recently how young he was when he wrote them! And thanks for the new copy of this one. I’ll be reading the short story soon. And yes, Martin Edwards has another excellent introduction.
Jeff, I read some of the Bencolin novels but not all of them. Martin Edwards provides great Introductions to the mysteries in this series. What a knowledgeable guy!
The covers for these are always good, but this one is particularly striking.
Jeff, I love the covers on the whole series of BRITISH LIBRARY CRIME CLASSICS! And, Martin Edwards’s Introductions, too~
I haven’t read very much by John Dickson Carr, and I should. This one does have an exceptionally nice cover.
Tracy, all the covers on the BRITISH LIBRARY CRIMES CLASSICS are very appealing. I love this series!
Most of the Carr I’ve read is courtesy of the Robert Arthur and Harold Q. Masur anthologies of my youth and EQMM issues, new and back while he was still with us…I should remedy that, and any pence that are tossed Martin Edwards’s way are certainly a bonus.
Todd, if you need some copies of John Dickson Carr’s works, I can send some your way.
Kind of you, George…I might take you up on that
Todd, just let me know what Carrs you’d like and I’ll put them in the mail to you.
Carr was 22 when “The Murder in Number Four” was published in The Haverfordian after his first trip to Europe. It was fun reading it again.
Jeff, I really liked that bonus short story in THE BRITISH LIBRARY CRIME CLASSIC of THE CORPSE IN THE WAXWORKS!