Carr Broken Down

Welcome to CARR BROKEN DOWN on RUINATION STREET!

Over the course of however long it takes, I will be posting reviews and detailed solution analyses of all* of John Dickson Carr's novels. Solution analyses will appear under expandable text on web browsers (tested in Chrome and Firefox), but as this feature doesn't work properly on mobile devices, please look out for the spoiler warning. Short story reviews and breakdowns will also appear, though without strict order or method.

All novels will also be rated on a decimal rating scale of 5-1, with the key as follows:

5 - Supreme Magisterial Puzzle Artistry

4 - Clever mystery and overall entertaining read

3 - Solid mystery and/or good story, but some weaknesses.

2 - Weaknesses outweigh merits; for completists only.

1 - Carr wrote this?

The working list of titles in publication order is listed below. Short stories will be listed as they are reviewed. An asterisk next to the title indicates that I have previously read this book and am re-reading it for this project. I make no distinction, in practice, between the novels published under Carr's own name, and those published as Carter Dickson (all the Merrivales).

1. IT WALKS BY NIGHT (1930)*

2. THE LOST GALLOWS (1931)*

3. CASTLE SKULL (1931)*

4. THE CORPSE IN THE WAXWORKS (1932)*

5. POISON IN JEST (1932)

6. HAG'S NOOK (1933)*

7. THE MAD HATTER MYSTERY (1933)*

8. THE BOWSTRING MURDERS (1933)

9. THE PLAGUE COURT MURDERS (1934)*

10. THE EIGHT OF SWORDS (1934)

11. THE WHITE PRIORY MURDERS (1934)*

12. THE BLIND BARBER (1934)

13. THE RED WIDOW MURDERS (1935)

14. DEATH-WATCH (1935)

15. THE UNICORN MURDERS (1935)

16. THE THREE COFFINS (1935)*

17. THE PUNCH AND JUDY MURDERS (1936)

18. THE ARABIAN NIGHTS MURDER (1936)*

19. THE FOUR FALSE WEAPONS (1937)

20. THE BURNING COURT (1937)*

21. THE THIRD BULLET (1937)*

22. THE PEACOCK FEATHER MURDERS (1937)

23. TO WAKE THE DEAD (1938)

24. THE JUDAS WINDOW (1938)*

25. THE CROOKED HINGE (1938)*

26. DEATH IN FIVE BOXES (1938)

27. FATAL DESCENT (Fall to His Death) (1939)

28. THE PROBLEM OF THE GREEN CAPSULE (1939)*

29. THE READER IS WARNED (1939)*

30. THE PROBLEM OF THE WIRE CAGE (1939)*

31. AND SO TO MURDER (1940)

32. THE MAN WHO COULD NOT SHUDDER (1940)

33. NINE--AND DEATH MAKES TEN (1940)*

34. THE CASE OF THE CONSTANT SUICIDES (1941)*

35. SEEING IS BELIEVING (1941)

36. DEATH TURNS THE TABLES (1942)*

37. THE GILDED MAN (1942)

38. THE EMPEROR'S SNUFF BOX (1942)*

39. SHE DIED A LADY (1943)

40. TILL DEATH DO US PART (1944)*

41. HE WOULDN'T KILL PATIENCE (1944)

42. THE CURSE OF THE BRONZE LAMP (1945)

43. HE WHO WHISPERS (1946)*

44. MY LATE WIVES (1946)*

45. THE SLEEPING SPHINX (1947)

46. THE SKELETON IN THE CLOCK (1948)

47. A GRAVEYARD TO LET (1949)

48. BELOW SUSPICION (1949)

49. THE BRIDE OF NEWGATE (1815; 1950)

50. NIGHT AT THE MOCKING WIDOW (1950)

51. THE DEVIL IN VELVET (1675; 1951)

52. THE 9 WRONG ANSWERS (1952)

53. BEHIND THE CRIMSON BLIND (1952)

54. THE CAVALIER'S CUP (1953)

55. CAPTAIN CUT-THROAT (1805; 1955)

56. PATRICK BUTLER FOR THE DEFENSE (1956)

57. FEAR IS THE SAME (1795; 1956)

58. FIRE, BURN! (1829; 1957)*

59. THE DEAD MAN'S KNOCK (1958)

60. SCANDAL AT HIGH CHIMNEYS (1865; 1959)

61. IN SPITE OF THUNDER (1960)

62. THE WITCH OF THE LOW TIDE (1907; 1961)

63. THE DEMONIACS (1757; 1962)

64. MOST SECRET (1670; 1964)

65. THE HOUSE AT SATAN'S ELBOW (1965)

66. PANIC IN BOX C (1966)

67. DARK OF THE MOON (1967)

68. PAPA LA-BAS (1858; 1968)

69. THE GHOST'S HIGH NOON (1912; 1969)

70. DEADLY HALL (1927; 1971)

71. THE HUNGRY GOBLIN (1869; 1972)

*Exceptions: I will be skipping Devil Kinsmere (1934), written under the alias Roger Fairbairn, and instead reviewing this novel in its revised form Most Secret, published under Carr's own name thirty years later. I will also be skipping The Murder of Sir Edmund Godfrey (1936), though I may return to it at the end of the project. This is because it is closer to historical non-fiction and, having previously read it, I would rather move more quickly to titles I haven't read. I will be including the novella The Third Bullet (1937), specifically the non-abridged version republished in Fell and Foul Play (1991).