Forgotten Book - Poison in Jest

I''m having something of a binge on the works of John Dickson Carr at present, and my Forgotten Book for today is his fifth novel, Poison in Jest. Here he moved away from the  French setting of his early books to the US, although the prologue and epilogue are set in  Vienna. Henri Bencolin, Carr's first super sleuth, is mentioned in passing, but does not appear in person; Jeff Marle, however, continues in his role as narrator.

The Great Detective here is Patrick Rossiter, an Englishman who sees himself as something of an exorcist, and who was perhaps a prototype of Dr Gideon Fell. However, he arrives in the story at a relatively late stage, after an intriguing set-up. Some very strange things are happening in the household of Judge Quayle, up in the mountains of western Pennsylvania. A disembodied hand from a statue keeps making an appearance (although it has to be said that this element of the story is not developed quite as one would expect).

After the apparent failure of an attempted poisoning, murder is committed. The atmosphere of the decaying mansion and the tensions between members of the dysfunctional family who live in it are wonderfully conveyed. Carr's ability to conjure up macabre settings was one of his great strengths, and the powerfully Gothic quality of this novel is in my opinion its outstanding feature.

The mystery is competently handled, with a pleasing "least likely person" culprit, but is not quite gripping enough for me to rank this as one of Carr's best books. Indeed, according to Doug Greene's biography, the author soon became rather dismissive of it. Yet while I don't think it is the best introduction to Carr's work for the uninitiated, it's still a lively read. As others have said, even a novel that is second-rate Carr is likely to be superior to the best work of many other writers of traditional mysteries.

Forgotten Book - The Waxworks Murder

John Dickson Carr was in his mid-twenties when he published The Waxworks Murder,in 1932, yet he had already established himself as a detective novelist of considerable distinction. And this is one of the striking features of the Golden Age - so many of the leading lights began their careers when they were young, and wrote books with youthful energy and verve. And there is plenty of verve in this story, which is set in Paris.

The narrator is Jeff Marle, who acts as "Watson" to Carr's first series sleuth, Henri Bencolin, rather than Gideon Fell or Sir Henry Merrivale. Bencolin is a distinctive character, with a faintly sinister side perhaps, but certainly a Great Detective. Another strong character is his polar opposite and long-time adversary, a deeply unpleasant chap ironically named Galant. By contrast, Jeff is - as is the way with so many Watsons other than the original of the species - not especially memorable.

The deaths of two young women are at the heart of this mystery, but I felt that the strength of the book lay not so much in the careful way in which Carr works out his plot, but rather the splendid atmospherics, and the excellence of the finale. The reason why Carr's mysteries have retained their popularity is that he wasn't content just to come up with a convoluted plot. Here,the macabre ambience of the waxworks that is the scene of the crime, and the dangerous Club of the Silver Key, is very nicely done. The evocative writing helps to retain reader interest through what I felt was a rather stodgy part of the plot in the middle of the story.

I didn't find myself caring too much about either of the victims, to be honest, and this was a weakness. The story doesn't involve an "impossible crime", but in other respects it's a good example of Carr;s writing. I don't think it's one of his masterpieces, but rather a story that is worth reading for the setting, the solution, and the compelling contrast between a good detective and a very nasty piece of work.