A Lucky Thirteen

THIRTEEN TO THE GALLOWS.
By John Dickson Carr. Edited by Tony Medawar.
Crippen & Landru.
2008. 258 pages.

Kevin Killian's review of a collection of JDC's radio plays on MYSTERY*FILE. Excerpt:

Another splendid volume of discoveries from Crippen & Landru, this time the scripts of four stage plays written by the US-born detective writer John Dickson Carr (1906-1977), two of them written in collaboration with Val Gielgud. It's the Carr name that's the attraction here . . .

Contents (descriptions by C & L):

"Inspector Silence Takes the Air"—". . . set during World War II at emergency BBC studios in a provincial town. There, a murder takes place - and the weapon disappears."

"Thirteen to the Gallows"—". . . also set in a BBC studio, a woman falls to her death from a tower - it is murder, but no one is near her, and the only clue is a scattering of Arum Lilies."

"Intruding Shadow"—". . . filled with mysteries within mysteries, as Carr expertly shifts the audience's expectations from one suspect to another."

"She Slept Lightly"—". . . features the ghostly appearances of a young woman during the Napoleonic Wars."

THE DEAD SLEEP LIGHTLY, more of Carr's radio work, is reviewed here.

Category: Detective fiction