A Congeries of Carrs

From time to time, Martin Edwards has posted reviews of JDC's works on his weblog DO YOU WRITE UNDER YOUR OWN NAME? Here are some brief excerpts; follow the hot links to fuller reviews:

HAG'S NOOK (1930): ". . . we know what happens to obvious suspects in Golden Age novels, don't we?" (See also the GAD Wiki.)

THE BURNING COURT (1937): "There are two brilliant 'impossible' mysteries. How could an entombed corpse disappear from its coffin? And how could a mysterious woman walk through a solid wall in the room of a dead man?" (Also see the GAD Wiki.)

THE PROBLEM OF THE GREEN CAPSULE (1939): ". . . in Golden Age detective fiction, a tendency to over-elaborate is a fatal characteristic of both murderers and victim alike . . ." (GAD Wiki.)

FATAL DESCENT (1939): ". . . the authors make no attempt to exploit the setting for its atmospheric potential. The impossible crime mystery is everything. And, much as I like sealed room mysteries, this sealed elevator mystery has to rank as a missed opportunity." (GAD Wiki.)

THE CROOKED HINGE (1938): "Dr. Fell propounds an apparently brilliant solution—but it emerges that this is simply a device on his part to expose the principal culprit. I thought this use of the 'alternative solution' type of plot was very well done . . ." (GAD Wiki.)

Category: Detective fiction