What Was the Question?

THE NINE WRONG ANSWERS.
By John Dickson Carr.
1952.
Harper's. $3.00

In this one, Carr is into mind games—with you, the reader, being his guinea pig.

A contemporary review (THE SATURDAY REVIEW, December 6, 1952):

Penniless Briton, footloose in N.Y., accepts London impersonation job for big dough, almost turns toes up. - Trick yarn, with footnotes to deflect reader from phony solutions; tale much too long. - Verdict: On the fantastic side.

Excerpts from other reviews:

As ever, Carr’s characters are complex and well developed and the plot is sufficiently convoluted to test the wits of the most sophisticated reader. — Richard & Karen LaPorte, MYSTERY*FILE (27 October 2011)

One of the most consistently entertaining late Carrs, reminiscent of classic Hitchcock. — Nick Fuller, GAD Wiki

Where the book comes into its own is in the Wrong Answers. At various points throughout the book, a footnote disabuses the reader of a supposition that they may have made about the events in the story up to that point. On the face of it, they are intended to help the reader move in the right direction in their deductions. In fact, they are a very cunning piece of misdirection. — Puzzle Doctor, IN SEARCH OF THE CLASSIC MYSTERY NOVEL (April 12, 2011)

Category: Detective fiction