"First published in 1942, this reissue of one of Carr's most highly rated mysteries featuring series detective Gideon Fell offers readers a tense and enjoyable game of cat and mouse between the detective and the chief suspect. 'The supreme conjuror; the king of the art of misdirection ... once you begin a book of his, you simply cannot put it down.' -- Agatha Christie on John Dickson Carr. When the police arrive at the holiday bungalow of the haughty Justice Ireton to find a man killed by gunshot and thehigh court judge brandishing a pistol, the case seems as straightforward as it is scandalous. Yet, with the incongruous assemblage of physical evidence, the judge's denial of any participation in the crime and the recent events of his daughter's love life combined, the deceptively simple case is soon steeped in complexity. At a loss in the bizarre circumstances, the local force calls in the larger-than-life sleuth Dr Gideon Fell, who just the previous day had been contending with Ireton's intellect over a game of chess. With Fell and the judge now facing off as detective and suspect, a new battle of wits begins in this fiendishly plotted masterclass of the mystery genre"--
"[ John Dickson Carr] is the supreme conjuror; the king of the art of misdirection...once you begin a book of his, you simply cannot put it down."—Agatha Christie
First published in 1942, this reissue is one of Carr's most tense and enjoyable game of cat and mouse pitting detective Gideon Fell against the "chief" suspect.
When police arrive at Justice Ireton's holiday bungalow to find a man killed by gunshot and the high court justice brandishing a pistol, the case seems as straightforward as it is scandalous. But, with physical evidence that doesn't add up, the justice's vehement denial of wrong doing, and recent events in his daughter's love life turns the deceptively simple case on its head.
Stumped, the local force calls in the larger-than-life sleuth Dr. Gideon Fell, who just yesterday contended with Ireton over a brutally challenging game of chess. With Fell and the judge now facing off as detective and suspect, a new battle of wits begins in this fiendishly plotted masterclass of the mystery genre.
