The Nine Wrong Answers

Rating:
Summary: One Right Answer
Review: One of the most consistently entertaining later Carrs, reminiscent of classic Hitchcock. Bill Dawson, a young Englishman working in America, is employed by a fellow expatriate to impersonate him for six months in order to inherit his splendidly sadistic uncle's fortune; the nephew is poisoned, and suspicion falls upon Dawson, who travels to Britain to avenge the murder. Full of excitement and tension, with just a touch of diffuseness in the shift from England to America-splendid scenes at the B.B.C. and in Uncle Gaylord's flat. Smash surprise solution given, very aptly, in Sherlock Holmes's rooms. Catch this Carr!

Rating:
Summary: One Right Answer
Review: One of the most consistently entertaining later Carrs, reminiscent of classic Hitchcock. Bill Dawson, a young Englishman working in America, is employed by a fellow expatriate to impersonate him for six months in order to inherit his splendidly sadistic uncle's fortune; the nephew is poisoned, and suspicion falls upon Dawson, who travels to Britain to avenge the murder. Full of excitement and tension, with just a touch of diffuseness in the shift from England to America-splendid scenes at the B.B.C. and in Uncle Gaylord's flat. Smash surprise solution given, very aptly, in Sherlock Holmes's rooms. Catch this Carr!

Rating:
Summary: Powerful tone of fear and impending doom . . .
Review: This book, like many by John Dickson Carr, has a powerful gothic element-- a sense of fear, dread, and doom that draws the reader into the book. I was impelled to read this entire novel in little more than 24 hours.

The book gets off to a rapid, fast-paced start and does not slow down. In some ways, the first half of the book was more gripping than the conclusion. While the crimes are ingeniously solved, they are almost too contrived. Carr almost goes too far in forcing us to see how every tiny detail thoughout the book was "in line" with the denoument.

The characters were well developed, and the evil characters seem to be Carr's forte. There's also a love interest in the book, and the sense of a loner protagonist going up against enormous odds.

Generally speaking, I liked the book and feel I got my money's worth. A caution for older readers such as me-- the print size on the page is uncomfortably small.

Rating:
Summary: Powerful tone of fear and impending doom . . .
Review: This book, like many by John Dickson Carr, has a powerful gothic element-- a sense of fear, dread, and doom that draws the reader into the book. I was impelled to read this entire novel in little more than 24 hours.

The book gets off to a rapid, fast-paced start and does not slow down. In some ways, the first half of the book was more gripping than the conclusion. While the crimes are ingeniously solved, they are almost too contrived. Carr almost goes too far in forcing us to see how every tiny detail thoughout the book was "in line" with the denoument.

The characters were well developed, and the evil characters seem to be Carr's forte. There's also a love interest in the book, and the sense of a loner protagonist going up against enormous odds.

Generally speaking, I liked the book and feel I got my money's worth. A caution for older readers such as me-- the print size on the page is uncomfortably small.

Rating:
Summary: Right up my alley
Review: This is one of the better mysteries I have read lately. Although it was a bit melodramatic sometimes - the love story was a bit too contrived and coincidental- the story reads like an old movie. There are bits of mystery, some horror elements, and sort of a game between the reader and the author in which the author- through footnotes- dissuades the reader why the the obvious assumption is wrong - hence, the nine wrong answers. This was a definite page turner as I was never sure where the story was going. The characters are scary and the book has a forboding atmosphere, but this is an original!

Rating:
Summary: Right up my alley
Review: This is one of the better mysteries I have read lately. Although it was a bit melodramatic sometimes - the love story was a bit too contrived and coincidental- the story reads like an old movie. There are bits of mystery, some horror elements, and sort of a game between the reader and the author in which the author- through footnotes- dissuades the reader why the the obvious assumption is wrong - hence, the nine wrong answers. This was a definite page turner as I was never sure where the story was going. The characters are scary and the book has a forboding atmosphere, but this is an original!