Hag's Nook

Rating:
Summary: Introducing Dr. Gideon Fell
Review: Although he is little known today, in the 1930s John Dickson Carr was consider the greatest of mystery writers, and he counted both Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers among his many fans. Although Carr published a few earlier novels, in 1933 he struck gold with HAG'S NOOK, in which he introduced Dr. Gideon Fell--a character who would rival both Hercule Poroit and Lord Peter Wimsey in popularity for more than a decade.

Like many Carr novels, HAG'S NOOK is tinged with elements of the supernatural. The novel presents us with the Starberth family, whose family fortune was built several centuries earlier on ownership of a English prison--a prison so brutally managed that the family is said to be cursed. And inheritance of the fortune is dependent upon a strange requirement: on the night of his twenty-fifth birthday, the heir must spend a full hour alone in the office of the now abandoned prison, which is widely rumored to be haunted by the ghosts of the many who died there. The prospect daunts Martin Starberth, the current heir--and his anxiety fuels the anxiety of his sister Dorothy, the young American visitor Tad Rampole, and Rampole's host Dr. Gideon Fell. And indeed, they have good reason to be anxious, for the hour's vigil brings unexpected death.

In reading HAG'S NOOK, I understand why Carr is considerably less well known today than many of his contemporaries. The plot is pure slight-of-hand, a variation on the "locked room" mystery that attracted so many writers in the 1920s and 1930s. It reads as "tricksy" in an old-fashioned sort of way, and I found myself unable to work up much enthusiasm for it. On the other hand, Carr proves himself an extremely atmospheric writer, able to capture both setting and character in remarkably graceful prose, and he leaves you feeling that if indeed such an unlikely series of events could really happen... they would happen precisely like this.

I would not really recommend HAG'S NOOK to readers who are only casually interested in the mystery genre, for they are likely to be more than a little dissatisfied. But if you enjoy tracing the roots of the modern mystery, reading Carr is a must--and I give HAG'S NOOK four stars on style alone.

--GFT (Amazon.com Reviewer)--

Rating:
Summary: Introducing Dr. Gideon Fell
Review: Although he is little known today, in the 1930s John Dickson Carr was consider the greatest of mystery writers, and he counted both Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers among his many fans. Although Carr published a few earlier novels, in 1933 he struck gold with HAG'S NOOK, in which he introduced Dr. Gideon Fell--a character who would rival both Hercule Poroit and Lord Peter Wimsey in popularity for more than a decade.

Like many Carr novels, HAG'S NOOK is tinged with elements of the supernatural. The novel presents us with the Starberth family, whose family fortune was built several centuries earlier on ownership of a English prison--a prison so brutally managed that the family is said to be cursed. And inheritance of the fortune is dependent upon a strange requirement: on the night of his twenty-fifth birthday, the heir must spend a full hour alone in the office of the now abandoned prison, which is widely rumored to be haunted by the ghosts of the many who died there. The prospect daunts Martin Starberth, the current heir--and his anxiety fuels the anxiety of his sister Dorothy, the young American visitor Tad Rampole, and Rampole's host Dr. Gideon Fell. And indeed, they have good reason to be anxious, for the hour's vigil brings unexpected death.

In reading HAG'S NOOK, I understand why Carr is considerably less well known today than many of his contemporaries. The plot is pure slight-of-hand, a variation on the "locked room" mystery that attracted so many writers in the 1920s and 1930s. It reads as "tricksy" in an old-fashioned sort of way, and I found myself unable to work up much enthusiasm for it. On the other hand, Carr proves himself an extremely atmospheric writer, able to capture both setting and character in remarkably graceful prose, and he leaves you feeling that if indeed such an unlikely series of events could really happen... they would happen precisely like this.

I would not really recommend HAG'S NOOK to readers who are only casually interested in the mystery genre, for they are likely to be more than a little dissatisfied. But if you enjoy tracing the roots of the modern mystery, reading Carr is a must--and I give HAG'S NOOK four stars on style alone.

--GFT (Amazon.com Reviewer)--

Rating:
Summary: A creepy detective classic
Review: One of John Dickson Carr's best books, this novel introduces Chestertonian detective Dr Gideon Fell. Although it does not have an "impossible crime", like many of his other titles, this is more than made up for by the magnificently cold and creepy atmosphere, the loving description of rural England and the shock revelation of the murderer's identity. Anyone who loves either mystery novels, or ghost stories, or both, should enjoy this one.

Rating:
Summary: A creepy detective classic
Review: One of John Dickson Carr's best books, this novel introduces Chestertonian detective Dr Gideon Fell. Although it does not have an "impossible crime", like many of his other titles, this is more than made up for by the magnificently cold and creepy atmosphere, the loving description of rural England and the shock revelation of the murderer's identity. Anyone who loves either mystery novels, or ghost stories, or both, should enjoy this one.

Rating:
Summary: A great mistery, which hints at a supernatural murderer.
Review: This book is set in a small town, and features a very unorthodox detective. The fact that there is a curse on the family, and the dark story of the place where the murders are comitted, make a perfect atmosphere for this mystery/horror book. Carr's best book is "The Three Coffins"