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meganh123's review
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
thecommonswings's review
5.0
Read as The Seat of the Scornful, the earlier and far better title which doesn’t give the plot away like this one kind of does
For most of this book I wondered why on Earth this was a Dr Fell book rather than a Henry Merrivale one. It’s more HM in tone and never as gothic as the most famous Fell books. But I think there are two good reasons why this is a Fell novel. Firstly, HM is too much of a goof to really convince as a friend of the central judge (even Fell barely counts). Secondly, Fell allows Carr to sort of position his greatest influence in the book: as the dust settles after a breathtaking bit of puzzle setting, Carr gives us a second solution and boy howdy is it a thing
Here’s why I’ve put it as spoilers: the judge’s primary crime is a sort of self righteous hubris. It’s even there in the way he writes his confession. The book spells this out in the early and last sections: which is more important to a judge like this, justice or moral certainty. Fell basically becomes Chesterton and, to some degree, Father Brown as the two characters tussle with the book’s final conundrum: which is worse for a judge who prides himself on his innate sense of reason and moral righteousness - admitting he committed a murder and thusly facing death or dashing his reputation to the ground permanently. It’s a tough one and I admire Carr deeply for trying to address it. This is why he’s such a great writer when he’s at his best
For most of this book I wondered why on Earth this was a Dr Fell book rather than a Henry Merrivale one. It’s more HM in tone and never as gothic as the most famous Fell books. But I think there are two good reasons why this is a Fell novel. Firstly, HM is too much of a goof to really convince as a friend of the central judge (even Fell barely counts). Secondly, Fell allows Carr to sort of position his greatest influence in the book: as the dust settles after a breathtaking bit of puzzle setting, Carr gives us a second solution and boy howdy is it a thing
Here’s why I’ve put it as spoilers: the judge’s primary crime is a sort of self righteous hubris. It’s even there in the way he writes his confession. The book spells this out in the early and last sections: which is more important to a judge like this, justice or moral certainty. Fell basically becomes Chesterton and, to some degree, Father Brown as the two characters tussle with the book’s final conundrum: which is worse for a judge who prides himself on his innate sense of reason and moral righteousness - admitting he committed a murder and thusly facing death or dashing his reputation to the ground permanently. It’s a tough one and I admire Carr deeply for trying to address it. This is why he’s such a great writer when he’s at his best
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