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A review by ichirofakename
The Hollow Man by John Dickson Carr
3.0
The first what I would call "successful" locked room mystery that I've read, beating out near miss Ten Little Indians. Resolution is ludicrously complicated and unlikely, and wonderfully clever. Not for those expecting verisimilitude or believable dialog or scintillating prose.
Man is murdered inside a locked room with an open window revealing untrodden snow. 15 minutes later another man, possibly the murderer of the first, dies in the middle of a snowy road from a point-blank shot with no other footprints than his nearby.
While it is true that there are many hints as to what has happened, it's a stretch to claim anyone could completely figure it out, as key facts are not disclosed till the explication. Fun, though. All the fun comes in the last few pages, but the cost of the build-up is minimal.
Man is murdered inside a locked room with an open window revealing untrodden snow. 15 minutes later another man, possibly the murderer of the first, dies in the middle of a snowy road from a point-blank shot with no other footprints than his nearby.
While it is true that there are many hints as to what has happened, it's a stretch to claim anyone could completely figure it out, as key facts are not disclosed till the explication. Fun, though. All the fun comes in the last few pages, but the cost of the build-up is minimal.