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A review by frosta_wings_it
The Plague Court Murders by Carter Dickson
4.0
4.5 stars
I am so excited to have read this book! I am a John Dickson Carr fan and have so far only been acquainted with Dr. Gideon Fell and Carr’s radio plays.
I am so thankful to NetGalley and Penzler Publishers for having granted me the opportunity to read and revies this Sir Henry Merrivale mystery.
This book is another one of Carr’s signature suspenseful, masterfully plotted locked room mysteries. How this man could conceptualize and execute so many fresh and original locked room mysteries, I know not. Though thankful I am. In “The Plague Court Murders”, a dubious medium is stabbed during a séance he had planned, and his body found in a locked room in a atmospheric mansion with a spooky history.
I loved the ambience and characterization in this novel. All characters are very distinct and charming in their own way, clearly representation of their era. I just love the carelessness of privileged 1930’s male youth and how they talked to each other, and I feel Carr did a superb job transporting me to that mansion and the events there occurred.
Carr superpower is his ability to write, for sure. He manages to grant personality to sentences and each word and punctuation choice is careful, purposeful. You can almost hear them breathe as they jump from the page and surround you, giving you no choice but to be transported to the world Carr chooses to create.
I was worried that H.M. would be like Fell, but he wasn’t. He is just as delightful, but completely himself. He is a little cheeky, extremely smart and unapologetically himself. The book became so much better once he made his appearance. Not that Chief-Inspector Masters is much behind. This duo had me cracking up and in a great mood as I investigated the case with them.
Carr also plays extremely fair, which makes it for an enjoyable read.
I hope that Penzler Publishers continues to reprint all of Carr’s works, especially Merrivale’s stories. I want to read them all and so should everyone!
#Netgalley #theplaguecourtmurders
I am so excited to have read this book! I am a John Dickson Carr fan and have so far only been acquainted with Dr. Gideon Fell and Carr’s radio plays.
I am so thankful to NetGalley and Penzler Publishers for having granted me the opportunity to read and revies this Sir Henry Merrivale mystery.
This book is another one of Carr’s signature suspenseful, masterfully plotted locked room mysteries. How this man could conceptualize and execute so many fresh and original locked room mysteries, I know not. Though thankful I am. In “The Plague Court Murders”, a dubious medium is stabbed during a séance he had planned, and his body found in a locked room in a atmospheric mansion with a spooky history.
I loved the ambience and characterization in this novel. All characters are very distinct and charming in their own way, clearly representation of their era. I just love the carelessness of privileged 1930’s male youth and how they talked to each other, and I feel Carr did a superb job transporting me to that mansion and the events there occurred.
Carr superpower is his ability to write, for sure. He manages to grant personality to sentences and each word and punctuation choice is careful, purposeful. You can almost hear them breathe as they jump from the page and surround you, giving you no choice but to be transported to the world Carr chooses to create.
I was worried that H.M. would be like Fell, but he wasn’t. He is just as delightful, but completely himself. He is a little cheeky, extremely smart and unapologetically himself. The book became so much better once he made his appearance. Not that Chief-Inspector Masters is much behind. This duo had me cracking up and in a great mood as I investigated the case with them.
Carr also plays extremely fair, which makes it for an enjoyable read.
I hope that Penzler Publishers continues to reprint all of Carr’s works, especially Merrivale’s stories. I want to read them all and so should everyone!
#Netgalley #theplaguecourtmurders