A whodunit published in 1939, this was an attempt on my part to find a new mystery writer (well, new to me) to enjoy. I like old mysteries from long before my birth; Agatha Christie's books, for example, and Ellery Queen's. I'd heard of John Dickson Carr long ago, and decided to finally give him a try.

I can't say I liked the book much.

First, the language is...well, it's dated, but that's not that much of a problem for me. I'm used to that. But the patois, the representation of slang and odd verbiage, simply goes to far. I seem to recall hearing that Ellery Queen modeled his (their) earlier works in particular after Carr, and the influence seems clear. But if anything, Carr is much MORE quirky than Queen's early work - and thank goodness that that aspect of Carr's influence on Queen seems to have diminished over time!

The quirkiness of the language becomes a barrier to following or enjoying the mystery quite quickly. And if that's the case for an older reader like me, I have to wonder what the average reader would make of it.

Secondly, the detective is more annoying than anything else. That may partly be because he's the worst case when it comes to the obnoxious styling mentioned previously. But he's also just...irritating! As with most detectives, he's smarter than everyone else and refuses to reveal his thinking until he solves the case. But he's a fat, complaining old bastard with his only redeeming feature being that he's the detective. Ellery Queen had a sense of humor and a self-depreciating manner; Hercule Poirot was grandiose and comical with his ridiculous waxed mustache and talk of "little grey cells". But H.M., as he's annoyingly called through most of the book, has no such endearing qualities.

The third factor that put me off the book was the romance. I'm a romantic; I admit it. But the romance that seems to be a major part of the book ends up being horribly wrong. No spoilers (unless that was one), but I HATE it when an appealing character turns out to be a monster. Maybe that's just me.

I'll also note a couple of points of interest. One which may offend modern sensibilities is fairly blatant racism of the kind that was fairly common in the 1920s and 30s. It doesn't hit until relatively late in the book, but it's jarring. The other is the historical time frame. The book was published in 1939, and was written at a time when England hadn't yet declared war on Germany - but Hitler was widely hated by the British public. That's referenced frequently throughout. It dates the book strangely. But then, it was terribly dated to begin with.

I was hoping for a better book. I may try Carr again some time...but unless the next book is surprisingly good, I won't give him a third try. ( )

The best mystery i've read so far. Period. ( )

Usually, I like the Merrivale series, but this one I distrusted. ( )