Till Death Do Us Part

This is a gripping locked room mystery that keeps you barreling along through fast-paced scenes of action and puzzlement. There are very few slow sections, which makes it a compelling case for finishing in one sitting, or at least one day (which is what I did!).
At the heart of the story are whisperings about a femme fatale – Lesley, the lovely new fiancée of Dick Markham. Why should Dick care that he knows absolutely nothing about her prior to the last six months? What could possibly be of concern? But when a neighbor masquerading as a fortune teller at a fair confides in Dick that he recognizes Lesley as a serial but unproven husband-poisoner, Dick's world is shaken. Especially when the fortune teller is immediately shot in the back show more by Leslie firing a gun, ahem, accidentally. What is happening?
The rest of the novel is a masterful kaleidoscope that leads you to believe first one thing, then another, then back again, then on to something else, and so on and so forth until a breathless finale.
This was my first book by John Dickson Carr, and I was impressed. Although his sleuth, Dr. Gideon Fell, is somewhat Poirot-adjacent but less appealing, the mystery itself and the core cast of characters are very good! I look forward to checking out more titles from this Golden Age author.

Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this digital review copy! show less

Not just a whodunit, but also a how-dun-it from the master of locked-room mystery, John Dickson Carr, who offers an intriguing and entertaining tale in this book. Every now and then, I do manage to work out the whodunit villain; however, this one certainly had me totally fooled. I also liked that the reader got to know the main characters--as Dick Markham, playwright, begins to distrust his betrothed, Lesley Grant--and its storyline soon advances into a real puzzler. No wonder this is a crime classic!

A rollicking read

I find it difficult to rate these books because they are not the greatest literature of all time but they push all the buttons of a closed room mystery, an impossible crime, and a golden age respectibility

I like these and apart from a few quibbles as to which I will not mention it would have been 5 stars for me

I will leave it to others to describe the plot

Well worth reading …not worth spending a fortune to buy a copy to read , not unless a completist or a fan, me thinks

Big Ship

17 August 2021

Great read!

There’s a jolly good reason why this is part of British Library Crime Classics. It’s fascinating, although in this day and age, slightly fussy with the crime maven keeping all the information stored in his head and occasionally forgetting to tell his satellites what he’s doing, or has done.
The murder is a mess of rumor, false starts and a needless death but most satisfying in it’s solving and execution. Atmospheric!
Martin Edward’s Introduction is insightful, placing Carr’s works and centrality to the genre firmly in orbit. The last sentence a fitting tribute to Carr.
“Till Death Do Us Part is a dazzling showcase for the great man’s detective skills and a reminder of Carr’s gift for constructing a fiendish show more mystery plot.”

A Poisoned Pen ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the publisher. show less

I’m a huge fan of locked room mysteries, and Till Death Do Us Part (reissued by British Library Crime Classics) does not fail to deliver. Set in the English countryside, a famous English pathologist is found murdered in a locked room situation. Ingeniously plotted by the author, one of the great locked room mystery authors, the book is a quick and fun read with lots of twists and turns. Quite enjoyable.

My thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and to Netgalley for providing an ARC of this book.

I’m a huge fan of locked room mysteries, and Till Death Do Us Part (reissued by British Library Crime Classics) does not fail to deliver. Set in the English countryside, a famous English pathologist is found murdered in a locked room situation. Ingeniously plotted by the author, one of the great locked room mystery authors, the book is a quick and fun read with lots of twists and turns. Quite enjoyable.

My thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and to Netgalley for providing an ARC of this book.

A vivid mystery set at a garden party complete with uncanny fortuneteller, but like some of Carr's other books it depends on a rather tricky ending with Fell renouncing an explanation he had seemingly accepted earlier.