The Door to Doom
by John Dickson Carr
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If you never read anything else in this collection, it is still worth the price of admission as long as your edition contains the complete copy of the essay, “The Grandest Game in the World.” Originally written in 1946 as an introduction to an aborted anthology to be called The Ten Best Detective Novels, a severely abridged version saw print in 1963, where it had been gutted of the most fascinating part: Carr’s break down of the body of work of each author to have been represented. Fully restored, it studies in detail A. Conan Doyle, Gaston Leroux, A. E. W. Mason, Agatha Christie, Ellery Queen, Anthony Berkeley, S. S. Van Dine, Phillip MacDonald, Rex Stout, and Dorothy L. Sayers. Carr offers a comprehensive examination of how each show more repeatedly fooled the reader while still playing fair and explores what made each of them great. That Carr can dissect and expound on the essence of the mystery novel while not spoiling any of the stories is a considerable testament. But fair warning: he had strong opinions on the application and execution of his craft. He is dismissive of certain styles of storytelling (although he would soften some of those stances later in life) and he pointedly snubs a couple of popular writers of the day for whom he had no respect. If you happen to be a fan of the disparaged practitioners, it is still fairly easy to ignore those particular criticisms--and it is best to do so. It leaves you more open to some fascinating lessons. show less
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John Dickson Carr, the master of locked room mysteries, was born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, in 1906. He was educated at Haverford College and the Sorbonne in Paris. Carr is a prolific writer with more than 80 novels and collections of short stories to his credit. He began his writing career at the age of 26 with his first published novel, It show more Walks At Night. Some of his most popular works are The Three Coffins (1935), The Burning Coat (1937), and The Bride of Newgate (1951). Carr also collaborated with Adrian Doyle, the son of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes (1954). Carr met his wife in 1932 and settled in England in 1933. He was drafted by the United States military in World War II, and was ordered to remain in England and work with the BBC. He lived in many cities throughout the world until 1967, when he permanently moved to Greenville, South Carolina. John Dickson Carr also wrote mystery novels under the name Carter Dickson. He died in Greenville in 1977. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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- The Door to Doom
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- The Door to Doom
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