He Who Whispers

In the first heady, disorienting weeks after VE-Day, a small group of people gather at a meeting of the Murder Club in London to hear about an infamous unsolved murder which took place in France before the war. Can it be figured out whodunnit and what connection all these events have to the present day? John Dickson Carr writes with a great deal of pace, and an atmospheric description of post-war London, and for the first part of the book succeeds in ratcheting up the tension—he throws some things at the reader that I did not see coming.

But there are two enormous issues I had with this book. First, certain events happen only because characters either don't explain things plainly or naturally to one another when asked, or are show more conveniently interrupted right before they can say the key thing—this is hacky writing. Second, and far more damning, this is a book which depends a lot for its mechanism/explanation on human psychology—and therefore fails, because Dickson Carr's understanding of women is fundamentally a misogynist one. This is most evident in his depiction of Fay Seton and her "nymphomania", but also in how the other women characters are shown instinctively disdaining behaviour they can know nothing about just based on... vibes? feminine intuition? Whatever it is, it's gross. show less

Weirdly compelling.

As a slice of life in the UK immediately after WWII, it's sad: whether or not they are specifically referred to, everyone is haunted. One also notices a great many casual offenses to logic, women, people who are not English, and sustained abuse of coincidence. In traditional fashion we are presented with a puzzle made out of a ridiculously bonkers crime. Sure, the clues are there, along with full explanations of motive and of method. Some of it seems plausible, but it is difficult to work out what is significant at a remove of 80 years, when so much is incomprehensible.

What I really can't figure is how such a book is constructed. I'm thinking that some odd bit is contrived only to make another bit work, but then how show more to explain how odd this bit is?

Luckily for me, our POV character is Miles, who is the fortunate recipient of a large house in a pretty place, with a truly impressive library, and enough money to not have to worry. Miles I understand.

Library copy show less

John Dickson Carr (who also wrote under the names of Carter Dickson, Carr Dickson and Roger Fairbairn) was an American writing in the first half of the 1900s, though with a distinctive English sensibility.

He wrote over 70 novels, as well as collections of short stories, plays etc.

His two most prominent and famous characters were Sir Henry Merivale and (the protagonist of this book) Dr Gideon Fell. The later in particular can be regarded as a caricature of a private amateur detective. Certainly he would likely be hauled in as a lunatic in modern times, but for me it works, given these books are set in the 1930s/40s in most cases.

This book takes place over less than 3 days in real time in London and its surrounds in 1945 though relates show more to events that occur in 1939 in France and England and the years up to and including 1945.

Fay Seton, a mysterious woman, appears in a French village (Chartres) to take up a secretarial role for a wealthy merchant, only for complications to occur, including the death of the merchant (suicide, murder, other?) at the top of an old tower in circumstances where supernatural causes are also invoked.

The book opens with Miles Hammond and Barbara Morell being told the story of the Chartres death by one Professor Rigaud, with Miles the next day, who is looking to engage a librarian to tame the extensive library of his late uncle, engaging no one other than the very Fay Seton of the story!

There follows an attempted murder(?), people disappearing at odd times and an eventual resolution.

Dickson Carr is best known for his keeping to fair play (ie no hidden clues etc) and his solutions to locked room puzzles and impossible crimes.

This one was very enjoyable, though one aspect of the overall story involved a very large coincidence.

Dickson Carr apparently regarded this as one of his favourite Gideon Fell and I indeed enjoyed it.

Big Ship

4 February 2025 show less

John Dickson Carr was one of the best "Golden Age Detective" story writers of his time. This book was written in 1945, and it is a true classic. It has all the Carr hallmarks - an impossible locked-door crime, a taste of the supernatural; great settings (there are two here), and an impossibly evil villain. His books are very complex and very difficult to figure out. There are actually two crimes in this book. One was committed in France just before the war, and the other was attempted in England just after the war. Of course we are treated to Gideon Fell doing the detective work here, and let me tell you if you haven't read any books about Carr's Gideon Fell, you are in for a treat. And boy can Carr characterize. He has the knack of show more bringing to life wonderful characters in a very short time. His books are not that long. But they are filled with tension and even today, are not easy to put down. show less

One of the better ‘impossible crime’ plots and explanations by Carr. I enjoyed this one a lot.

This is set just at the end of World Wr 2. Miles Hammond, home in England from the war, falls in love with Fay Seton, a woman who has a sinister reputation.

Review here:

https://nordie.wordpress.com/2023/11/13/book-review-he-who-whispers-by-john-dick....