Death-Watch

Last updated

Death-Watch
Death-Watch.jpg
Author John Dickson Carr
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Series Gideon Fell
Genre Mystery, detective
Publisher Harper & Bros.
Publication date
 1935
Media typePrint (hardback & paperback)
Preceded by The Blind Barber  
Followed by The Hollow Man  

Death-Watch, first published in April 1935, is a detective story by American writer John Dickson Carr, featuring his series detective Gideon Fell. It is a mystery novel of the whodunnit type.

Contents

The novel's plot begins with three people standing over the body of a dead police detective, one holding a pistol. Yet, the man was stabbed to death with the hand of a clock. An eyewitness is unconscious in the back yard of the house where the murder occurred, and a dead-drunk man holds an important clue. Although the evidence points to one person, Fell is convinced someone else is responsible for the death.

Plot summary

As Dr. Gideon Fell and Professor Melson walk back to Melson's rooms at Lincoln's Inn Fields, a horrific scream draws them into the home of clockmaker Johannus Carver. At the top of the stairs is a dead tramp. Standing over the body is Eleanor Carver, Calvin Boscombe, and former Chief Inspector Peter Stanley. Boscombe has a gun, but the tramp has been stabbed in the neck by the minute hand of a large clock. The tramp, in fact, is Detective-Inspector George Finley Ames, who was investigating the stabbing death of a floorwalker at a local department store.

Fell is confronted with three seemingly surreal stories. The prim Boscombe and the nerve-shattered Stanley claim they intended to play a joke on Ames, threatening to shoot him with an unloaded pistol just to see his reaction. Don Hastings, claims he was on the roof for a lover's tryst with Eleanor when he saw, through a skylight, Ames enter Boscombe's room and die. Neither Boscombe nor Stanley were near him, Hastings says. When he tried to climb down from the roof, he fell and was knocked unconscious. Christopher Paull, a drunkard living in the Carver home, swears that he awoke in a stupor in the middle of the night and found the murderer's blood-stained glove in the hall near the landing. In the glove was a key to the rooftop trap-door.

The murder weapon came from a large standing clock which Johannus Carver was making for Paull's uncle. Someone broke into a locked workroom and stole both hands from the clock. Complicating matters, female solicitor Lucia Handreth (who rents a combined apartment-office on the first floor of the Carver home) and housekeeper Millicent Steffins point the finger at Eleanor Carver as the murderer.

Chief Inspector David Hadley arrives to take the case in hand. Hadley reveals that an anonymous informant had told Ames that someone in the Carver household had killed the department store worker. Ames had gone undercover as a local tramp to investigate. Fell and Hadley quickly discover that Stanley shot and killed Don Hastings' father 14 years earlier. Carlton Hope-Hastings had been accused of embezzlement; the unjustified shooting led to Stanley's dismissal from the police force. Fell and Hadley also discover that Eleanor Carver is a kleptomaniac, and in a secret compartment in her room they find the second clock hand and other highly incriminating evidence.

Hadley is convinced that Eleanor Carver impulsively killed Ames when she discovered him in the darkened house. Fell, however, is equally convinced that Eleanor Carver is being framed by the true murderer. Without any evidence to support his supposition, Fell asks an unreliable ally to help him unmask the killer.

Literary significance and criticism

Death-Watch was first published by Harper & Brothers in the United States in April 1935. [1]

This novel is the first time in which author John Dickson Carr offered the reader a solution to the crime, only to have his detective reveal the real killer at the end. [2] As in other Gideon Fell cases, Fell lists several points which must be explained in order for the crime to be properly solved. [2]

This is the second of 10 Dr. Gideon Fell adventures in which Chief Inspector Hadley appears. [3] Hadley is on the verge of retirement in the case, but instead stays on and is, in fact, promoted to Superintendent for identifying the killer. [4] Death-Watch is notable for being the only time in which Hadley relaxes around others, telling anecdotes and joking with his friends. [5]

Carr biographer Douglas G. Greene, reviewing Death-Watch, says the novel contains several well-written set-piece scenes and has a number of memorable characters. Yet, the killer's motivation and the plot would have been better suited to an Henri Bencolin novel, he concludes, and Death-Watch is at best a flawed work. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Dickson Carr</span> American mystery novelist and playwright (1906–1977)

John Dickson Carr was an American author of detective stories, who also published using the pseudonyms Carter Dickson, Carr Dickson, and Roger Fairbairn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gideon Fell</span> Fictional English amateur detective

Dr Gideon Fell is a fictional character created by John Dickson Carr. He is the protagonist of 23 mystery novels from 1933 through 1967, as well as a few short stories. Carr was an American who lived most of his adult life in England; Dr. Fell is an Englishman who lives in the London suburbs.

<i>The Case of the Constant Suicides</i> 1941 novel by John Dickson Carr

The Case of the Constant Suicides, first published in 1941, is a detective story by John Dickson Carr. Like much of Dickson Carr's work, this novel is a locked room mystery, in addition to being a whodunnit. Unlike most of the other Dr. Fell novels, this story has a high humour level, reminiscent of the Henry Merrivale works.

Henri Bencolin is a fictional detective created by John Dickson Carr. He was Carr's first series detective, appearing in five "locked-room" and "impossible crime" mystery novels in the 1930s, and four short stories that appeared even earlier. In later decades, Carr did not return to the Bencolin character, but instead focused on creating English sleuths such as Dr. Gideon Fell and Sir Henry Merrivale.

<i>The Emperors Snuff-Box</i> 1942 novel by John Dickson Carr

The Emperor's Snuff-Box is a non-series mystery novel (1942) by mystery novelist John Dickson Carr. The detective is psychologist Dr. Dermot Kinross.

<i>The Ten Teacups</i> 1937 novel by John Dickson Carr

The Ten Teacups, is a locked room mystery by American mystery writer John Dickson Carr, writing as Carter Dickson. It features the series detective Sir Henry Merrivale, working with Scotland Yard's Chief Inspector Humphrey Masters.

<i>The Skeleton in the Clock</i> 1948 novel by John Dickson Carr

The Skeleton in the Clock is a 1948 mystery novel by the American writer John Dickson Carr, who published it under the name of Carter Dickson. It is a whodunnit and features the series detective Sir Henry Merrivale and his long-time associate, Scotland Yard's Chief Inspector Humphrey Masters.

<i>The Problem of the Wire Cage</i> 1939 novel by John Dickson Carr

The Problem of the Wire Cage, first published in 1939, is a detective story by John Dickson Carr featuring his series detective Gideon Fell. This novel is a mystery of the type known as a locked room mystery.

<i>The Nine Wrong Answers</i> 1952 novel by John Dickson Carr

The Nine Wrong Answers, first published in 1952, is a detective story by John Dickson Carr which does not feature any of his series detectives. It is an expansion of Carr's 1942 radio play "Will You Make A Bet With Death".

<i>The Sleeping Sphinx</i> 1947 detective story by John Dickson Carr

The Sleeping Sphinx, first published in 1947, is a detective story by John Dickson Carr which features Carr's series detective Gideon Fell. This novel is a mystery of the type known as a whodunnit.

<i>The Dead Mans Knock</i> 1958 novel by John Dickson Carr

The Dead Man's Knock, first published in 1958, is a detective story by John Dickson Carr which features Carr's series detective Gideon Fell. This novel is a mystery of the type known as a locked room mystery.

<i>The Black Spectacles</i> 1939 novel by John Dickson Carr

The Black Spectacles, first published in 1939, is a detective story by John Dickson Carr featuring his series detective Gideon Fell. This novel is a mystery of the type known as a locked room mystery.

<i>Till Death Do Us Part</i> (Carr novel) 1944 novel by John Dickson Carr

Till Death Do Us Part, first published in 1944, is a detective story by John Dickson Carr featuring his series detective Gideon Fell. This novel is a mystery of the type known as a locked room mystery. Carr considered this one of his best impossible crime novels.

<i>The Mad Hatter Mystery</i> 1933 novel by John Dickson Carr

The Mad Hatter Mystery, first published in 1933, is a detective story by American writer John Dickson Carr, featuring his series detective Gideon Fell. This novel is a mystery of the type known as a whodunnit.

<i>Death Turns the Tables</i> 1941 novel by John Dickson Carr

Death Turns the Tables (1941), also published under the title The Seat of the Scornful, is a detective novel by John Dickson Carr. The novel is a mystery of the type known as a whodunnit. The story features Carr's series detective Gideon Fell, though not Carr's signature plot device of a locked-room mystery.

<i>The Arabian Nights Murder</i> 1936 novel by John Dickson Carr

The Arabian Nights Murder, first published in 1936, is a detective story by John Dickson Carr featuring his series detective Gideon Fell. This novel is a mystery of the type known as a whodunnit.

<i>In Spite of Thunder</i> 1960 mystery novel by John Dickson Carr

In Spite of Thunder, first published in 1960, is a detective story by John Dickson Carr which features Carr's series detective Gideon Fell. It marked Carr's 40th book in 30 years. This novel is a mystery of the type known as a locked room mystery.

<i>The Blind Barber</i> 1934 novel by John Dickson Carr

The Blind Barber, first published in October 1934, is a detective story by American writer John Dickson Carr, featuring his series detective Gideon Fell. It is a mystery novel of the type known as a whodunnit. This novel is generally felt to be the most humorous of Dr. Fell's adventures, somewhat echoing the farcical later adventures of Carr's Sir Henry Merrivale.

<i>Dr. Fell, Detective, and Other Stories</i>

Dr. Fell, Detective, and Other Stories, is a mystery short story collection written by John Dickson Carr and first published in the US by Lawrence E. Spivak in 1947.

References

  1. ↑ Anderson, Isaac (April 21, 1935). "New Mystery Stories". The New York Times. p. 14.
  2. 1 2 3 Greene 1995, p. 148.
  3. ↑ Joshi 1990, p. 25.
  4. ↑ Joshi 1990, p. 27.
  5. ↑ Joshi 1990, p. 28.

Sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.