To Wake the Dead

by John Dickson Carr

Paper Book, 1938

Status

Available

Call number

813.52

Publication

New York, Harper, 1938.

Description

Fiction. Mystery. HTML:Hailed by Agatha Christie as "the king of the art of misdirection," John Dickson Carr presents a thrilling murder mystery that has the redoubtable Dr. Gideon Fell tracing clues from London to Sussex to South Africa Mystery novelist Christopher Kent accepts a friend's outlandish bet and sets out to travel from Johannesburg to London with nothing but the cash in his wallet and the clothes on his back. He arrives with twenty-four hours to spare, his wallet and his stomach both empty. While cadging a breakfast at a luxurious hotel, he is implicated in the brutal murder of a hotel guest. Fleeing the scene of the crime, Kent takes refuge with Dr. Gideon Fell, the portly genius who specializes in murders too baffling for Scotland Yard. For Kent, getting to London was the easy part. The trick will be avoiding the hangman. To Wake the Dead is the 9th book in the Dr. Gideon Fell Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order..… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member JonRob

Almost up to the standard of Carr's best books, this one opens with a typically intriguing situation. The central character has worked his way across the world for a bet and finds himself temporarily penniless and hungry in London. A chance find allows him to have breakfast at someone else's

expense in a large hotel, but he then finds that the room he has claimed to occupy has a dead body in it. The action moves later to a small Sussex village, where Dr. Fell as usual traps the killer. Recommended to lovers of Golden age mysteries.

Show Less

3 more

LibraryThing member freelancer_frank

This a book about unexpected pleasures. Carr's 'locked room' mysteries are a kind of self-reflexive chess game. This one has a particularly satisfying reveal towards the end. Up to that point, everything has been deliciously wrong-footed, especially the reader. The hotel set of the twenties is well

drawn and there are plenty of magic tricks throughout.

Show Less

LibraryThing member antiquary

The cover illustrates a bizarre scene from the novel in which a man in full traditional British police uniform with helmet is using a poker to attack a man in a graveyard. N y favorite Fell partly because the victims seem to be decent people.

LibraryThing member Kindleifier

Not his best. I found it difficult to engage with the characters. I also have the audiobook. It will be interesting to see whether this draws me in more

Fewer