He Who Whispers

Their are 4 perfect Gideon Fell novels (The Three Coffins(1935), The Crooked Hinge(1938), The Case of the Constant Suicides(1941), and He Who Whispers(1946)). He Who Whispers is the last of them, and one of the best. The year is 1946, WWII is over, and Miles Hammond is headed to the Murder Club. Their, he hears the Howard Brookes. Howard entered the old stone tower, and walked to the top room, to see his son, who goes down a few minutes later. Infront of the entrance was a family having a picnic. The next time any one would see him, fifteen minutes later, he had been stabbed. No one had enentered the tower during the fifteen minutes in which Howard had been stabbed. The blame fell to his sons then girlfriend, Fay Seton, who is belived to be able to summon vampires. This shocks Miles, as he has just hired Fay to be his book keeper.

This is one of the finest, most ingenious, and most atmospheric of the classic "locked room" mystery novels of John Dickson Carr. It is also one of his most somber and frightening books. While the author is most famous for his intricate and hard to solve murder puzzles, I think his hardcore fans like myself most enjoy the brooding atmosphere he creates, with a hint of the supernatural hanging over sometimes appalling crimes. He Who Whispers is particularly great in its creation of this mysterious atmosphere. A man is brutally murdered under seemingly inexplicable circumstances, alone atop a remote tower. A female suspect is accused of being a soulless, bloodthirsty vampire, though to all appearances she is a modest and intelligent young woman. Oddly, as the novel wears on, this accusation seems at the same time absurd, and yet quite plausible! It is most cleverly handled, and resolved, by the author. But what I most enjoyed about this novel, and what really makes it stand out among the author's many fine novels, is its uniquely, intensely romantic aspect. The point of view character (NOT the brilliant detective Gideon Fell, nor his stolid "Watson," Inspector Hadley) is drawn to two interesting, intelligent women, both of whom are potential suspects. One is a resourceful and determined investigative journalist, with, as it turns out, a rather murky connection to the case somewhere in her own past. The other is a lovely, sad governess who has apparently been wrongly accused of murder as well as other misdeeds....but how innocent is she really? The mystery is ultimately sorted out--but then it really gets interesting! The resolution of the tangled romance plotline is moving and unexpected, and yet entirely logical, given the author's odd, seemingly incompatible combination of anachronistic chivalry toward women and respect for independent, uninhibited females. If this sounds a bit vague that is because I am trying not to give away any plot details, as I would never forgive myself if I spoiled the suprises of a great Carr mystery novel like this one!

John Dickson Carr was a writer in the "Golden Age" of mysteries, and he never cheated his readers. All of the clues needed to solve the mystery are presented, giving the alert reader a chance at identifying the murderer. I actually figured out who the killer was before the denouement of "He Who Whispers" even though I had no idea of how the murder was committed. However, his scrupulosity is not my favorite characteristic of this American author. What I love are the hot-house, claustrophobic, even supernatural atmospheres that he creates in his mysteries. In "He Who Whispers" a man is murdered at the top of a medieval French tower when no one could have possibly climbed the tower's sole staircase to accomplish the deed. His son's fiancée is accused of vampirism and barely escapes war-torn France with her life. She resurfaces in England and takes a position as private librarian at Greywood Mansion in New Forest. The first night she spends in the house, another woman is nearly frightened to death. Dr. Gideon Fell bumbles and rumbles onto the moonlit grounds of Greywood shortly before the mysterious shot is fired, and he and his French compatriot, Professor Rigaud attempt to solve the mystery of how the sister of Greywood's owner was almost frightened to death in her own bedroom. Was the beautiful new librarian really a vampire? Professor Riguad, using a rather convoluted form of Gallic logic believes she is. It is the only 'logical' explanation of how Howard Brooke was killed on top of the French tower back before the war. However, if you've read enough Gideon Fell mysteries, you know that Carr's humongous detective always manages to find a non-supernatural explanation to the mystery, in spite of the Unspeakable Horror that always seems to lurk just around the corner, breathing its chill vapours through the text. Though Carr was an American most of his books (especially the early ones) were set in England and France. He moved to Great Britain with his English wife in 1933 and they lived there for a number of years before moving back to the United States in 1965. Carr was awarded an Edgar in 1950 by the Mystery writers of America (MWA) for his Conan Doyle biography. He was also awarded the title of Grand Master by the MWA in 1970. Even though I'm not particularly fond of Carr's serial detective, the lumbering, snorting, coyly hinting Dr.Gideon Fell, the mysteries he inhabits are wonderfully brooding, baffling, atmospheric tales.

John Dickson Carr (a.k.a. Carter Dickson or Carr Dickson) was one of the greats of the mystery genre, specializing in locked-room mysteries and always playing scrupulously fairly with the clues. In this entry featuring detective Gideon Fell, the murder takes place in a tower by the edge of a river. A man is seen to climb the tower's spiral staircase. Two people go up there to talk with him, and then he is left alone. The next anyone hears of him is when some children find him run through with a sword. And yet the evidence is absolutely clear that nobody else could have been on the tower.For mystery readers who like their puzzles complex, there simply is no author better than Carr, who delighted in explaining the impossible. This, and his other novels, are highly recommended. (Note, though, that the solution here is one of the more complicated ones, and it might be better for those who have not experienced Carr to start with another book first.)