The Arabian Nights Murder

Another fine mystery from John Dickson Carr! This one starts out slow but has a bang-up conclusion. As sometimes happens in his novels, the great detective (in this case the brilliant Dr. Gideon Fell) hardly appears at all. Unlike Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories, the personality of the detective hardly comes into play at all! This is somewhat unfortunate. The detective, in Carr's mysteries, is more a device than a character. As in some of his other books, Carr (aka Carter Dickson) in this book portrays a group of young, prankish, aristocratic Brits. These characters can be quite insufferable. Unlike P.G. Wodehouse (surely an influence on Carr), the author does not seem to recognize how annoying these upper-class twits can be! But in Carr mysteries the puzzle is all, and few authors have constructed more entertainingly and elaborately misleading traps.

The master of the locked room murder has tried his hand at a novel wich is more in the line of Van Dine or Ellery Queen but it has produced startling results.The book is very complex the suspects have cast iron alibis the murder is most strange and even a systematic and logical solution by the investigator proves to be wrong and Dr Fell solves it after hearing the acount of the crime by three investigators in charge of the case.Dr Fell becomes an arm chair sleuth and presents the actual solution which is most strange.A mystery novel as it should be with a plot which is very complex the investigation a genuine use of logic and the atmosphere very well done.Carr at his best but fans of Ellery Queen or S.S van dine will also be delighted.