The Problem of the Wire Cage
A Gideon Fell Mystery
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Death and tennis meet in one of impossible crime master John Dickson Carr’s most memorable cases.
John Dickson Carr is famous for his puzzling “impossible crime” plots in which corpses are discovered in scenarios that seem to lack any logical explanation. Among all of Carr’s ingenious crime scenes, the present case is one of the best known: a dead man is found strangled in the middle of a clay tennis court just after a storm. In the damp dirt, there is one set of footsteps—his own—leading back to the grass; the court is otherwise untouched.
It seems like a case of sudden death but, in order to find who’s at fault, the authorities must first solve the mystery of the body’s puzzling position. The bafflement has reached a harried volley by the time ace amateur sleuth Dr. Gideon Fell gets involved, bringing to the case a wit capable of cutting through the racket and discovering the truth. With brilliant deductive reasoning and plenty of humor, Fell untethers a confounding set of clues in search of a diabolical killer and a bizarre murder method, serving up a dazzling stroke of genius to expose whodunit.
Reissued for the first time this century, The Problem of the Wire Cage is an atmospheric and amusing Golden Age mystery with a memorable puzzle at its center, perfect for both long-time fans and first-time readers of John Dickson Carr.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
How could someone be strangled to death in the middle of a sodden clay tennis court without the killer leaving any footprints? That riddle animates this excellent entry in the Gideon Fell series from Carr (1906–1977; The Hollow Man), originally published in 1939 and now appearing with an introduction by Knives Out filmmaker Rian Johnson. The story opens with four characters playing mixed doubles on Dr. Nicholas Young's estate, near London. Frank Dorrance is engaged to Brenda White, with their union primed to net them a considerable fortune from Brenda's guardian. Hugh Rowland, a criminal defense attorney known for getting guilty clients acquitted, harbors his own feelings for Brenda. The members of the love triangle are joined by Young's high-society neighbor, Kitty Bancroft. After the quartet's game is disrupted by heavy rain, one of them is found choked to death on the court, with only their own footsteps visible in the mud, and Fell is called in to investigate. Carr's tricks and puzzles are as thrilling as ever, and Johnson's introduction offers sharp insight into the story's enduring appeal ("The beating heart of any John Dickson Carr tale is the delicious terror of the unsolvable... and the implication that the monster is just outside your window"). This is an ideal introduction to a master of mystery fiction's golden age.
