The Eight of Swords: A Dr. Gideon Fell Mystery (An American Mystery Classic)
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
A tarot card discovered at a murder scene provides a clue for Dr. Gideon Fell
In a house in the English countryside, a man has just turned up dead, surrounded by a crime scene that seems, at first glance, to be fairly straightforward. He’s found with a bullet through the head in an unlocked room, and all signs point to a recent strange visitor as the perpetrator. The body is even accompanied by an ostentatious clue, presumably left by the killer: The tarot card of The Eight of Swords, an allusion, perhaps, to justice.
But when Dr. Gideon Fell arrives at the house to investigate, he finds that certain aspects of the murder scene don’t quite add up—and that every new piece of evidence introduces a new problem instead of a new solution. Add to that the suggestion of a poltergeist on the property, the appearance of American gangsters, and the constant interruptions of two dabbling amateur sleuths adjacent to the case, and you have a situation puzzling enough to push Fell’s powers of deduction to their limits. But will Fell be able to cut through their distractions and get to the heart of the matter, before more murders take place?
Reissued for the first time in years, The Eight of Swords is an early Carr novel that highlights many of the qualities that made him such a successful writer, including his baffling plots, his twisty investigations, and his memorable characters. It is the third installment in the Dr. Gideon Fell series, which can be read in any order.
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In this entertaining golden age mystery from Carr (1906–1977), his Chestertonian sleuth, Gideon Fell, gets involved in a bizarre murder case after Scotland Yard Chief Inspector Hadley, a close friend, is consulted about the odd behavior of the Bishop of Mappleham. The cleric's sanity is questioned after he's spotted sliding down a bannister while a guest at the Grange, the country home of Colonel Standish, a partner in the firm publishing Hadley's memoirs. The bishop also pulls the hair of one of his host's servants, because he suspects she's wearing a wig to disguise her true identity of Piccadilly Jane, a notorious thief. Things turn more serious after someone connected to the Grange is fatally shot, with a card with "eight swords painted on it" placed near the victim's hand. Wry meta elements enhance the fair-play plot. Toward the end, for example, a character advises Fell to minimize talking about the personalities involved because the "public will only glance at this chapter, to make sure it hasn't been cheated by having evidence withheld." This is another worthy entry in the American Mystery Classics series.