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A review by saareman
The White Priory Murders: A Mystery for Christmas by Carter Dickson
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
A Sort-of Locked Room before Christmas
A review of the British Library Crime Classics paperback (October 10, 2022) of the original William Morrow hardcover (1934).
A review of the British Library Crime Classics paperback (October 10, 2022) of the original William Morrow hardcover (1934).
Thin ice and unbroken snow.
Momentarily he felt a horrible and incredible idea. Whenever he had been able to see the pavilion, it flashed back on him, the snow about it had been unbroken ... But the murderer had to go in and out. Even if there were sixty feet of solid ice all around the pavilion, he could not have done it without leaving a track.
At 4 books a year, John Dickson Carr (1906-1977) was so prolific that his publishers insisted that he start using pseudonyms in order to not overwhelm the reading public. So the not-so-well disguised pennames of Carr Dickson and Carter Dickson were born.
<i>The White Priory Murders</i> is the 2nd of the Sir Henry Merrivale mysteries, where the retired Chief of Intelligence is called out from his Whitehall haunts in order to solve a so-called locked-room or impossible crime. In this case it is the murder of actress Marcia Tate on an island pavilion set on the White Priory estate. The pavilion sits on an island surrounded by ice and snow and there are no tracks in the snow until the morning when the body is discovered.
Although there were a considerable number of diversions and red herrings throughout, the final solution to this one was actually much more straightforward than is the case with many of Dickson's locked room mysteries. It certainly didn't require the acrobatics used in the first Merrivale case [book:The Plague Court Murders|1050701] (also 1934).
Although the case takes place in the winter with unbroken snow being a featured clue, there was otherwise nothing very Christmasy about this story. The subtitle <i>A Mystery for Christmas</i> seems to have been added by British Library Crime Classics for seasonal marketing purposes. This continues my annual tradition of reading a seasonally themed British Library Crime Classic at this time of the year.
<img src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1260924066i/7332059.jpg">
<i>The original cover on the 1934 William Morrow hardcover edition. Image sourced from the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7332059-the-white-priory-murders">Goodreads</a>.</i>
<b>Trivia and Links</b>
John Dickson Carr (1906-1977) is one of the 99 authors listed in [book:The Book of Forgotten Authors|34100964] (2017) by Christopher Fowler. He is No. 20 in the alphabetical listing which you can see towards the bottom of my review <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5759786113">here</a>.
The British Library Crime Classic series are reprints of forgotten titles from the 1860's through to the 1950's. You can see a list at the <a href="https://shop.bl.uk/collections/crime-classics">British Library Crime Classics Shop</a> (for North America they are reprinted by the publisher Poisoned Pen Press). There is also a Goodreads Listopia for the series which you can see <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/90356">here</a>.
<i>The White Priory Murders</i> is the 2nd of the Sir Henry Merrivale mysteries, where the retired Chief of Intelligence is called out from his Whitehall haunts in order to solve a so-called locked-room or impossible crime. In this case it is the murder of actress Marcia Tate on an island pavilion set on the White Priory estate. The pavilion sits on an island surrounded by ice and snow and there are no tracks in the snow until the morning when the body is discovered.
Although there were a considerable number of diversions and red herrings throughout, the final solution to this one was actually much more straightforward than is the case with many of Dickson's locked room mysteries. It certainly didn't require the acrobatics used in the first Merrivale case [book:The Plague Court Murders|1050701] (also 1934).
Although the case takes place in the winter with unbroken snow being a featured clue, there was otherwise nothing very Christmasy about this story. The subtitle <i>A Mystery for Christmas</i> seems to have been added by British Library Crime Classics for seasonal marketing purposes. This continues my annual tradition of reading a seasonally themed British Library Crime Classic at this time of the year.
<img src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1260924066i/7332059.jpg">
<i>The original cover on the 1934 William Morrow hardcover edition. Image sourced from the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7332059-the-white-priory-murders">Goodreads</a>.</i>
<b>Trivia and Links</b>
John Dickson Carr (1906-1977) is one of the 99 authors listed in [book:The Book of Forgotten Authors|34100964] (2017) by Christopher Fowler. He is No. 20 in the alphabetical listing which you can see towards the bottom of my review <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5759786113">here</a>.
The British Library Crime Classic series are reprints of forgotten titles from the 1860's through to the 1950's. You can see a list at the <a href="https://shop.bl.uk/collections/crime-classics">British Library Crime Classics Shop</a> (for North America they are reprinted by the publisher Poisoned Pen Press). There is also a Goodreads Listopia for the series which you can see <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/90356">here</a>.