It Walks by Night

Notes

It Walks by Night by John Dickson Carr was his first book. Set in Paris, it is unsurprisingly a locked-room mystery, though, for its time, it is remarkably dark and violent. 1930s noir?

Publisher’s Synopsis

We are thrilled to welcome John Dickson Carr into the Crime Classics series with his first novel, a brooding locked room mystery in the gathering dusk of the French capital.

In the smoke-wreathed gloom of a Parisian salon, Inspector Bencolin has summoned his allies to discuss a peculiar case. A would-be murderer, imprisoned for his attempt to kill his wife, has escaped and is known to have visited a plastic surgeon. His whereabouts remain a mystery, though with his former wife poised to marry another, Bencolin predicts his return.

Sure enough, the Inspector’s worst suspicions are realised when the beheaded body of the new suitor is discovered in a locked room of the salon, with no apparent exit. Bencolin sets off into the Parisian night to unravel the dumbfounding mystery and track down the sadistic killer.

Read a full review of It Walks by Night by John Dickson Carr at the Green Capsule Blog.