Puzzle Doctor

It Walks By Night by John Dickson Carr

it-walks-by-nightIn a gambling house in Paris, the newly married Duc de Saligny is entertaining himself. But the police are in attendance because Laurent, the first husband of the Duc’s new wife and well-renowned psychopath, is allegedly on his trail. But the police, and in particular Juge D’Instruction Henri Bencolin, are in attendance, so nothing possibly could go happen. Could it?

Of course it could. Despite Saligny being seen entering a card room alone and the doors being watched, when the steward arrives to see answer the service bell, he finds Saligny’s head some distance from the rest of his body. Has Laurent found a way to spirit himself into and out of a room without being seen? Even if, as rumour has it, he is a werewolf or something similar, invisibility doesn’t tend to be one of their traits, so how could he appear and vanish without trace?

The werewolf thing disappears pretty quick. It feels like it was inserted to justify the spoooooky title, but it doesn’t serve any other real purpose. Shame really, there aren’t enough locked room mysteries with werewolves in them. They could kill someone, pretend to be a wolf-skin rug, and then sneak away when no-one’s looking. There you go, aspiring writers, you can have that one for free!

OK, back to this book. It’s my first offering for 1930 for Past Offences’ Crimes Of The Century, with at least two more to come, and was Carr’s first novel, featuring his relatively short-lived hero Bencolin, who is an insufferable know-it-all here. For some reason the narrator, Jeff Marle, puts up with him, especially given his “I’ve solved all of my cases in half-an-hour” boasting. Didn’t stop the second murder though, did it, smart-arse?

It’s funny, but I’ve less than fond memories of this one from when I first read it yonks ago. They centred around a certain gambit performed by Laurent that seemed utterly ridiculous to me, but it seemed a bit more sensible this time. It is still utterly ridiculous, don’t get me wrong, but there are reasons that just about make it work – well, for almost everybody. I can’t see one character falling for it, but at least this time there’s a better reason that the abject stupidity demonstrated when Dame Agatha tried the same thing more than five years later.

So, if you can accept that and also Carr’s strange misconceptions as to how drugs work, this is a rather fun read, with a nicely complex scheme going on with a murderer that caught me out (even though I’d read it before). The impossible murder is a little straightforward at the end of the day, but it is effective given the Grand Guignol that surrounds it.

So, it’s a strong start for 1930 and for John Dickson Carr. There are a few cheap second hand copies out there, so if you haven’t read it, you should be able to pick up a copy. Proof positive that the memory cheats, this is Highly Recommended.

31 comments

  1. I agree, clearly an early work, but a very good start though when I first read I did figure out the gimmick well before the, very unusual for me with Carr. I have not read the original short version it was expanded from, ‘Grand Guignol’

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  3. Thanks for this very entertaining review. I now wonder where “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” could have digressed had Poe seen fit to introduce rumors of a werewolf running loose in the city…

    I read a handful of Carr and Dickson titles many years ago (far too long ago), and they all rather blend together now, more’s the pity. I believe one was It Walks by Night, but I slightly better remember The Crooked Hinge, The Burning Court, and The Nine Wrong Answers. Most vivid of all was The Judas Window, which I remember being very satisfying with its against-the-clock innocence-on-trial plot and the clever mechanical method.

    Bottom line: I need to read more John Dickson Carr. Thanks for the review!

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  4. We have fantastic, unbelievable forensics here. A document is traced to a particular pencil ! By handwriting analysis it is determined not only that the writer is under the influence of a drug but also the specific drug taken !
    The locked room explanation is flawed.

    SPOILER ALERT

    [Sorry, going to have to remove these, but he makes a very good couple of points]

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    • Sorry, Santosh, but I had to edit your spoilers – but you make very good points there. I’m not convinced that the locked room is flawed, but it is very unlikely to work and someone actually on site should have spotted the solution instantly.

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      • I’d like to read Santosh’s spoilers but they may easily guessed. And I too agree the locked room is extremely unlike to work, for at least two good reasons. Also, the most important clue is not in the book but only in the map – something I think unfair.

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      • Sorry, but Santosh wrote the comment so long ago, I have no idea what he wrote. The map is reprinted within the book, though, so surely that’s fair?

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      • Puzzle Doctor: is not a way to insert spoilers in the comments, like – for example – is possible in PhP forums?

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      • Not that I’m aware of. Admittedly, I have no idea what a PhP forum is though. But there are plenty of other places to discuss spoilers. Sorry.

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      • My thanks too, Sergio. I now have an edited-down PDF of just Grand Guignol (both halves). If anyone would like a copy, email me. (If you don’t have my e-address, leave a comment on Noirish and I’ll get your e-address that way.)

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  6. It saddens me that so few solid Carr titles are available on my local Kindle store. This one, unfortunately, isn’t on offer. However, I could get hold of any of these titles: Deadly Hall, ‘Witch of Low Tide’, ‘Fire, Burn!’, ‘To Wake the Dead’, ‘Scandal at High Chimneys’, ‘Blind Barber’, ‘The Ghost’s High Noon’, ‘The Demoniacs’, ‘Most Secret’. I couldn’t find any of your reviews on these titles, but was wondering if you consider any of them worth getting?

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      • Sigh, that’s the selection Kindle gives me. 😦

        To be fair, I didn’t mention the titles I already purchased, some of which are good: ‘Emperor’s Snuff Box’, ‘Man Who Could Not Shudder’, etc.

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