CHRISTINE POULSON John Dickson Carr Archives

Writing a locked room mystery

Posted on Jul 1, 2020 in 'The House in Goblin Wood', John Dickson Carr, Maxim Jakubowski, The Book of Extraordinary Impossible Crimes and Puzzling Deaths | 4 Comments

I love a locked room mystery, so when the call came for contributions to an anthology of stories featuring impossible crimes, I jumped at the chance to write one of my own. My story, ‘The House by the Thames,’ is by way of being a tribute to the master of locked room mysteries, John Dickson […]

Whistle Up the Devil

Posted on Feb 11, 2016 in Derek Smith, John Dickson Carr, Locked-Room Mysteries, Whistle Up the Devil | 4 Comments

I do like a locked room mystery and I can heartily recommend Derek Smith’s Whistle Up the Devil (1953) and newly republished. It’s a fairly short novel, which for me is in its favour, and I read most of it over the course of a train journey. It is a familiar set-up – family curse, eldest […]

Night of the Jabberwock

Posted on May 4, 2011 in Anne Fadiman, Fredric Brown, John Dickson Carr, Martin Edwards, NIGHT OF THE JABBERWOCK, THE BURNING COURT | No Comments

Martin Edwards’ blog with the wonderful title: ‘Do You Write Under Your own Name?’ is a favourite of mine and I often pick up tips for books I might enjoy, especially in his forgotten books section. Not long ago he wrote a review of a novel by Fredric Brown which made me think that I’d […]