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cimoreno18's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
reddrabbbit's review against another edition
challenging
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? Yes
3.5
purpleberryblue's review
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
3.25
emi19380721's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
ian_9's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
ananamauvais's review
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
cardica's review
4.0
Just shy of the premium top 5 for our 2022 Recommendations on Death of the Reader, we have placed the fantastically whacky The Crooked Hinge by John Dickson Carr. We have been looking for an excuse to include the tomes of Carr on the show for some time now, and when we heard that ambitious friend of the show Brad Friedman of ‘Ah Sweet Mystery’ was keen to chat about it, we jumped at the chance.
The Hinge represents a unique facet of the Death of the Reader lexicon, being a novel which outwardly claims to be about the clash between mystery and magic, one which Flex and I have struggled against since the beginning of time itself. Carr penned this story as part of his Gideon Fell series, though Gideon is not allowed proper access to the crime scene until well after the requisite murder occurs. It is a classic locked room style murder mystery with a mansion, many different rooms that can be mapped out and sight lines established, along with a quirky cast of characters to fill out this mansion and sight one each other as needed. The central conflict and supposed motive for murder involves two John Farnleighs, both of whom claim religiously to be the ‘real’ John Farnleigh, which is of course an impossible contradiction. It’s a fun play on the traditional twin trope of murder mystery, where rather than having a second Farnleigh show up miraculously at the end of the novel to explain everything we are instead produced two Farnleigh’s that look nothing alike but who both seem to have an equal claim to the name.
And this is the pretext of the novel as an investigation unfolds that will yield light on the matter, exposing the real Farnleigh to all and casting the fake one into disgrace. The one Farnleigh has been dwelling in the estate of their family for years, though admittedly seems nervous when the nature of their identity is called into question. The other Farnleigh has a pretty wild story implicating that the two of them had been on the real actual Titanic together when it went down, and that the real Farnleigh had been survived by the fake. The intrigue of course comes from whether the convincing newcomer really is telling everything exactly as he says it is, or perhaps everything that comes out of his mouth is a well-prepared lie. With this debate splitting readers down the middle it also splits the cast. Which of these characters might support which of the Farnleighs, which is secretly doing whom’s bidding? None of it is clear, and just as we are about to perform the early 20th century equivalent of a dna test the evidence is stolen and one Farnleigh is killed in broad daylight in front of everyone right in the middle of the estate.
It’s bold, it’s cunning, it’s so very Carr. What follows after a dense opening is a deep dive into impossible crimes and the mystical nature of the world itself. Black books of magic are uncovered. An automaton attempts to murder a housemaid. As day turns to night and the shadows grow longer it is no longer clear what is real, and what is magical. An offhand comment about a circus performance primes the reader’s brain to accept anything and everything, whether you believe there is a rational explanation or not, at a certain point you’re just along for the ride as much as the characters are. That is, if not for Dr Fell.
Dr Gideon Fell is an imposing figure, keen to engage in a battle of wits to any he may come across, he operates on his own whims and is akin to a boulder rampaging down a tight corridor. He’s going to catch up with the truth, it’s just a matter of when. The mystery to this story is devilishly laid out, and clues might be hidden in the last place a reader would suspect. What I really admired about this text was how Carr is able to keep the action thrumming along while still injecting hints in the form of metaphor and symbology. There is a logic behind everything that’s placed here and nothing is wasteful.
This philosophy extends to the broader cast, as though Fell is our detective he is not our protagonist, that honour goes to an impressionable Brian Page, who is swept up in the business of telling the Farnleighs apart as a witness rather than as active participant, but it soon becomes apparent that by setting foot within the Farnleigh conspiracy, he has exposed himself to the threats and machinations of such figures as Knowles, the family butler, who continues to insist that he has excellent eyesight, or Mr Welkyn, a vampiric crotchety old man who is determined to fight tooth and nail for the claimant Farnleigh. Kennet Murray, the one man who reckons he can tell the two apart, seems to be holding something quite close to his chest as he goes about his investigation. Even in this argument where it should be obvious to someone who has known Farnleigh his whole life which is the real one, there is doubt and darkness that shrouds the whole tale, just as it shrouds the whole blasted estate.
I would really recommend you read John Dickson Carr’s The Crooked Hinge if you’re looking for a brain-scratcher of a puzzle. It is an older text, first penned in 1938, but its impeccable sense of place and use of extraordinary elements will keep you enthralled in its spell from beginning to end. The mystery is fair while still looking to pull out your legs from under you at any opportunity, and its intricacies could easily make it your favourite murder mystery of all time.
The Hinge represents a unique facet of the Death of the Reader lexicon, being a novel which outwardly claims to be about the clash between mystery and magic, one which Flex and I have struggled against since the beginning of time itself. Carr penned this story as part of his Gideon Fell series, though Gideon is not allowed proper access to the crime scene until well after the requisite murder occurs. It is a classic locked room style murder mystery with a mansion, many different rooms that can be mapped out and sight lines established, along with a quirky cast of characters to fill out this mansion and sight one each other as needed. The central conflict and supposed motive for murder involves two John Farnleighs, both of whom claim religiously to be the ‘real’ John Farnleigh, which is of course an impossible contradiction. It’s a fun play on the traditional twin trope of murder mystery, where rather than having a second Farnleigh show up miraculously at the end of the novel to explain everything we are instead produced two Farnleigh’s that look nothing alike but who both seem to have an equal claim to the name.
And this is the pretext of the novel as an investigation unfolds that will yield light on the matter, exposing the real Farnleigh to all and casting the fake one into disgrace. The one Farnleigh has been dwelling in the estate of their family for years, though admittedly seems nervous when the nature of their identity is called into question. The other Farnleigh has a pretty wild story implicating that the two of them had been on the real actual Titanic together when it went down, and that the real Farnleigh had been survived by the fake. The intrigue of course comes from whether the convincing newcomer really is telling everything exactly as he says it is, or perhaps everything that comes out of his mouth is a well-prepared lie. With this debate splitting readers down the middle it also splits the cast. Which of these characters might support which of the Farnleighs, which is secretly doing whom’s bidding? None of it is clear, and just as we are about to perform the early 20th century equivalent of a dna test the evidence is stolen and one Farnleigh is killed in broad daylight in front of everyone right in the middle of the estate.
It’s bold, it’s cunning, it’s so very Carr. What follows after a dense opening is a deep dive into impossible crimes and the mystical nature of the world itself. Black books of magic are uncovered. An automaton attempts to murder a housemaid. As day turns to night and the shadows grow longer it is no longer clear what is real, and what is magical. An offhand comment about a circus performance primes the reader’s brain to accept anything and everything, whether you believe there is a rational explanation or not, at a certain point you’re just along for the ride as much as the characters are. That is, if not for Dr Fell.
Dr Gideon Fell is an imposing figure, keen to engage in a battle of wits to any he may come across, he operates on his own whims and is akin to a boulder rampaging down a tight corridor. He’s going to catch up with the truth, it’s just a matter of when. The mystery to this story is devilishly laid out, and clues might be hidden in the last place a reader would suspect. What I really admired about this text was how Carr is able to keep the action thrumming along while still injecting hints in the form of metaphor and symbology. There is a logic behind everything that’s placed here and nothing is wasteful.
This philosophy extends to the broader cast, as though Fell is our detective he is not our protagonist, that honour goes to an impressionable Brian Page, who is swept up in the business of telling the Farnleighs apart as a witness rather than as active participant, but it soon becomes apparent that by setting foot within the Farnleigh conspiracy, he has exposed himself to the threats and machinations of such figures as Knowles, the family butler, who continues to insist that he has excellent eyesight, or Mr Welkyn, a vampiric crotchety old man who is determined to fight tooth and nail for the claimant Farnleigh. Kennet Murray, the one man who reckons he can tell the two apart, seems to be holding something quite close to his chest as he goes about his investigation. Even in this argument where it should be obvious to someone who has known Farnleigh his whole life which is the real one, there is doubt and darkness that shrouds the whole tale, just as it shrouds the whole blasted estate.
I would really recommend you read John Dickson Carr’s The Crooked Hinge if you’re looking for a brain-scratcher of a puzzle. It is an older text, first penned in 1938, but its impeccable sense of place and use of extraordinary elements will keep you enthralled in its spell from beginning to end. The mystery is fair while still looking to pull out your legs from under you at any opportunity, and its intricacies could easily make it your favourite murder mystery of all time.
allieeveryday's review against another edition
I really enjoyed this mystery novel, though I found the ending a little ridiculous. I found it quick and engaging, if not a quite tangled story. Sir John Farnleigh is a wealthy man with an inherited estate and a good life, until another man shows up claiming to be the real John Farnleigh, and accuses the former of being an imposter. His former childhood tutor has the fingerprints of the real John, and subjects the two of them to a fingerprint test, but before the results can be discovered, the fingerprint evidence is stolen and one of the John Farnleighs is found with his throat slashed. But which John Farnleigh is dead — the real one or the imposter? And was it a guilty suicide or a malicious murder?
bev_reads_mysteries's review against another edition
3.0
Another great "impossible" crime by the master. I keep reading Carr not only because I enjoy watching a master illusionist at work, but also because I'm just sure he'll have to repeat a trick. So far, he's left me wanting--every time he comes up with a different method and, like a good magician, he displays the whole trick right before your eyes and you never see the workings. Great stuff! Three and a half stars
hasegawatiki's review against another edition
5.0
对我来说这本书比三口棺材更让我震撼，因为他的故事更好，我两次都猜错了凶手，竟然完全没想到……
唯一不太高兴的就是，最后他们跑了，而不是被绳之以法，现在这结局算是happy end吗？我不知道，很复杂的案件啊……
唯一不太高兴的就是，最后他们跑了，而不是被绳之以法，现在这结局算是happy end吗？我不知道，很复杂的案件啊……