It Walks by Night: A Parisian Locked-Room Mystery (British Library Crime Classics) Kindle Edition

________________________________________________________________... and not least foul among these night-monsters (which may be found even in our pleasant land of France) is a certain shape of evil hue which by day may not be recognized, inasmuch as it may be a man of favoured looks, or a fair and smiling woman; but by night becomes a misshapen beast with blood-bedabbled claws. So I say to you, even you who live in the city of Paris, when your fire burns low by night, and you hear a gentle tapping of fingers at the window-pane, do not open your door to this supposed traveller, who..._________________________________________________________________Thus "It Walks by Night" begins on a note of supernatural horror. It the first of more than 70 novels by Carr, and the first of his mysteries featuring the suave, Mephistophelean M. Henri Bencolin, 'juge d'instruction' of the Seine, the head of the Paris police and "the most dangerous man in Europe."Carr began his writing career, at the age of twenty-five, with his Inspector Bencolin mysteries. M. Bencolin was even spotted in some of Carr's earlier college stories published in the school newspaper, "The Haverfordian." (It may surprise you to learn that John Dickson Carr was American)."It Walks by Night" really begins when the police burst into the card room of a sinister Parisian gambling establishment, and spot the severed head of the Duc de Saligny staring at them from the centre of the empty room. The remainder of his body is kneeling on the carpet, as though he had been waiting for his executioner's blow.This is Carr's first mystery and also his first 'locked room' mystery, for which he became justifiably famous. Both doors of the card room were being watched by the police, including M. Bencolin, himself. The window to the card room was absolutely inaccessible and had not been entered, and there were no secret passages by which an entrance could be made through the walls. Yet within the space of ten minutes the executioner had entered the room, had severed the Duc de Saligny's head from his torso, and had escaped without leaving a clue and without having been seen by anyone.Hashish, hysterical women, a murderous ex-husband escaped from the insane asylum, and several love triangles (actually one of them is a pentagon) feature prominently in this story of a bride whose husband is beheaded in a gaming establishment on their wedding night: her "eyes had the bright shine of terror as she stared at the thing that lay at her feet: the severed head of the Duc de Saligny!"As is common in Carr's M. Bencolin stories, "It Walks by Night" pays homage to Poe, most specifically his story "The Cask of Amontillado."In his Bencolin novels, Carr seems fond of spectacularly gory murders and lurid settings for his Satanic detective. The American, Jeff Marly (Bencolin's muscular Watson) states that in Bencolin's hands, "a thousand facets came glittering out of the revolving jewel of Paris--lights and shadows, perfume and danger...abbey, brothel, and guillotine." This story takes place in Paris in 1927 in an atmosphere of hysteria, jazz, a hint of werewolves and impossible murders, ambergris-scented rooms, and a beautiful woman looking up into Jeff's match-flame: "Except for a kimono over one shoulder, she was unclothed, a breathless mystery of flesh and shadow."A breathless mystery, indeed.

This is John Dickson Carr’s first “impossible crime” novel. The murder of the duc de Saligny is indeed a puzzler, for Raoul is gruesomely beheaded while alone in the card room of a night club, with police watchers at both doors of the room.The villain of the piece is a madman, a monster with a lust for blood. Laurent would have murdered the beautiful wife he loved, just for the sensual pleasure of watching her bleed, if his wife had not outwitted him. When Laurent escapes from an asylum, his first step is to transform his appearance through plastic surgery. Now, presumably Laurent is in Paris, looking like someone else, intent once more on murder. The duc de Saligny, the man his ex-wife is about to marry, is in grave danger.Carr puts a master detective on the trail of the murderer – Henri Bencolin. This is not a detective I could warm to. Bencolin has a Satanic black beard, a thin Borgia smile and hooked brows over long gleaming eyes. But he make good use of forensic testing, and is imaginative besides. His somewhat secretive brilliance contrasts with the ingenuous charm of the young American who is his temporary Watson.The plot is intricate, and not especially believable. But if it lacks realism, it’s rich in decadent Parisian atmosphere, subtle clues, colorful red herrings, clever misdirection and seductive women.The introduction offers interesting insights into the author, his books, and his place in the history of crime writing.I enjoyed It Walks by Night, but not as much as I liked Hag’s Nook, which was Carr’s first crime novel and featured Dr. Fell, a delightful amateur sleuth.

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John Dickson Carr is an author whose books I have enjoyed. These two early efforts are not among the enjoyable ones. The locked room mystery plots are very complicated and cleverly constructed, but not credible. Even more disappointing is the often florid prose writing that seems to be attempting to be insightful and poetic, but ends up being pretentious word salad that doesn’t say much of anything. I’d suggest giving this novel and novella a pass and reading Carr’s “Fire, Burn!” instead for a taste of how good his mysteries can be.

Despite the fact that it is Carr's first published novel and that it was published more than 90 years ago, it engaged me and I enjoyed it very much. It seems that critics consider it to be "overwritten" but I much prefer this writing style to much of the flavorless writing that is published today. I do agree that it is lacking in realism, especially as regards the "assistant's" reaction to the women. But I didn't read it for realism, and the "locked room" aspect is well-done. I especially appreciated the "atmospheric touches", which certainly increased my enjoyment!

Perfect book. I will buy more from the seller.

I can think of only one other book in which the writing is as mannered, affected and pretentious as this--The Green Hat by Harold Arlen. At first the writing seems rather lyrical, but it soon becomes just a burden. The reader has to dig to get at the meaning. Also the plot is ridiculous, manipulated for maximum E. A. Poe "mystery and imagination" effect. Finally, the author apparently didn't know much about drugs. If the killer was only smoking marijuana, it wouldn't cause all that violently crazy stuff that goes on. I skipped great patches of purple prose to get the outline of the plot and find out "who done it," and I don't feel that I missed a thing of importance.

Awesome