tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9100001220947256423.post4508019448759205324..comments2024-02-01T09:41:09.487+01:00Comments on Death Can Read: John Dickson Carr : The Plague Court Murders, 1934Pietro De Palmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06051060020493340331noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9100001220947256423.post-50608413681054611162015-11-17T18:21:33.497+01:002015-11-17T18:21:33.497+01:00Or rather, I should have written...
* JDC's b...Or rather, I should have written...<br /><br />* JDC's biographer Douglas Greene (in "The Man Who Explained Miracles") who otherwise notes when people have queried plot points, indeed mentions some problems with Plague Court but not this oneAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9100001220947256423.post-42750178655996787152015-11-16T21:01:09.697+01:002015-11-16T21:01:09.697+01:00Couldn't agree more RPS, thank you for raising...Couldn't agree more RPS, thank you for raising this, I noticed exactly the same issue. However having now checked it out I am puzzled to find the point seems not to have been made earlier:<br /><br />* JDC's biographer Douglas Greene (in "The Man Who Explained Miracles") who otherwise notes when people have queried plot points, doesn't mention any problems with Plague Court<br /><br />* Dorothy Sayers (in her review quoted by Greene) doesn't note the problem<br /><br />* Robert Adey, a doyen who is very scornful of dodgy plots, praises the book in his "Locked Room Murders", calling it "first class" and not mentioning any problems.<br /><br />So does JDC actually explain the point somewhere in the book, and so makes the story work, or are we really the only two people who have spotted the fatal (!) flaw?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9100001220947256423.post-90171318509518102672015-06-30T09:16:14.331+02:002015-06-30T09:16:14.331+02:00In the Locked Room Lecture, by Dickson Carr, also ...In the Locked Room Lecture, by Dickson Carr, also 1935, Fell specifically refers to what we learn is the murder method in Plague Court. Who created the device for committing the murder? Why, it was the victim, carefully preparing it in his workshop. As Merivale says, in these stories you should only be concerned with the possible, not the probable, but in this case it is not possible that the victim who did not want to die, indeed wanted to enjoy his fortune with a young beauty, casting off his slightly older beauty, should have acted so. RPSAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com