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I'm accustomed to the happy serendip of finding change in the pockets of a fall jacket or winter coat. Finding a pair of glasses in a summer hapi coat is a new one by me. Since I regularly and still misplace my reading glasses, I can't pinpoint exactly which 'what on earth did I do with my (backpack/ kitchen/ living room) glasses?' this pair is, but glad to have them anyway.
Allergies still bite so took a sip of codeine cough syrup. Doing this on Wednesday led to happy druggy experience. Today was just mild malaise.
Went to library yesterday to pick up two holds. Got my two holds, both Ann Grangers. Thought "wasn't there supposed to be a Pratchett waiting for me?" Yes, there was, and it's still there, but my mind was fixated on the number two. Also is supposed to rain this afternoon so won't be getting it before Monday. No matter: I have two Ann Grangers to read.
All respect to John Dickson Carr but truly I don't find it 'perfectly simple' to take a doorknob off, attach a string to the shaft inside so you can loosen the other knob at will and thus reveal an inch wide opening in the plate through which to shoot your victim with a crossbow. I don't think this MO would occur to anybody, let alone a middle-aged spinster in the 1930s who'd never used a crossbow in her life, or even taken a doorknob apart to see how it works.
Allergies still bite so took a sip of codeine cough syrup. Doing this on Wednesday led to happy druggy experience. Today was just mild malaise.
Went to library yesterday to pick up two holds. Got my two holds, both Ann Grangers. Thought "wasn't there supposed to be a Pratchett waiting for me?" Yes, there was, and it's still there, but my mind was fixated on the number two. Also is supposed to rain this afternoon so won't be getting it before Monday. No matter: I have two Ann Grangers to read.
All respect to John Dickson Carr but truly I don't find it 'perfectly simple' to take a doorknob off, attach a string to the shaft inside so you can loosen the other knob at will and thus reveal an inch wide opening in the plate through which to shoot your victim with a crossbow. I don't think this MO would occur to anybody, let alone a middle-aged spinster in the 1930s who'd never used a crossbow in her life, or even taken a doorknob apart to see how it works.
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He does get gimmicky at times. But the last one I read solved the locked room mystery by the simple expedient of Somebody Was Lying, which I felt was vaguely unfair.
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I think that was the first of his books starring Merrivale. I agree the MO is implausible. He’s very good at being convincing while the detective’s explaining the current sealed room mystery, though…
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I wondered why everything was happening in the courtroom itself. Believe he abandoned that later? It was the 'really quite simple' thing that raised my eyebrows. I bet the infant Carr was like my older bro and took things apart just to see how they worked.
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I think you're right about the disassembly idea. Carr is very fond in some of the books of having the detective say "you look at item X, but you never really see it or consider what it's made of / how it works / what's behind it".