He Who Whispers

By: John Dickson Carr

Narrated by: Kris Dyer

When Miles Hammond is invited to a meeting of the Murder Club in London, he is met instead with just two other guests and is treated to a strange tale of an impossible crime in France years before; the murder of a man on a tower with only one staircase, under watch at the time at which the murder took place. With theories of levitating vampires abounding, the story comes home to Miles when he realises that the librarian he has just hired for his home is none other than Fay Seton, a woman at the heart of this bizarre and unsolved past murder.

Carr considered this novel one of his best works, and it is easy to see why when experiencing its ingenious plot delivered with an astounding pace and masterfully drawn characters including none other than the great detective Dr Gideon Fell.

©1946, 2023 The Estate of Clarice M. Carr, Martin Edwards (P)2023 Soundings

Clever story

This was an excellent Gideon Fell story with a nostalgic end of world war 2 setting. I wish Gideon was a more athletic attractive character

Too Improbable

I like Golden Age mysteries, and I've enjoyed other Carr novels, but I felt let down by the level of improbabilites used in orchestrating this mystery.
It's not a brilliant puzzle if I have to play dumb to make it work.

Good story

Great plot. Entertaining use of the supernatural element in the story. Did not like the narrator at all.

The book that started my love for John Dickson Carr's writing.

This is the book that started my love for John Dickson Carr's writing. He was a Grand Master of Mystery for a reason.

Could be a short story

Towards the end the person who solved the mystery announces that it all came together in three seconds. But the author takes about 47 chapters to explain the resolution.