It Walks by Night

By: John Dickson Carr

Narrated by: John Telfer

In the smoke-wreathed gloom of a Parisian salon, Detective Bencolin has summoned his allies to discuss a peculiar case. A would-be murderer, imprisoned for his attempt to kill his wife, has escaped and is known to have visited a plastic surgeon. His whereabouts remain a mystery, though with his former wife poised to marry another, Bencolin predicts his return. Sure enough, the detective's worst suspicions are realised when the beheaded body of the new suitor is discovered in a locked room of the salon, with no apparent exit. Bencolin sets off into the Parisian night to unravel the dumbfounding mystery and track down the sadistic killer.

©1930 The Estate of Clarice M. Carr (P)2020 Soundings

The first Carr novel, good narration.

Carr’s first novel and an early impossible crime story.

An excellent plot, diminished slightly at times by the young Carr’s overwrought writing style. The narrator does an excellent job of differentiating among the characters and of depicting the more grisly elements of Carr’s Poe-like plot.

The more the better

The more I hear from JDC the more I like him. His characters are cleanly drawn and amusing but not foolish. His plots are most ingenious. His dialogue is excellent. This narrator does it very well. Highly recommended

Good store but dated

Overall good “Locked room” store. Dickerson was a contemporary of Christie and this was probably meant to be a more high brow murder mystery. But references to literature and events of the day that a high bourn educated reader would be expected to know are unknown by the modern reader which makes the dialogue seem dated and stilted, while Christie is still more readable after almost 100 yrs.

A great locked door mystery

Dickson Carr is the master of the locked room mystery. Get ready for being kept in suspense with “ It Walks By Night”.

Very enjoyable

This is my first time reading a title by the author. I enjoyed it very much. Gives me the feeling of Christie meets Poe. Narrator is pleasant to listen to as well.