The Black Spectacles

By: John Dickson Carr

Narrated by: Kris Dyer

A sinister case of deadly poisoned chocolates from Sodbury Cross's high street shop haunts the group of friends and relatives assembled at Bellegarde, among the orchards of 'peach-fancier' Marcus Chesney. To prove a point about how the sweets could have been poisoned under the nose of the shopkeeper, Chesney stages an elaborate memory game to test whether any of his guests can see beyond their 'black spectacles'; that is, to see the truth without assumptions as witnesses. During the test - which is also being filmed - Chesney is murdered by his accomplice, dressed head to toe in an 'invisible man' disguise. The keen wits of Dr Gideon Fell are called for to crack this brazen and bizarre murder. This classic novel is widely regarded as one of John Dickson Carr's masterpieces and remains among the greatest impossible crime mysteries of all time.

©1939 The Estate of Clarice M. Carr (P)2023 Soundings

Carr Is A Master of Mystery

“ The Black Spectacles” is a fun listen. I enjoyed the interesting characters, their idiosyncrasies, and their manners. Dr. Gideon Fell, with pipe and cape and top hat, often gruff and stout and a lover of fine drink and meat, is one of my favorite detectives. This is one of Carr’s best.

A Sepia Era Cozy Cabinet of Curiosities

My mind wandered a bit the first 7ish chapters not connecting with the narration cadence, but then suddenly I’m grabbed by the plot, the narration makes sense and I have to go back and replay those chapters. I really like this and would love to hear more please!

Ingenious plot

This time capsule is not only a great portrait of an era; it is witty and probes the psychological twists and of unpredictable characters.

The lengthy histories of poisoners are perhaps a bit overdone but it was fun to hear the “gentlemen” discuss criminals in times past:. A retro glimpse of criminal profiling!

analysis of each segment

A multi-layer of motives and observations. only concluded by more analysis and observations. A mind game from the beginning.

Good Story, One Rant

Good story, with adequate (if somewhat wanting) character development; if only the voice chosen by the Narrator for the story's main detective (Inspector Elliot) would not have been one of a whining 4th grader...