Crime Classics 094: Till Death Do Us Part

This will be the fifth novel in the series from one of the top-rated Golden Age crime novelists John Dickson Carr. Till Death Do Us Part is frequently found high up in reviewers’ top ten lists, boasting a fiendishly clever locked-room setup and payoff. Introducing another of Carr’s fan-favourite series detectives to the Crime Classics series: Dr Gideon Fell. Crime author Dick Markham is in love again; his fiancée the mysterious newcomer to the village, Lesley Grant. When Grant accidentally shoots the fortune teller through the side of his tent at the local fair –following a very strange reaction to his predictions –Markham is reluctantly brought into a scheme to expose his betrothed as a suspected serial husband-poisoner. That night the enigmatic fortune teller – and chief accuser – is found dead in an impossible locked-room setup, casting suspicion onto Grant and striking doubt into the heart of her lover. Lured by the scent of the impossible case, Dr Gideon Fell arrives from London to examine the perplexing evidence and match wits with a meticulous killer at large. First published in 1944, Till Death Do Us Part remains a pacey and deeply satisfying impossible crime story, championed by Carr connoisseurs as one of the very best examples of his mystery writing talents.