Panic in Box C - John Dickson Carr

Panic in Box C (1966)

A Gideon Fell Mystery

Another superb mystery from Carr. This time set in an american theatre, where a company are rehearsing Romeo and Juliet. During the fight scene between Romeo and Tybalt the company's benefactor is shot by a crossbow. But she is sitting in a Box by herself and the Box has a lock on the door. She was shot in the back, but how?

Enter Gideon Fell and a rather obnoxious american detective.

Now the story is good, the plot and solution is ingenious as in all Carr books. but the dialogue is awful in places. with cliched american slang from the detective, and Fell and others going off in tangents including one chapter involving college songs.

As a late Carr novel it has it's flaws in the writing, like the late Christie novels, but it is still a good read and gets the brain working. Not his best by a long shot but recommened to fans of this genre.

Plot 10/10
Dialogue 1/10
Overall 7/10

Thespian