John Dickson Carr Books In Order

Publication Order of Department D-3 Books

Publication Order of Dr. Gideon Fell Books

Publication Order of Henri Bencolin Books

Publication Order of Sir Henry Merrivale Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Short Story Collections

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of British Library Crime Classics Books

Publication Order of Adrian Conan Doyle Collections

Publication Order of Murderous Christmas Stories Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

John Dickson Carr was an American author. He was born on November 30, 1906, and died on February 27, 1977, at the age of 70. He wrote in the mystery, detective novel, murder and historical mystery genre.

John D. Carr is regarded as one of the greatest writers of the Golden Age Mysteries – complex, plot-driven narratives in which the riddle or puzzle is paramount. Carr was influenced by the works of Gaston Leroux and the works of G. K. Chesterton, especially the Father Brown stories.

Carr mastered the art of the locked room mystery, in which an investigator unravels and solves seemingly impossible crimes. His masterpiece is considered to be The Hollow Man, part of the Dr. Gideon Fell series, selected in 1981 as the best locked room mystery of all time by a panel of reviewers and writers. He also used pseudonyms of Carter Dickson, Roger Fairbairn, and Carr Dickson.

John Dickson Carr was the son of W.N. Carr, a U.S. Congressman from Pennsylvania. John attended The Hill School in Pottstown and Haverford College. In the 1930s, he moved to England, married an English woman, and started his writing career. He returned to the US in 1948, already an internationally famous author.

In 1950, John Carr’s biography of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle won him the first of two special Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America. In 1970, he earned the second award in recognition of his long career of more than 40 years as mystery writer.

Several of Carr’s works were made into movies, including The Man with a Cloak, Dangerous Crossing, The Emperor’s Snuff-Box, That Woman Opposite, The Burning Court and La Chambre ardente. Several of his works were adapted for television. The TV series, Colonel March of Scotland Yard, was based on his stories.

John Dickson Carr also wrote many radio scripts, especially for suspense radio anthologies in the U.S. and for the British equivalent, Appointment with Fear, and many other dramas for the BBC.

He also wrote screenplays. In the U.S., his radio play, Cabin B-13, was expanded into a CBS series from 1948 to 1949 and Carr wrote 25 scripts. This was also expanded into the script for the 1953 movie, Dangerous Crossing.

In the 1940’s, Carr hosted Murder by Experts, transmitted by Mutual radio, where he introduced works by other mystery authors who featured as weekly guest writers.

The Plague Court Murders is the first book of the Merrivale series. Once Dean Halliday became convinced that the sinister ghost of Louis Playge was haunting his family estate in London, he invited Detective Inspector Masters and Ken Bates to investigate. They went at night and found his aunt and fiancée getting ready to exorcise the ghost in a séance run by a psychic named Roger Darworth.

Roger Darworth locked himself in a decrepit stone dwelling behind Plague Court as the séance proceeded, and he was found viciously murdered. The main question is who or what could have murdered him? All doors and windows were locked and bolted, and nobody could have gotten inside. The one person who can unravel and solve a crime this bizarre is Sir Henry Merrivale, locked room expert.

The book opens as two former espionage agents, Blake and a colleague, discuss their boss, old Merrivale, who likes to sit with his feet on the desk at the war office. Old Merrivale wants the story of the Plague Court murders written but nobody has gotten around to actually doing it. They think Merrivale wants the story written merely for his own glory, now that the war is over. Merrivale’s department had ceased being called the Counter-Espionage Service and was now simply known as the Military Intelligence Department, or MID.

Blake recalls his connection with the case, which began on the night of September 6, 1930. It was a rainy night when Dean Halliday walked into the smoking room of the Noughts and Crosses Club and told him an unsettling story. Blake believed him only because they were friends and knew him to mature and reliable.

And So to Murder is another offering from the Merrivale series. Nobody ever expected the daughter of a clergyman to write such a scandalous best-selling novel, but when Monica Stanton published Desire, she was hired by Albion Films. She had expected to be adapting her own work, but instead was assigned to assist scriptwriter William Cartwright in adapting his latest detective novel.

Almost immediately, mysterious attempts on Monica’s life begin to occur, and the flamboyant Sir Merrivale is invited to investigate. Will the wily Merrivale unravel the mystery, see through the intrigue and stop the perpetrator before it’s too late?

The book opens at the office of Mr. Thomas Hackett, at the studios of Albion Films. Monica has been invited there and she imagines it has to do with making her book, Desire, into a film. She had resolved to be unimpressed by the studios of Albion, but now that she was actually in Mr. Hackett’s office she could feel her heart racing and her speech was a little slurred, which she found annoying.

Albion was far better than she expected, and at the same time, she is somewhat surprised and caught off-balance by the man sitting across the desk. Mr. Hackett is reminiscent of the hero in her book – quiet, curt, and masterful. He nods towards a chair and with a precise and masterful gesture, pulls a box of cigars from his desk and offers them to her. Then, coming to his senses, he quickly returns the box to the desk and slams the drawer shut.

Mr. Hackett works for Mr. Marshlake, head of Albion Films and the money man; however, he is rarely seen. Mr. Hackett is about 35 years old, short and stocky, with a dark complexion. He and Monica engage in discussion and in the end, Monica is hired to write a script, but Mr. Hackett is a worried man. He is astounded at meeting Monica Stanton in the flesh, and having gone through her book, Desire, he isn’t quite sure how much of it had gone through the censor.

4 Responses to “John Dickson Carr”

1. Mary Shakti Unny: 10 months ago

   Thank you so much for all the information you have provided on John Dickson Carr, He is a writer ‘par excellence’. So far (2023) I have read only a few books, but I plan on reading all of his books. Thank you again.

   Reply
   • Graeme: 10 months ago

     You are welcome 🙂 Thanks for taking the time to comment. Much appreciated.

     Reply
2. Alistair Macfarlane: 3 years ago

   Thank you for this page – it is extremely helpful. I have been a Carr fan for as long as I can remember, and am astonished that he does not receive the accolades due to him today. His works should be in print more often than they are. Agatha Christie is a good author, but her books are simple murder mysteries & once you’ve read a few, they are relatively easy to work out long before you get to the end. Not so with Carr’s books, which are not only whodunits, but also, howdunits. What more can one ask for?

   Reply
   • Graeme: 3 years ago

     You’re welcome. Agreed he is an exceptional author.

     Reply