Carr, John Dickson - The Bowstring Murders (1933)

Review by Nick Fuller

4/5

The Bowstring Murders is a bone of contention between fans of Carr's writings. Some condemn the book; others, including the writer of this review, quite like it. Although certainly not one of Carr's best, there is a great deal of detective interest to be found in this tale of walking suits of armour and strangling by bowstring in a haunted medieval castle which boasts the finest private collection of medieval arms and armour in Britain (Dorothy L Sayers says he got his facts wrong). In these pre-Merrivale days, the sleuth is the alcoholic widower John Gaunt, probably the model for Anthony Boucher's Nick Noble. Like Carr's other detectives, he mistrusts science, trusting to his brain to perform brilliant deductions. The solution is both ingenious and surprising, although similar to It Walks by Night (1930). Despite the good setting, it is hard to build up a coherent picture of the castle, there is little atmosphere, and the servants all speak Cockney — in the middle of Suffolk.

See also http://pastoffences.wordpress.com/2012/01/19/the-bowstring-murders