[U33]⇒ Read Captain CutThroat Carr John Dickson John Dickson Carr 9780786705474 Books

Captain CutThroat Carr John Dickson John Dickson Carr 9780786705474 Books

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Captain CutThroat Carr John Dickson John Dickson Carr 9780786705474 Books

Carr is one of the hugely prolific "Golden Age" mystery writers whom I'd never sampled until this book. This story a bit of an outlier in his work, in that it's more of a swashbuckling, historic espionage caper, than a classic murder mystery. It's set in France in 1805, as Napoleon gathers his troops on the northern coast for an invasion of England. However, someone -- an English agent, presumably -- is skulking around the camp of the Grand Armee, murdering soldiers in the dead of night.

Napoleon demands that his Minister of Police, Joseph Fouche (a real and fascinating personality) unmask the killer, and so Fouche weaves an exceedingly tangled web that includes one of his own "honey-trap" agents, an English spy, and the estranged wife of the spy. There's endless rounds of intrigue and counter-intrigue -- tables are not turned so much as they are spent spinning off into the night. There's a room with secret spyholes, a smuggler's inn, disguises, carriages and horses, swordplay, a great chase scene involving exploding gas balloons, and a venomous German officer to top it all off.

I suppose there's a certain zany charm to it all -- but it's more of the two-reeler adventure tale side of the spectrum, as opposed to a crime/mystery story. I will say that the twist at the end, when the true identity of Captain Cut-Throat is revealed is one of the better surprise endings I can recall. Still, probably of limited interest to modern readers.


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Captain CutThroat Carr John Dickson John Dickson Carr 9780786705474 Books Reviews

An adventure / espionage thriller set during the Napoleonic Wars, and on the eve of the invasion of Britain. Plenty of tension and action, including a splendid scene at the Field of Balloons, and a lightning-fast and razor-sharp duel of wits between the hero and Joseph Fouché culminating in the staggering revelation of Captain Cut-Throat, but there is far more riding and rescuing than ratiocination, so the book does not really compare with the more detection-oriented historical novels.
Captain Cut-Throat is an enjoyable historical whodunit/adventure which has all the elements one expects from the novels of John Dickson Carr (aka Carter Dickson) fast-paced narrative, delicious humour, playful sexyness and, of course, locked-room mysteries. Nevertheless, it is not among the most typical of Carr's works, as it is one of his few historical adventures (of which the best is probably The Devil in Velvet, set in the Victorian England and featuring early Scotland Yard). Swordplay and general swashbuckling and romancing actually seem take more importance than solving the murder puzzles. While Napoleon's armies are getting ready to cross Channel and invade England, a ghost-like murderer begins to stalk soldiers and guards of the invasion army. A young British spy is blackmailed by the French secret service to uncover the murderer.
Carr is one of the hugely prolific "Golden Age" mystery writers whom I'd never sampled until this book. This story a bit of an outlier in his work, in that it's more of a swashbuckling, historic espionage caper, than a classic murder mystery. It's set in France in 1805, as Napoleon gathers his troops on the northern coast for an invasion of England. However, someone -- an English agent, presumably -- is skulking around the camp of the Grand Armee, murdering soldiers in the dead of night.

Napoleon demands that his Minister of Police, Joseph Fouche (a real and fascinating personality) unmask the killer, and so Fouche weaves an exceedingly tangled web that includes one of his own "honey-trap" agents, an English spy, and the estranged wife of the spy. There's endless rounds of intrigue and counter-intrigue -- tables are not turned so much as they are spent spinning off into the night. There's a room with secret spyholes, a smuggler's inn, disguises, carriages and horses, swordplay, a great chase scene involving exploding gas balloons, and a venomous German officer to top it all off.

I suppose there's a certain zany charm to it all -- but it's more of the two-reeler adventure tale side of the spectrum, as opposed to a crime/mystery story. I will say that the twist at the end, when the true identity of Captain Cut-Throat is revealed is one of the better surprise endings I can recall. Still, probably of limited interest to modern readers.