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John Dickson Carr

ジョン・ディクソン・カー

Jon Dikkuson Kaa

Pen Names: Carter Dickson（Pseudonym used for some Sir Henry Merrivale novels and other works）, Carr Dickson（A variant pseudonym occasionally used）, Roger Fairbairn（Pseudonym used for some early works）, Fenton Carter (alleged)（Name alleged in some obituaries/biographies; no works conclusively attributed）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1906-11-30 （Uniontown, Pennsylvania, United States）
Died
1977-02-27 （Greenville, South Carolina, United States） age 70
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
Uniontown, Pennsylvania — birthplace → England (lived for a number of years; major period of writing) → Mamaroneck, New York — residence into early 1960s → Greenville, South Carolina — later life and death

Career

Occupations
Novelist, Playwright, Radio scriptwriter, Critic / Book reviewer
Active Years
1930-1977
Affiliations
Mystery Writers of America, Detection Club
Memberships
Detection Club, Mystery Writers of America
Influenced By
Gaston Leroux, G. K. Chesterton (Father Brown stories)
Influenced
Influenced later Golden Age and locked-room mystery writers

Education

The Hill School
Period: 在学 — 卒業 1925
Year of Graduation: 1925
Country: United States
Preparatory school (boarding school)
Haverford College
Period: 在学 — 卒業 1929
Year of Graduation: 1929
Country: United States
College graduation

Awards

Edgar Award (Special)
1950
Work: The Life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Organization: Mystery Writers of America
Result: 受賞
MWA Grand Master
1963
Organization: Mystery Writers of America
Result: 受賞
Edgar Award (Special / Career recognition)
1970
Organization: Mystery Writers of America
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Hollow Man (also published as The Three Coffins)

1935 Detective novel / Locked-room mystery

One of Carr's masterpieces featuring Dr. Gideon Fell; celebrated as a classic locked-room mystery with complex plotting and a celebrated chapter on impossible crimes.

Locked-room puzzlesPuzzle-driven plottingBritish settings and atmosphere
Adaptations
  • [Radio / Drama] Radio adaptations of The Hollow Man

The Burning Court

1937 Mystery novel with supernatural elements

A standalone novel involving witchcraft, poisoning and a body that disappears from a sealed crypt; loosely adapted into the French film La Chambre Ardente.

Witchcraft and folkloreCourtroom drama elementsApparent supernatural disappearance
Adaptations
  • [Film] La Chambre Ardente (film) (1962)

The Crooked Hinge

1938 Detective novel / Locked-room

Combines seemingly impossible throat-slashing, witchcraft, a Titanic survivor, an eerie automaton and a Tichborne-like case into a highly regarded classic of detective fiction.

Combination of diverse mystery elementsLocked-room / impossible crimesHistorical echoes and trick mechanisms

Bibliography

  • It Walks By Night (1930)
  • The Waxworks Murder (1932)
  • The Hollow Man / The Three Coffins (1935)
  • The Burning Court (1937)
  • The Crooked Hinge (1938)
  • The Life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1949)
  • Fire, Burn! (1957)

Adaptations

  • Dangerous Crossing (film, adapted from 1943 radio play Cabin B-13; 1953)
  • That Woman Opposite (film, adaptation of The Emperor's Snuff-Box; 1957)
  • La Chambre Ardente (film, loose adaptation of The Burning Court; 1962)
  • Colonel March of Scotland Yard (TV series starring Boris Karloff; 1954–1955)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Puzzle-oriented prose in the tradition of the Golden Age of detective fictionEmphasis on complex plotting and logical solutionStrong atmospheric description
Recurring Motifs
Locked-room (impossible) crimesEccentric, large-statured detectives (e.g., Gideon Fell, Sir Henry Merrivale)English country/estate settingsHistorical echoes and mechanical devices / automata

Health

  • Stroke
    1963年初春
    Paralysed on the left side; continued to write using one hand
  • Lung cancer
    1977年（死亡時）
    Died of lung cancer in 1977

Legacy

John Dickson Carr is regarded as a master of the locked-room puzzle and a leading writer of Golden Age detective fiction. The Hollow Man is widely cited as a definitive locked-room novel. He received major honours from the Mystery Writers of America and was one of the few Americans admitted to the Detection Club.

Academic Societies

  • Mystery Writers of America (MWA)

Archives

  • Library of Congress (authority records and related holdings)

In Popular Culture

  • Adaptations in film and television (e.g., Colonel March of Scotland Yard TV series)
  • Frequently cited in discussions of the locked-room mystery subgenre

Quotes

  • "Mr. Carr can lead us away from the small, artificial, brightly-lit stage of the ordinary detective plot into the menace of outer darkness. He can create atmosphere with an adjective, alarm with an allusion, or delight with a rollicking absurdity. In short he can write."
    Source: Dorothy L. Sayers (quotation)
  • “One of my purposes is to attempt to explain the apparent miracles of the locked-room.”
    Source: John Dickson Carr (from his fiction/essays on impossible crimes)

Trivia

  • Published under several pseudonyms including Carter Dickson, Carr Dickson and Roger Fairbairn.
  • Received Special Edgar Awards in 1950 and 1970 and was named MWA Grand Master in 1963.
  • One of only a few Americans admitted to the Detection Club.
  • His radio play 'Cabin B-13' was expanded into a CBS series (1948–49) for which he wrote 23 scripts.