John Dickson Carr Data Base: Books

Full Listing by Popularity (click on the dagger to view the entry, then scroll down the page to where it pops up) or else you can go to Search

To add your vote, click here. This feature is now open to the public, not just members (although only members can add book reviews). Points are cumulative (i.e., added on to a running total), so are likely to be skewed until the numbers reach a higher level where they will more accurately reflect the consensus. Ideally, one should rate every book, or at least the best of them. There is not much point in voting for a short story, so only books are listed. (Contributors can vote multiple times, for different entries each time, although this can be a tedious process.)

If you go to the poll results site, you can also see this list broken down by 'detective'.

You can view the list in different order based on Date, Title, Detective, or Type


He Who Whispers ( 1946) [ Fell] Points: 105
The Three Coffins (The Hollow Man) ( 1935) [ Fell] Points: 95
The Judas Window ( 1938) [ Merrivale] Points: 93
The Case of the Constant Suicides ( 1941) [ Fell] Points: 91
The Crooked Hinge ( 1938) [ Fell] Points: 84
The Nine Wrong Answers ( 1952) [ (none)] Points: 66
The Burning Court ( 1937) [ Cross] Points: 66
The Curse of the Bronze Lamp ( 1945) [ Merrivale] Points: 64
Patrick Butler for the Defense ( 1956) [ Butler] Points: 54
The Sleeping Sphinx ( 1947) [ Fell] Points: 53
The Arabian Nights Murder ( 1936) [ Fell] Points: 47
The Problem of the Green Capsule (The Black Spectacles) ( 1939) [ Fell] Points: 47
The Skeleton in the Clock ( 1948) [ Merrivale] Points: 44
The Devil in Velvet ( 1951) [Historical (1675)] Points: 42
Fire, Burn! ( 1957) [ Historical (1829)] Points: 41
The Bride of Newgate ( 1950) [Historical (1815)] Points: 40
Fear Is the Same ( 1956) [ Historical (1795)] Points: 40
Till Death Do Us Part ( 1944) [ Fell] Points: 39
Captain Cut-Throat ( 1955) [ Historical (1805)] Points: 39
Death in Five Boxes ( 1938) [ Merrivale] Points: 39
Night at the Mocking Widow ( 1950) [ Merrivale] Points: 39
The Murder of Sir Edmund Godfrey ( 1936) [ (none)] Points: 38
The Corpse in the Waxworks ( 1932) [ Bencolin] Points: 37
The Plague Court Murders ( 1934) [ Merrivale] Points: 37
And So to Murder ( 1940) [ Merrivale] Points: 37
The Red Widow Murders ( 1935) [ Merrivale] Points: 36
The Problem of the Wire Cage ( 1939) [ Fell] Points: 35
The White Priory Murders ( 1934) [ Merrivale] Points: 35
She Died a Lady ( 1943) [ Merrivale] Points: 35
The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes ( 1952) [ Holmes] Points: 33
Hag's Nook ( 1933) [ Fell] Points: 32
The Emperor's Snuff Box ( 1942) [ Kinross] Points: 28
He Wouldn't Kill Patience ( 1944) [ Merrivale] Points: 28
The Punch and Judy Murders (The Magic Lantern Murders) ( 1936) [ Merrivale] Points: 26
The Gilded Man ( 1942) [ Merrivale] Points: 26
It Walks by Night ( 1930) [Bencolin] Points: 25
In Spite of Thunder ( 1960) [ Fell] Points: 25
The Lost Gallows ( 1931) [ Bencolin] Points: 24
Death-Watch ( 1935) [ Fell] Points: 24
Nine -- and Death Makes Ten (Murder in the Submarine Zone) ( 1940) [ Merrivale] Points: 24
The Reader Is Warned ( 1939) [ Merrivale] Points: 22
The Life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ( 1949) [ (none)] Points: 21
The Four False Weapons ( 1937) [ Bencolin] Points: 19
The Mad Hatter Mystery ( 1933) [ Fell] Points: 19
The Blind Barber ( 1934) [ Fell] Points: 19
The Unicorn Murders ( 1935) [ Merrivale] Points: 19
The Peacock Feather Murders (The Ten Teacups) ( 1937) [ Merrivale] Points: 19
My Late Wives ( 1946) [ Merrivale] Points: 18
Poison in Jest ( 1932) [ Rossiter] Points: 16
The Man Who Could Not Shudder ( 1940) [ Fell] Points: 16
To Wake the Dead ( 1938) [ Fell] Points: 14
Death Turns the Tables (The Seat of the Scornful) ( 1942) [ Fell] Points: 14
The Witch of the Low Tide ( 1961) [ Historical (1907)] Points: 13
Castle Skull ( 1931) [ Bencolin] Points: 12
The Department of Queer Complaints ( 1981) [March] Points: 12
Fatal Descent (Fall to His Death) ( 1939) [ Glass] Points: 11
The House at Satan's Elbow ( 1965) [ Fell] Points: 10
Seeing Is Believing (Cross of Murder) ( 1941) [ Merrivale] Points: 10
Below Suspicion ( 1949) [ Fell] Points: 9
Scandal at High Chimneys ( 1959) [ Historical (1865)] Points: 7
The Demoniacs ( 1962) [ Historical (1757)] Points: 7
A Graveyard to Let ( 1949) [ Merrivale] Points: 6
The Eight of Swords ( 1934) [ Fell] Points: 5
The Dead Man's Knock ( 1958) [ Fell] Points: 5
Fell and Foul Play ( 1991) [Fell, et al.] Points: 5
Papa La-Bas ( 1968) [ Historical (1858)] Points: 5
Merrivale, March, and Murder ( 1991) [ Merrivale et al.] Points: 5
The Door to Doom ( 1980) [ Bencolin et al.] Points: 4
Panic in Box C ( 1966) [ Fell] Points: 4
Dark of the Moon ( 1967) [ Fell] Points: 4
Devil Kinsmere ( 1934) [ Historical (1670)] Points: 4
The Ghost's High Noon ( 1969) [ Historical (1912)] Points: 4
Deadly Hall ( 1971) [ Historical (1927)] Points: 4
Behind the Crimson Blind ( 1952) [ Merrivale] Points: 4
The Third Bullet ( 1937) [ Marquis] Points: 3
Most Secret ( 1964) [ Historical (1670)] Points: 3
The Cavalier's Cup ( 1953) [ Merrivale] Points: 3
The Hungry Goblin ( 1972) [ Historical (1869)] Points: 2
The Bowstring Murders ( 1933) [ Gaunt] Points: 1
The Men Who Explained Miracles ( 1964) [(various)] Points: 0
The Third Bullet and Other Stories ( 1954) [(various)] Points: 0
The Dead Sleep Lightly ( 1983) [(various)] Points: 0

* Type: CD (classic detective), NF (non-fiction), SS (short stories), RP (radio plays), HN (historical novels), MS (miscellaneous). Short pieces are in quotation marks.


You can view the list in different order based on Date, Title, Detective, or Type

Note: currently the database does not include all individual short story or radio play titles, although these are in the process of being added.

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