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: 73
The Judas Window ( 1938) [ Merrivale] Points: 71
The Three Coffins (The Hollow Man) ( 1935) [ Fell] Points: 69
The Crooked Hinge ( 1938) [ Fell] Points: 64
The Burning Court ( 1937) [ Cross] Points: 53
The Case of the Constant Suicides ( 1941) [ Fell] Points: 38
The Problem of the Green Capsule (The Black Spectacles) ( 1939) [ Fell] Points: 33
The White Priory Murders ( 1934) [ Merrivale] Points: 33
Till Death Do Us Part ( 1944) [ Fell] Points: 32
The Murder of Sir Edmund Godfrey ( 1936) [ (none)] Points: 31
The Arabian Nights Murder ( 1936) [ Fell] Points: 31
The Plague Court Murders ( 1934) [ Merrivale] Points: 31
The Red Widow Murders ( 1935) [ Merrivale] Points: 29
She Died a Lady ( 1943) [ Merrivale] Points: 28
The Emperor's Snuff Box ( 1942) [ Kinross] Points: 27
The Sleeping Sphinx ( 1947) [ Fell] Points: 27
The Devil in Velvet ( 1951) [Historical (1675)] Points: 27
Fire, Burn! ( 1957) [ Historical (1829)] Points: 24
The Corpse in the Waxworks ( 1932) [ Bencolin] Points: 22
The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes ( 1952) [ Holmes] Points: 20
Death in Five Boxes ( 1938) [ Merrivale] Points: 18
Nine -- and Death Makes Ten (Murder in the Submarine Zone) ( 1940) [ Merrivale] Points: 18
The Curse of the Bronze Lamp ( 1945) [ Merrivale] Points: 18
It Walks by Night ( 1930) [Bencolin] Points: 17
The Mad Hatter Mystery ( 1933) [ Fell] Points: 16
Captain Cut-Throat ( 1955) [ Historical (1805)] Points: 16
The Nine Wrong Answers ( 1952) [ (none)] Points: 15
The Blind Barber ( 1934) [ Fell] Points: 15
The Punch and Judy Murders (The Magic Lantern Murders) ( 1936) [ Merrivale] Points: 15
He Wouldn't Kill Patience ( 1944) [ Merrivale] Points: 15
The Lost Gallows ( 1931) [ Bencolin] Points: 14
The Unicorn Murders ( 1935) [ Merrivale] Points: 14
The Reader Is Warned ( 1939) [ Merrivale] Points: 14
Hag's Nook ( 1933) [ Fell] Points: 13
Death Turns the Tables (The Seat of the Scornful) ( 1942) [ Fell] Points: 13
The Peacock Feather Murders (The Ten Teacups) ( 1937) [ Merrivale] Points: 13
My Late Wives ( 1946) [ Merrivale] Points: 13
The Life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ( 1949) [ (none)] Points: 12
The Four False Weapons ( 1937) [ Bencolin] Points: 11
The Man Who Could Not Shudder ( 1940) [ Fell] Points: 11
Poison in Jest ( 1932) [ Rossiter] Points: 10
The Problem of the Wire Cage ( 1939) [ Fell] Points: 10
Castle Skull ( 1931) [ Bencolin] Points: 9
Death-Watch ( 1935) [ Fell] Points: 9
The Witch of the Low Tide ( 1961) [ Historical (1907)] Points: 9
To Wake the Dead ( 1938) [ Fell] Points: 8
The Department of Queer Complaints ( 1981) [March] Points: 8
Fatal Descent (Fall to His Death) ( 1939) [ Glass] Points: 7
And So to Murder ( 1940) [ Merrivale] Points: 7
Patrick Butler for the Defense ( 1956) [ Butler] Points: 6
In Spite of Thunder ( 1960) [ Fell] Points: 6
The House at Satan's Elbow ( 1965) [ Fell] Points: 6
The Bride of Newgate ( 1950) [Historical (1815)] Points: 6
Scandal at High Chimneys ( 1959) [ Historical (1865)] Points: 6
Fear Is the Same ( 1956) [ Historical (1795)] Points: 6
Night at the Mocking Widow ( 1950) [ Merrivale] Points: 6
The Eight of Swords ( 1934) [ Fell] Points: 5
The Skeleton in the Clock ( 1948) [ Merrivale] Points: 5
Merrivale, March, and Murder ( 1991) [ Merrivale et al.] Points: 5
Below Suspicion ( 1949) [ Fell] Points: 4
Panic in Box C ( 1966) [ Fell] Points: 4
Fell and Foul Play ( 1991) [Fell, et al.] Points: 4
The Demoniacs ( 1962) [ Historical (1757)] Points: 4
Devil Kinsmere ( 1934) [ Historical (1670)] Points: 4
Papa La-Bas ( 1968) [ Historical (1858)] Points: 4
The Gilded Man ( 1942) [ Merrivale] Points: 4
A Graveyard to Let ( 1949) [ Merrivale] Points: 4
The Third Bullet ( 1937) [ Marquis] Points: 3
The Door to Doom ( 1980) [ Bencolin et al.] Points: 3
The Dead Man's Knock ( 1958) [ Fell] Points: 3
The Ghost's High Noon ( 1969) [ Historical (1912)] Points: 3
Behind the Crimson Blind ( 1952) [ Merrivale] Points: 3
Dark of the Moon ( 1967) [ Fell] Points: 2
Most Secret ( 1964) [ Historical (1670)] Points: 2
The Cavalier's Cup ( 1953) [ Merrivale] Points: 2
The Hungry Goblin ( 1972) [ Historical (1869)] Points: 2
Deadly Hall ( 1971) [ Historical (1927)] Points: 1
The Bowstring Murders ( 1933) [ Gaunt] Points: 1
Seeing Is Believing (Cross of Murder) ( 1941) [ Merrivale] 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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