Midnite mysteries
Description
Published in the United States as The Problem of the Green Capsule A Dr Gideon Fell mystery >"Most people," declared Marcus Chesney, "are absolutely incapable of describing accurately what they see or hear. If they see a street accident, a riot, or fight, their minds are so muddled that every account will be wildly at variance, and of no value to the police." But all his friends disagreed with this. So Marcus Chesney challenges them to a test. He will stage a very brief show for them, with his office as a stage and folding doors as a curtain. They shall sit in another room and watch it, while a powerful light shines on the stage and the whole performance is recorded with a cine-camera. Afterwards the guests must answer accurately a series of questions Chesney has prepared for them. >Thus, three persons saw the murder done, and afterwards not one of them was able to tell what had happened. Who, for instance, was the figure in black spectacles? What was the time by the clock on the mantelpiece? And what was the curious article - described by one person as a pen, by another as a pencil, and by a third as a blowpipe dart - which Chesney picked up in the course of the show? >The murder of Marcus Chesney comes as a conclusion of a series of senseless poisonings which have been terrifying the village of Sodbury Cross. Chesney's niece, Marjorie Wills, is under strong suspicion; but the evidence against her is not strong enough, and, at the murder of her uncle, she, like everybody else, has a sound alibi. >Dr. Fell, taking the waters at Bath, is summoned by Inspector Elliot. And Dr. Fell's explanation of the real black spectacles is perhaps the greatest detective triumph of his career.
How the series evolves
Books in this Series
The Black Spectacles
Published in the United States as The Problem of the Green Capsule A Dr Gideon Fell mystery >"Most people," declared Marcus Chesney, "are absolutely incapable of describing accurately what they see or hear. If they see a street accident, a riot, or fight, their minds are so muddled that every account will be wildly at variance, and of no value to the police." But all his friends disagreed with this. So Marcus Chesney challenges them to a test. He will stage a very brief show for them, with his office as a stage and folding doors as a curtain. They shall sit in another room and watch it, while a powerful light shines on the stage and the whole performance is recorded with a cine-camera. Afterwards the guests must answer accurately a series of questions Chesney has prepared for them. >Thus, three persons saw the murder done, and afterwards not one of them was able to tell what had happened. Who, for instance, was the figure in black spectacles? What was the time by the clock on the mantelpiece? And what was the curious article - described by one person as a pen, by another as a pencil, and by a third as a blowpipe dart - which Chesney picked up in the course of the show? >The murder of Marcus Chesney comes as a conclusion of a series of senseless poisonings which have been terrifying the village of Sodbury Cross. Chesney's niece, Marjorie Wills, is under strong suspicion; but the evidence against her is not strong enough, and, at the murder of her uncle, she, like everybody else, has a sound alibi. >Dr. Fell, taking the waters at Bath, is summoned by Inspector Elliot. And Dr. Fell's explanation of the real black spectacles is perhaps the greatest detective triumph of his career.
The Case of the Abominable Snowman
First published as The Case of the Abominable Snowman in 1941 by Collins UK (The Crime Club) In the middle of a cold snap, with snow swirling round the imposing Easterham Manor, Nigel and Georgia Strangeways enter the warmth of the Victorian estate. But upon their arrival, the couple quickly learns that all is not as cozy as it seems. The whole house is pervaded by a sense of foreboding: a room is haunted, the cat is possessed, and the specter of the enigmatic Elizabeth Restorick looms. Confounded by the guests' strange reactions to the very mention of Elizabeth's name, Nigel never gets the chance to form his own opinion of the young woman. The next morning, Elizabeth Restorick is found hanged and naked in her room, a hint of a smile playing on her painted lips. Could her apparent suicide be more than just that? Would this beautiful girl—sensuous, compassionate, full of vitality—have taken her own life? Or did someone take it from her? With too many loose ends to count, planted evidence, and motives mounting, Nigel must delve into Miss Restorick's colorful past to solve this tragic mystery.