The Three Coffins (Dr. Gideon Fell #6)
- Author: John Dickson Carr
- Page count: 301
- Started on: 2026/04/11
- Finished on: 2026/04/18
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
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John Dickson Carr is known for his locked-room mysteries (seemingly impossible crimes, like murders in sealed spaces) that he wrote in the golden age of detective stories. The Three Coffins showed up on a ‘best detective stories of all time’ list a while ago, so I decided to read it.
The story follows detective Dr. Gideon Fell as he solves two impossible murders, one in a closed and locked room, and the other in a snowy alley where witnesses saw only one person, the eventual victim, and heard a gunshot. In the end he solves the murders, which (SPOILERS!) happened in reverse order from what we assumed.
I must admit that this was not my personal favorite detective story of all time. The story is not bad, but its age shows, and the writing style came across as rather snobbish to me. It makes me wonder how this mystery would read if it was rewritten by a modern writer.
