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Fatal Descent
The humming noise of the automatic elevator stopped and the hall porter glanced idly toward the bronze doors.
Twenty minutes later, when no one had emerged, the porter became uneasy and forced the doors open. Inside he found Sir Ernest Tallant, dead! Shot through the heart in a hermetically sealed elevator! It looked like the perfect crime - until Dr. Horatio Glass, in his blundering way, set Inspector Hornbeam on the track of the one crucial clue.
Two famous detective story writers combine their masterly talents in this baffling and suspenseful mystery novel.
Twenty minutes later, when no one had emerged, the porter became uneasy and forced the doors open. Inside he found Sir Ernest Tallant, dead! Shot through the heart in a hermetically sealed elevator! It looked like the perfect crime - until Dr. Horatio Glass, in his blundering way, set Inspector Hornbeam on the track of the one crucial clue.
Two famous detective story writers combine their masterly talents in this baffling and suspenseful mystery novel.
- GenresMystery
149 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1939
11 people are currently reading
66 people want to read
About the author
John Rhode
139 books31 followersAKA Miles Burton, Cecil Waye, Cecil J.C. Street, I.O., F.O.O..
Cecil John Charles Street, MC, OBE, (1884 - January 1965), known as CJC Street and John Street, began his military career as an artillery officer in the British army. During the course of World War I, he became a propagandist for MI7, in which role he held the rank of Major. After the armistice, he alternated between Dublin and London during the Irish War of Independence as Information Officer for Dublin Castle, working closely with Lionel Curtis. He later earned his living as a prolific writer of detective novels.
He produced two long series of novels; one under the name of John Rhode featuring the forensic scientist Dr Priestley, and another under the name of Miles Burton featuring the investigator Desmond Merrion. Under the name Cecil Waye, Street produced four novels: The Figure of Eight; The End of the Chase; The Prime Minister's Pencil; and Murder at Monk's Barn. The Dr. Priestley novels were among the first after Sherlock Holmes to feature scientific detection of crime, such as analysing the mud on a suspect's shoes. Desmond Merrion is an amateur detective who works with Scotland Yard's Inspector Arnold.
Critic and author Julian Symons places this author as a prominent member of the "Humdrum" school of detective fiction. "Most of them came late to writing fiction, and few had much talent for it. They had some skill in constructing puzzles, nothing more, and ironically they fulfilled much better than S. S. Van Dine his dictum that the detective story properly belonged in the category of riddles or crossword puzzles. Most of the Humdrums were British, and among the best known of them were Major John Street.
-Wikipedia
Cecil John Charles Street, MC, OBE, (1884 - January 1965), known as CJC Street and John Street, began his military career as an artillery officer in the British army. During the course of World War I, he became a propagandist for MI7, in which role he held the rank of Major. After the armistice, he alternated between Dublin and London during the Irish War of Independence as Information Officer for Dublin Castle, working closely with Lionel Curtis. He later earned his living as a prolific writer of detective novels.
He produced two long series of novels; one under the name of John Rhode featuring the forensic scientist Dr Priestley, and another under the name of Miles Burton featuring the investigator Desmond Merrion. Under the name Cecil Waye, Street produced four novels: The Figure of Eight; The End of the Chase; The Prime Minister's Pencil; and Murder at Monk's Barn. The Dr. Priestley novels were among the first after Sherlock Holmes to feature scientific detection of crime, such as analysing the mud on a suspect's shoes. Desmond Merrion is an amateur detective who works with Scotland Yard's Inspector Arnold.
Critic and author Julian Symons places this author as a prominent member of the "Humdrum" school of detective fiction. "Most of them came late to writing fiction, and few had much talent for it. They had some skill in constructing puzzles, nothing more, and ironically they fulfilled much better than S. S. Van Dine his dictum that the detective story properly belonged in the category of riddles or crossword puzzles. Most of the Humdrums were British, and among the best known of them were Major John Street.
-Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
May 28, 2022
Would say 3.5 starts here. I know this book on Goodreads says John Rhode but this is actually both John Rhode and Carter Dickson (John Dickson Carr) together working on a locked room mystery. A quick read that conveniently has what appears to be two detectives the Police Surgeon Glass and Chief Inspector Hornbeam on the case. Glass is on the scene when Tallant (alone in the elevator that cannot have a door open when it is in operation) is mysteriously shot- and no gun found. What is nice is that you can see the victim Tallant before he was killed - and it is really obvious what a creep he is to practically all he worked with. After he dies you find more layers of things that both helps with motives (Glasses department) as well as means (Hornbeams' favorite area.)
Various scenarios of who and how- which conveniently in the end do meet up. It would have been nice to see how to the two authors worked together on this one. Also- I know that Carr worked on this as one of the detectives used the phrase- hocus-pocus!
One of those lucky finds for me to spot in a bookstore.
Various scenarios of who and how- which conveniently in the end do meet up. It would have been nice to see how to the two authors worked together on this one. Also- I know that Carr worked on this as one of the detectives used the phrase- hocus-pocus!
One of those lucky finds for me to spot in a bookstore.
October 15, 2024
If this is the ultimate "impossible crime" murder mystery set in an elevator - nothing else really competes - then it's a bit obscure, innit? Maybe British Library Crime Classics will get around to reprinting it; I thought, going in, and having to rely on a dusty old edition from its own bygone era, that one reason it has disappeared would be a freight elevator's worth of racial stereotyping or not-aged-well crap that would defeat even the standard one-page apology for content we get in many new editions of offensive old fiction. But there's almost nothing here of that nature (almost), so if the book does come back to us in a spanking fresh package, it won't have to have half the dialogue and most of the attitudes marring an otherwise terrific whodunit slashed down to make about half a book, or re-written to be presentable to the 2020s crowd and beyond. Thankfully, it's not the kind of fatal descent that descends to that.
The big boss of the publishing outfit that sprawls throughout a series of floors that make up the impressive edifice called the Temple gets into his lovely private elevator, and winds up on the ground floor, never to exit except when carried out, sporting a fatal gunshot wound. Before that, several chapters have established several characters, bipping about, doing some light and possibly heavy personal and business-related drama that all seems to have a very good chance of being important once bigwig has been killed when and where he simply could not have been killed.
I reacted negatively to a boring old gunshot being the cause of death. I mean, I had bought this book - saved it out of a dusty bookstore basement where they let me gambol about as long as I keep finding things to buy - mainly based on the stark image on the cover...someone slicing through elevator cable so as to, I would assume, create a death plunge for some poor slob. But the rich slob only got shot. Nevertheless, even without the elevator - or lift, if we wanna go with this where the book is - even without a spectacular elevator crash somewhere in the bowels of the building, the sheer impossibility of this heinous slaying almost immediately began preying on my mind - especially with one of the sleuths who would be working on the case having been on the scene, by chance, during lead-up and murder. We get down to business before the dust has finished settling and the last few screams have died away after the dude died away.
This book is in with that select few, where I would say it is a Fair Play whodunit, but at the same time, certain specifics about how the thing was done may simply be beyond the reckoning of some readers...including me. I have no intention of spoiling anything, but once explanations and reveals have concluded, someone does say "That was a Popular Mechanics murder if ever there was one", or something like that. But PLEASE don't let that dissuade you from reading this book, if you are lucky enough to spot an old copy lying abandoned in an elevator, elevator shaft, or trash compactor. Sure, certain readers blessed with a certain type of specific knowledge, will have an advantage. But I loved learning how it had all been done - and this "impossible crime" mystery is as satisfying in its magical transforming of the impossible into the well-of-course-that's-how!, as any other I know of.
Oh, and as for the cover misrepresenting things - wellll, hang on a bit. That elevator becomes almost as compelling a character as any human in the book. The closer we are to that fancied-up Private elevator - anytime we are there with someone inspecting it, standing under it, perched over it, riding around in it checking for anomalies - the book is perhaps at its most fascinating. I learned a lot about old-fashioned elevators (assuming there have been some modern advancements to core principles). But I also learned that sometimes a reader must be patient, as regards the juicy promise of some dastardly fiend sabotaging an elevator...hm, maybe while investigators go in for final test rides at night...anyway, as clever and satisfying a puzzle on display, this novel is very suspenseful, even scary, at times.
Ironically, as much as we get to know about elevators and how they function, that is not actually what I was alluding to when I suggested that many readers may not know certain details of a technical nature, which would really help solve the case. We cover elevators, how they work, believe me. Elevator mechanics do not remain some shadowy topic, giving elevator maintenance crews an advantage while reading this delightful book. No, no - it's...something else. Something about guns, you're wondering (or Guns of Navarone?) - oh never mind me, I'm just gettin' silly now.
The big boss of the publishing outfit that sprawls throughout a series of floors that make up the impressive edifice called the Temple gets into his lovely private elevator, and winds up on the ground floor, never to exit except when carried out, sporting a fatal gunshot wound. Before that, several chapters have established several characters, bipping about, doing some light and possibly heavy personal and business-related drama that all seems to have a very good chance of being important once bigwig has been killed when and where he simply could not have been killed.
I reacted negatively to a boring old gunshot being the cause of death. I mean, I had bought this book - saved it out of a dusty bookstore basement where they let me gambol about as long as I keep finding things to buy - mainly based on the stark image on the cover...someone slicing through elevator cable so as to, I would assume, create a death plunge for some poor slob. But the rich slob only got shot. Nevertheless, even without the elevator - or lift, if we wanna go with this where the book is - even without a spectacular elevator crash somewhere in the bowels of the building, the sheer impossibility of this heinous slaying almost immediately began preying on my mind - especially with one of the sleuths who would be working on the case having been on the scene, by chance, during lead-up and murder. We get down to business before the dust has finished settling and the last few screams have died away after the dude died away.
This book is in with that select few, where I would say it is a Fair Play whodunit, but at the same time, certain specifics about how the thing was done may simply be beyond the reckoning of some readers...including me. I have no intention of spoiling anything, but once explanations and reveals have concluded, someone does say "That was a Popular Mechanics murder if ever there was one", or something like that. But PLEASE don't let that dissuade you from reading this book, if you are lucky enough to spot an old copy lying abandoned in an elevator, elevator shaft, or trash compactor. Sure, certain readers blessed with a certain type of specific knowledge, will have an advantage. But I loved learning how it had all been done - and this "impossible crime" mystery is as satisfying in its magical transforming of the impossible into the well-of-course-that's-how!, as any other I know of.
Oh, and as for the cover misrepresenting things - wellll, hang on a bit. That elevator becomes almost as compelling a character as any human in the book. The closer we are to that fancied-up Private elevator - anytime we are there with someone inspecting it, standing under it, perched over it, riding around in it checking for anomalies - the book is perhaps at its most fascinating. I learned a lot about old-fashioned elevators (assuming there have been some modern advancements to core principles). But I also learned that sometimes a reader must be patient, as regards the juicy promise of some dastardly fiend sabotaging an elevator...hm, maybe while investigators go in for final test rides at night...anyway, as clever and satisfying a puzzle on display, this novel is very suspenseful, even scary, at times.
Ironically, as much as we get to know about elevators and how they function, that is not actually what I was alluding to when I suggested that many readers may not know certain details of a technical nature, which would really help solve the case. We cover elevators, how they work, believe me. Elevator mechanics do not remain some shadowy topic, giving elevator maintenance crews an advantage while reading this delightful book. No, no - it's...something else. Something about guns, you're wondering (or Guns of Navarone?) - oh never mind me, I'm just gettin' silly now.
January 8, 2021
Scritto a quattro mani da Carr e Rhodes, questo romanzo è uno di quelli che mi sono piaciuti di più sul tema del delitto impossibile. Una camera chiusa praticamente perfetta, per una volta priva di elementi soprannaturali, maledizioni o pazzia (senza comunque perdere in tensione), ma basata su un delitto "impossibile": un uomo entra vivo in un ascensore (le cui porte non si possono aprire, per come è costruito, durante la corsa dell'ascensore), si sente uno sparo mentre l'ascensore scende, e quando l'ascensore si apre per aver terminato la corsa viene trovato morto, per una pallottola per la quale però non si trova alcuna pistola.
La coppia di investigatori (un poliziotto e un medico) è inedita e ben caratterizzata, e si ha un cenno (molto meno sviluppato) di quella trattazione dettagliata delle possibili camere chiuse che troviamo nelle tre bare. Il dottor Glass (omaggio al primo racconto della seconda raccolta di Chesterton?) infatti individua, appena scoperto l'omicidio, quattro possibilità:
- Metodo Scientifico
- Metodo della Illusione Acustica
- Metodo della Insolita Entrata
- Metodo della Insolita Uscita
In pratica si parla della possibilità che
- il delitto avvenga con un'arma nascosta nella camera chiusa
- il delitto avvenga perché la camera in realtà non è chiusa
- il delitto avvenga prima della chiusura della camera
- il delitto avvenga dopo l'apertura della camera
Classificazione molto più semplice e intuitiva rispetto a quella che Fell propone nelle tre bare.
Nel proseguimento dell'indagine, vari meccanismi (che rientrano nelle quattro categorie) vengono ipotizzati e smontati regolarmente non appena erano riusciti a convincere il lettore della loro validità, fino alla spiegazione finale, che è leale, verosimile, ingegnosa e convincente (senza le piccole sbavature “tecniche” che talvolta le soluzioni di Carr, anche in alcuni dei migliori romanzi, presentano).
In realtà, la domanda che guida il lettore non è tanto "chi è stato" ma "come ha fatto", come ci si aspetta da una camera chiusa. Per il mio gusto e la mia sensibilità è al livello dei migliori di Carr (che significa anche uno dei migliori gialli in assoluto) anche se manca la parte di mistero e soprannaturale che caratterizza alcuni dei capolavori di questo autore. Volendolo paragonare a qualcosa, forse è simile all’Occhio di Giuda, sia per la genialità e semplicità al tempo stesso della soluzione, sia per la mancanza di questa caratteristica di mistero e/o soprannaturale che lo caratterizza in alcuni dei suoi capolavori (Vedova rossa, Terrore che mormora, Tre bare, Penne di pavone, Automa…)
La coppia di investigatori (un poliziotto e un medico) è inedita e ben caratterizzata, e si ha un cenno (molto meno sviluppato) di quella trattazione dettagliata delle possibili camere chiuse che troviamo nelle tre bare. Il dottor Glass (omaggio al primo racconto della seconda raccolta di Chesterton?) infatti individua, appena scoperto l'omicidio, quattro possibilità:
- Metodo Scientifico
- Metodo della Illusione Acustica
- Metodo della Insolita Entrata
- Metodo della Insolita Uscita
In pratica si parla della possibilità che
- il delitto avvenga con un'arma nascosta nella camera chiusa
- il delitto avvenga perché la camera in realtà non è chiusa
- il delitto avvenga prima della chiusura della camera
- il delitto avvenga dopo l'apertura della camera
Classificazione molto più semplice e intuitiva rispetto a quella che Fell propone nelle tre bare.
Nel proseguimento dell'indagine, vari meccanismi (che rientrano nelle quattro categorie) vengono ipotizzati e smontati regolarmente non appena erano riusciti a convincere il lettore della loro validità, fino alla spiegazione finale, che è leale, verosimile, ingegnosa e convincente (senza le piccole sbavature “tecniche” che talvolta le soluzioni di Carr, anche in alcuni dei migliori romanzi, presentano).
In realtà, la domanda che guida il lettore non è tanto "chi è stato" ma "come ha fatto", come ci si aspetta da una camera chiusa. Per il mio gusto e la mia sensibilità è al livello dei migliori di Carr (che significa anche uno dei migliori gialli in assoluto) anche se manca la parte di mistero e soprannaturale che caratterizza alcuni dei capolavori di questo autore. Volendolo paragonare a qualcosa, forse è simile all’Occhio di Giuda, sia per la genialità e semplicità al tempo stesso della soluzione, sia per la mancanza di questa caratteristica di mistero e/o soprannaturale che lo caratterizza in alcuni dei suoi capolavori (Vedova rossa, Terrore che mormora, Tre bare, Penne di pavone, Automa…)
October 26, 2025
Dr. Horatio Glass is visiting the office of an eccentric publisher. He is friends with the fiance of Mr. Tallant's niece who also works for the company, Temple Publishing. It is in Mr. Tallant's private elevator that he is killed, in between floors . He was not a very nice person (though he didn't seem particularly evil from what little we saw of him.) But the why isn't nearly as mysterious as the how. How could he have been shot in an elevator having been closed in alone just moments before?
I think this was probably a fair play mystery, but I don't know enough about said clues to be able to say. Certainly a product of its time but not as bad as it could have aged.
I think this was probably a fair play mystery, but I don't know enough about said clues to be able to say. Certainly a product of its time but not as bad as it could have aged.
June 23, 2023
" ... Là dentro hanno sparato a un uomo; ma non abbiamo nè assassino nè arma nè modo di entrare o uscire. Benone. Ciò significa che nei fatti che abbiamo raccolto c'è qualcosa che non va. ... "
Classico caso di cadavere in un stanza chiusa, si può capire chi può aver commesso l'omicidio ma non la modalità che risulta essere molto complessa.
Superbe le ipotesi del dottor Glass che alleggeriscono il racconto altrimenti un po' troppo pesante.
Classico caso di cadavere in un stanza chiusa, si può capire chi può aver commesso l'omicidio ma non la modalità che risulta essere molto complessa.
Superbe le ipotesi del dottor Glass che alleggeriscono il racconto altrimenti un po' troppo pesante.
June 23, 2019
Giallo molto gradevole. L'ho acquistato incuriosito dalla camera chiusa che ho trovato, sebbene non avessi le conoscenze meccaniche adatte a poter capire la soluzione, soddisfacente. Ho trovato simpatica la figura di Horatio Glass che, in un certo modo, mi ha ricordato il tanto amato Fell.
August 28, 2024
I really enjoyed this book. It is rare to find a Golden Age whodunit with humor throughout. I was literally laughing out loud at times. And the relationship between the detective and the doctor is a hoot. It would make a great TV series!
August 29, 2011
This story was a collaboration between two distinguished mystery writers, John Rhode AKA creator of Dr Priestly and Carter Dickson AKA John Dickson Carr famous for his locked room mysteries which this story lives up to this particular label. The story revolves around a publishing magnate who has a penchent for eyeing down his subordinates and pressing upon them his righteous attitudes while stifling their talents. Thus, he has many enemies who took delight in his demise which occurs by a bullet in his heart in his private elevator desending five stories without stopping. Upon landing in its final desent no murder weapon is to be found,nor worst of all, the murderer himself if in fact it is a man. This baffling puzzle is laid upon a police surgeon who is an elegant theoretician and a more hard headed realist Chief inspector who are constantly at loggerheads in their sleuthing. The puzzle is a little elaborate but the two diametrically opposed problem solvers somehow win out with both egoes remaining intact and the murderer is brought to justice.
May 16, 2013
A great writer (John Rhode) + a very great writer (John Dickson Carr) together pack a great novel that has the atmosphere and the absurd then rationally explainable Carr + love for the lethal gadgets, typical of Rhode.
Curtis Evans in his recent study explains that this love of Rhode towards the gadgets was probably the lethal legacy of its previous activity, having been a soldier.
The plot is basic: a man was found killed by a gunshot in an elevator. The absurd fact is that the previous floor was alive, while the next he was dead. And there was no other person in the cage outside of him. And in the cage there is no trapdoor. One absurd Locked Room.
Curtis Evans in his recent study explains that this love of Rhode towards the gadgets was probably the lethal legacy of its previous activity, having been a soldier.
The plot is basic: a man was found killed by a gunshot in an elevator. The absurd fact is that the previous floor was alive, while the next he was dead. And there was no other person in the cage outside of him. And in the cage there is no trapdoor. One absurd Locked Room.
July 17, 2016
Unlikeable publishing tycoon shot to death while alone in an elevator. It is a shame neither of the two likeable detectives appeared in any other Carr/Dickson; the pacing is good; but the lame solution and some cheating with regard to what one of the detectives claimed to see (or not see) let down the rest.
January 20, 2013
John Dickson Carr classic from his best period (late 30s/early 40s). Fantastic locked room, good detectives, quick pacing, and great spooky atmosphere--especially in the office building after hours. Even the characters aren't too annoying.
November 1, 2015
A lesser-known collaborative novel from John Dickson Carr and John Rhode, this murder at a publishing firm fails to make as great an impact as hoped.
Full review here: https://bibliomaneblog.wordpress.com/...
Full review here: https://bibliomaneblog.wordpress.com/...
Want to read
May 26, 2013Recommended on Classic Mystery podcast 5/20/13.
August 23, 2013
From the Golden Age of mysteries, the clever murderer plots an ingenious crime. I'm not sure the design would really have worked but it is quite a clever premise.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews