In Spite of Thunder

Dr. Gideon Fell #20

by John Dickson Carr

The master of the Golden Age British-style detective novel presents his redoubtable sleuth Dr. Gideon Fell in a baffling murder mystery set in the Swiss Alps

Young Audrey Page has been warned against joining the aging film star Eve Eden and her temperamental friends at a Swiss chalet. Trustingly, she goes anyway and finds herself encircled by terror when a murderer strikes. With its eerie similarities to a crime that dates back to World War II, the murder attracts the attention of Dr. Gideon Fell, a brilliant sleuth with an eye for solving impossible murder cases. He will find that in this corner of the Alps, the air is thin, the scenery is beautiful, and the snow runs red with blood.

In Spite of Thunder is the 20th book in the Dr. Gideon Fell Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Detective, Mystery Thriller, Historical Mystery, Adult

226 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1960

About the author

AKA Carter Dickson, Carr Dickson and Roger Fairbairn.

John Dickson Carr was born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, in 1906. It Walks by Night, his first published detective novel, featuring the Frenchman Henri Bencolin, was published in 1930. Apart from Dr Fell, whose first appearance was in Hag's Nook in 1933, Carr's other series detectives (published under the nom de plume of Carter Dickson) were the barrister Sir Henry Merrivale, who debuted in The Plague Court Murders (1934).

Reviews

[Bev · Rating 2 out of 5]

In Spite of Thunder by John Dickson Carr (1960) is aptly named. There's all kinds of thunder in this one. There is thunder rolling all 'round the villa in Switzerland where Eve Eden will plunge to her death. But mostly there is the thunder of yelling. Just about everyone in this book spends a great deal of time yelling, shouting, crying, exclaiming, and, yes, thundering at one another. I've never seen so many exclamation points in one novel. It's as though Carr decided he had to write a book wherein he could use ever possible synonym for yelling that he could find in the most extensive thesaurus available to him. And, of course, when Gideon Fell tires of shouting "Archons of Athens," he can throw out a "By thunder!" or two.

There would appear to be plenty to shout about. Back in 1939, Eve Eden's wealthy fiancé Hector Matthews dies in bizarre fashion while the couple is paying a visit to Hitler at his "Eagle's Nest"get-away. Matthews, who is engagement to the lovely star is the envy of many a man, would seem to have no reason to commit suicide, but he apparently flung himself off a balcony to die on the rocks below. Though many would like to blame Eve Eden for his death, witnesses which include Sir Gerald Hathaway and journalist Paula Catford all say that she was no where near enough to him to have caused his fall. No one was.

Several years later, after Eve has married actor Desmond Ferrier and sets up house in Geneva, the actress decides that she wants to make a huge come-back on the screen. She feels that to do so she must clear away the suspicions from the past once and for all. She invites Sir Gerald and Paula Catford to come and provide eyewitness accounts that she can publish in a forth-coming book of memoirs. She also invites her step-son's girlfriend Audrey Page. Audrey's father asks his old friend Brian Innes, a painter who also lives in Geneva, to intercept Audrey and prevent her from going to Eve's villa. Brian has little influence over the headstrong girl and as he watches her head straight into danger he realizes that he loves her and will do anything to save her. But when history seems to repeat itself and Even is the one who flings herself off the villa's balcony will he be able to save Audrey from a charge of murder? Fortunately, Eve's husband suspected that something dangerous was in the making and had called in Dr. Gideon Fell. Sir Gerald thinks he can outwit and upstage the old duffer, but only Dr. Fell can understand where all the clues poin and who the dangerous person really is.

Honestly, this is the most exasperating book. Not only did I feel as though I were in the middle of a shouting match for the entirety of the thing, but conversations that weren't annoying for their emotional tenor were just down-right confusing. The characters (when not shouting, though sometimes even when shouting) tend to speak in half-sentences and non-sequiturs. Between the shouting and the rather incoherent speaking style, it seemed that Carr must have felt that he needed to distract the reader with all the language and emotional hocus-pocus just in case the impossible crime wasn't mysterious enough and we all figured it out.

The murder method itself was intriguing enough. And I wasn't familiar with the aspects of the particular device used, so I don't think I would have figured it out even if I hadn't been distracted by all the "thunder." But then I also don't think the clues were as fairly displayed in this one. The relevant information that helps pinpoint the murderer is referred to so obliquely that it will take a most perceptive reader to latch onto it properly. I'm not saying one couldn't spot the killer--one might. But I'd be surprised if it were for all the right reasons. Not one of Carr's best.

First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.

[Rubi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Una novela de ágil lectura, de constante intriga y amena.
Leer a Dickson Carr es leer a uno de los maestros del género de novela criminal.
A novel of agile reading, of constant intrigue and pleasant.
Reading Dickson Carr is reading one of the masters of the crime novel genre.

[Vintagebooklvr · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 1/2 stars. This was not my favorite of Dr. Gideon Fell books. There was too much dilly-dallying of the characters, particularly when talking in a group. I felt like yelling, "spit it out," or "get to the point." That annoyed me to end and diminish my enjoyment of the book.

However, I did think it was a decent mystery. Carr used a clever murder weapon and I didn't guess who the killer was. It was funny to see a man think he could challenge Fell in the department of figuring out who the killer was. In some ways he was very successful but in others he was an arrogant fool who deserved to be taken down a peg or two.

[Pat Camalliere · Rating 3 out of 5]

My second venture into the world of Dr. Gideon Fell was somewhat disappointing. This book was written in 1960, and takes place in 1956, after Brian Innes is asked by a friend to investigate the visit of his friends daughter, Audry, to a has-been movie star from the war years in Geneva. Audrey is infuriatingly impulsive and becomes embroiled in the unknown events of the actress’s history of mysterious deaths, and then the actress herself is murdered. Again, the main characters are other than detective Dr. Gideon Fell, who arrives late on the scene and puts things together rather abruptly. I found the story okay, but not enthralling.

[Kerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick, fun read and my first introduction to Dr. Gideon Fell, the antithesis of other favorites like Philip Marlowe and Harry Bosch. Dr. Fell is more a less a pipe-smoking brain who barely moves but sees all. The tendency of Dr. Fell, and every other character in the book except for the hero, to say "if you only knew what I knew but I'm not going to tell you what I know right now" did become a bit exasperating. And I couldn't for the life of me fathom Brian's tolerance of Audrey, who at every turn lied to him and did precisely what she promised she would not do, but it may have been one of those May-December infatuations where the appeal of youthful beauty addles a man's thought processes. I might try another one in the series, because I did love the European setting.

[Hana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eve Ferrier, un tempo conosciuta come Evie Eden, è un'attrice da tempo dimenticata. Nel suo passato, simpatie naziste che, nel 1939, le permisero di venire invitata al Nido dell'Aquila, baita di montagna del Füher a Berchtesgaden. Fu proprio in quell'occasione che il suo fidanzato di allora, uomo molto più anziano e facoltoso, morì in circostanze misteriose, lasciandola come sua unica erede. Eve è intenzionata a tornare sulle scene, ma prima di farlo deve dissipare ogni dubbio su quell'incidente che per alcuni fu un omicidio da lei ideato e portato a termine con freddezza. A tale scopo, ha invitato a Ginevra due dei partecipanti a quel tragico weekend di diciassette anni prima, insieme alla fidanzata del suo figliastro, Audrey Page, e a Gideon Fell, l'imponente dottore appassionato di delitti. Qualcun altro, però, è destinato a morire...

Un Dickson Carr dei primi anni '60, gradevole ma non particolarmente entusiasmante, forse perché il colpevole viene lasciato un po' troppo ai margini dell'azione principale, incentrata piuttosto sulle peripezie di Brian Innes, innamorato della bella e giovane Audrey Page, personaggio di per sé piuttosto irritante (se le viene chiesto di non fare qualcosa, state pur certi che lo farà).

Carino e intriso delle tipiche atmosfere alla Carr. ma non imperdibile.

[Padmin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Indicazioni editoriali
Nel Nido dell'Aquila di Hitler a Berchtesgaden la morte aveva già colpito una volta. Era successo durante un soggiorno nella baita di montagna del Führer, quando il facoltoso fidanzato dell'allora diva del cinema Eve Ferrier era precipitato da una terrazza: lei si trovava da sola con lui ed era appena stata nominata sua erede... Ora, diciassette anni dopo, la figlia di un uomo d'affari inglese ha accettato un invito nella residenza di Eve a Ginevra, e si teme che in qualche modo la storia possa ripetersi. Qualcosa di spaventoso in effetti accade. L'ombra di un destino inesplicabile risorge dall'abisso nero del Terzo Reich, come una forza invisibile capace di uccidere? O è piuttosto una mano assassina in carne e ossa a inanellare una catena di delitti? Forse uno degli ospiti presenti nella villa dell'ex attrice avrà da dire la sua in proposito. Il dottor Gideon Fell, campione mondiale di razionalità, non è tipo da credere al destino.
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Confuso e dispersivo, non mi è piaciuto

[Irfan Nurhadi · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is clearly a low-tier JDC's novel. The premise is rather weak, it failed as an impossible problem and not convincing enough to be a regular mystery. To be blunt, I don't even know (grasp) what the mystery is about until the solution was presented. And the characters... the annoying characters..I mean.. Can't you just STOP INTERRUPTING each other? and Why the hell can't you just SAY what you MEANT to say? It was pretty exhausting to read.

The solution wrapped up all of the incomprehensible things in the book (read:the mystery). The mystery itself is rather weak and not Carr's best effort, but then again there was a nice chain-of-deduction from Dr. Fell as he explained who's the murderer.

[Nat · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is not one of Carr's strongest books. Fell plays a pretty minor role and all the characters are annoying. And everyone is shouting at each other all the time, but constantly conveniently running out of time to say anything important. It felt like every single scene character A is like "I have something critically important to tell you" and then they get interrupted or whatever and character A runs off without saying it. After an entire book of this sort of invented drama, it gets pretty aggravating. The actual mystery reveal is pretty weak as well (poisoned flowers that the victim smells and breaths in the poison and then falls off a balcony and dies?).

[JHP · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delicious suspense

[Marika · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ridiculous mystery. Every bit of dialogue was hysteric. Ugh.

[Willie · Rating 2 out of 5]

A disappointment for a Gideon Fell book. Quite annoying. Not sure what Carr was attempting here.

[Michele bookloverforever · Rating 4 out of 5]

I fell in love with Dr Fell.

[Karen Sumpter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Most incoherent book I've read in a long time. Too dialog heavy and full of idiotic unsympathetic characters. Not Carr's best work.

[Colorado22 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Barely 2 stars. Incoherent plot with a lot of histrionics.

[Pupottina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Qualcuno cadrà dal balcone

Lo specialista dei casi impossibili, lo statunitense scrittore di classici del giallo, JOHN DICKSON CARR, famoso per essere il maestro degli “enigmi della camera chiusa”, in ROMBI DI TUONO PER IL DOTTOR FELL, del 1960, chiama in causa il leggendario Führer e la scia di morte che il suo nome richiama.
Nel Nido dell’Aquila a Berchtesgaden, sulle Alpi bavaresi, dove ha sede la storica baita (anche se è più uno chalet-fortezza) del Führer diciassette anni prima è successa una terribile disgrazia … o era forse un omicidio? Fatto sta che, durante un soggiorno, un uomo è precipitato dal balcone, morendo sul colpo. A far volare la fantasia delle malelingue, è che il defunto era il facoltoso fidanzato, dell’allora diva del cinema Eva Ferrier, il quale, guarda caso, poco prima dell’improvvisa morte, l’ha lasciata sua unica erede testamentaria.
Ma questa è solo la premessa al romanzo. Sulla scena della presunta tragedia o dell’ipotizzato omicidio, visto il più che plausibile movente, adesso giunge il dottor Gideon Fell, non solo per svelare l’enigma del passato, ma anche per prevenirne un altro. Ad aver paura sono in tanti, tutti lì con l’ardire di risolvere il mistero della morte di Hector Matthews, spasimante dell’avvenente Eva Ferrier.
Diciassette anni dopo, nella famigerata baita, Audrey Page, figlia di un uomo d’affari inglese, ha accettato un invito di Eve a Ginevra, proprio nella residenza vacanziera che ha ereditato da Matthews e nella quale lo stesso ha trovato la morte. Si teme che, in qualche modo, la storia possa ripetersi.
In effetti, qualcosa di spaventoso accade. L’ombra di un destino inesplicabile risorge come una forza invisibile capace di uccidere ancora. Il dottor Gideon Fell, campione mondiale di razionalità, non è tipo da credere all’inevitabilità del destino ed è pronto a indagare, con la sua mole possente, i suoi baffoni, il viso rubicondo e il suo immancabile boccale di birra, che lo fa apparire alticcio, mentre è sempre in perfetta forma con la sua mente ingegnosa e la sua capacità di non lasciarsi sfuggire nessun dettaglio utile.
È un bel poliziesco con una buona dose di humour: intricato, complesso, analitico nel metodo d’indagine, ma anche sorprendentemente ricco di colpi di scena. Mentre il lettore segue i personaggi impegnati a risolvere un’indagine del passato, ignora (o forse ha il sentore) che qualcosa di tragico potrebbe accadere di nuovo, infatti qualcuno potrebbe morire ancora, cadendo “banalmente” dal famoso balcone del Nido dell’Aquila a Berchtesgaden. Non mancano le atmosfere fantastiche, proprie di Dickson Carr, e tanti sono gli intrecci tra i personaggi e i dettagli da risolvere prima di sciogliere l’enigma.
Consigliato.

http://youtu.be/-xA0zOb4Pzw

[Joel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two murders, or so it seems, separated by 20 years, committed in the same impossible way with Dr. Fell is in Geneva to investigate. Carr does his usual trick of having some young romantic be the main narrator, with Fell only making an appearance in later chapters. In this one, he makes only small appearances before the final two chapters. The impossible crime is rather disappointing, with little attention paid to it. The two crimes turn out not to be connected much after all. And the main difficulty is the dialogue, in which everyone exclaims and interrupts constantly. Carr’s bad habits of explaining everything through dialogue, picked up from his radio work, continues to detract from the later Fell mysteries. In one case a character explains a past incident for our benefit, to which the other responds, “Yes, I know. I was there.”

[Nancy Butts · Rating 2 out of 5]

#20 in the Gideon Fell series, and after three of these "modern" post-war Fells in a row, I think I am ready to take a break. Carr's voice changed after the war, in a way that doesn't appeal to me. Fell as always committed to his own vision of justice, and cares not a whit if it clashes with the law. But now all the characters seem to act that way; did Carr see this as a change that the war had sparked in people? In any case, I don't care for any of the characters, but the women in particular bother me. They are constantly saying one thing and doing another, all of them.

[Bruce · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written near the end Carr's career and not one of his best, but still some good dark atmosphere, interesting cast of characters, and a decent murder plot. Problem is that the characters do a bit too much pointless running around.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall I liked it but I found a lot of the conversations inane, repetitive, contradictory and annoying. Or did I like it? Maybe not so much. I think I'm giving it a three star on the strength of his other mysteries which I did like.

[Annie Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as intriguing as Carr can be. The characters seem to go over the same ground more than once. I felt it could have ended much sooner. The plot still held me.

[Jameson · Rating 3 out of 5]

...

[March · Rating 1 out of 5]

Feeble.