What do you think?
Rate this book
The Mask of the Vampire
It is 1901 and the body of a young woman has been found in a village pond in rural England with a deadly reputation. She has bite marks in her throat and is later seen wandering at night. Nearby, in a vault of a ruined abbey, two coffins have been opened and stakes driven through the hearts of two female corpses, one of which has seemingly just been buried! The professor who found the drowned woman is murdered in a room under constant surveillance, where the killer literally vanishes in a puff of smoke! Rumors of vampirism abound. The main suspect’s reflection cannot be see in a mirror...
Owen Burns is called in and sent a clue to a previously unsolved impossible murder, tied to the professor’s death... A complex and ingenious tale with a romantic Gothic atmosphere.
Locked Room International translates and publishes impossible crime novels by authors living and dead
Owen Burns is called in and sent a clue to a previously unsolved impossible murder, tied to the professor’s death... A complex and ingenious tale with a romantic Gothic atmosphere.
Locked Room International translates and publishes impossible crime novels by authors living and dead
252 pages, Paperback
Published March 5, 2022
1 person is currently reading
26 people want to read
About the author
Paul Halter
78 books57 followersPaul Halter is a writer of crime fiction known for his locked room mysteries. Halter pursued technical studies in his youth before joining the French Marines in the hope of seeing the world. Disappointed with the lack of travel, he left the military and, for a while, sold life insurance while augmenting his income playing the guitar in the local dance orchestra. He gave up life insurance for a job in the state-owned telecommunications company, where he works in what is presently known as France Télécom. Halter has been compared with the late John Dickson Carr, generally considered the 20th century master of the locked room genre. Throughout his nearly thirty novels his genre has been almost entirely impossible crimes, and as a critic has said "Although strongly influenced by Carr and Christie, his style is his own and he can stand comparison with anyone for the originality of his plots and puzzles and his atmospheric writing."
His first published novel, La Quatrieme Porte ("The Fourth Door")was published in 1988 and won the Prix de Cognac, given for detective literature. The following year, his novel Le Brouillard Rouge (Red Mist) won "one of the highest accolades in French mystery literature", the Prix du Roman d'Aventures. He has now published more than thirty novels. Several of his short stories have been translated into English; by June 2010 six will have appeared in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine; ten were collected and published by Wildside Press as The Night of the Wolf.
His first published novel, La Quatrieme Porte ("The Fourth Door")was published in 1988 and won the Prix de Cognac, given for detective literature. The following year, his novel Le Brouillard Rouge (Red Mist) won "one of the highest accolades in French mystery literature", the Prix du Roman d'Aventures. He has now published more than thirty novels. Several of his short stories have been translated into English; by June 2010 six will have appeared in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine; ten were collected and published by Wildside Press as The Night of the Wolf.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 12, 2022
Another great entry in the locked room genre from the heir apparent of Dickson Carr!
It’s convoluted of course and the impossible crime solutions are a little complicated,but it’s why why we keep reading’em!
There’s also a delicious little in-joke about locked room lectures that will leave Dickson Carr aficionados smiling.
Highly recommended,this is one of Halter’s better books,probably his longest too!
It’s convoluted of course and the impossible crime solutions are a little complicated,but it’s why why we keep reading’em!
There’s also a delicious little in-joke about locked room lectures that will leave Dickson Carr aficionados smiling.
Highly recommended,this is one of Halter’s better books,probably his longest too!
January 17, 2023
Vampires, lesbians, and thirdthings, oh my!
I’m tempted to rate this a solid 5 if only for the joy I feel when reading a Paul Halter mystery, or even anticipating reading one, but that would confuse my future-self when choosing my next re-read. The Mask of the Vampire was a very fun house of cards.
There’s something different about the physical version of this book compared to the other Halters from LRI. Not sure what exactly. It certainly seems like one of the longest but there’s a lot of white space between the covers. When did they change the spines?
I pray 2023 is blessed with a new Paul Halter… in the name of John Dickson Carr, Carter Dickson, and Carr Dickson, Amen.
^pretty clever, if I do say so myself and I have.
I’m tempted to rate this a solid 5 if only for the joy I feel when reading a Paul Halter mystery, or even anticipating reading one, but that would confuse my future-self when choosing my next re-read. The Mask of the Vampire was a very fun house of cards.
There’s something different about the physical version of this book compared to the other Halters from LRI. Not sure what exactly. It certainly seems like one of the longest but there’s a lot of white space between the covers. When did they change the spines?
I pray 2023 is blessed with a new Paul Halter… in the name of John Dickson Carr, Carter Dickson, and Carr Dickson, Amen.
^pretty clever, if I do say so myself and I have.
April 14, 2022
This is the English translation of the French novel Le Masque du Vampire published in 2014. It involves the series characters Owen Burns and Achilles Stock.
It is 1901 and Owen Burns and Achilles Stock with Inspector Wedekind of Scotland Yard are involved in a strange case in London. Father Michael Donovan is called at 9 p.m. to hear the confession of John McCarthy, fitter by profession, who is on his death bed. While listening to the confession, the priest jots down some words on a scrap of torn newspaper. Subsequently, after leaving the house, he is killed by a racing carriage. McCarthy dies the next day morning. The torn paper found with the priest contains the words “Violet Starling”. Now Violet Starling was a widow who was murdered in inexplicable circumstances in a locked room five years ago in 1896. Strangely, a spinning wheel was found in the room. The case has remained unsolved. It is clear that the confession is related to the murder of Violet Starling, but in what way was McCarthy involved ?
At about the same time, strange events are occurring in the village of Cleverley under Royston police station. A boy named Peter sees a strange bird in front of his bedroom window several nights. On the last occasion, the bird is replaced by a man with a frightening face staring through the glass. Another boy named Benjamin while walking near the cemetery sees a man with a frightening face, dressed in a voluminous black cloak untying knots in a cord. Finally, a girl named Alice is attacked near the cemetery by a man similar in appearance to the one seen by Benjamin, but she manages to escape. In each case, a fog of smoke is initially seen which dissipates to reveal the bird or the man with the frightening face.
The strange events are attributed to a Russian count Dorian Radovic who settled in the village 4 years ago and who is regarded as a vampire possessing occult powers. He first married Rosa Eversleigh, a village heiress. Rosa became mentally unbalanced soon after marriage and was often found roaming in the countryside. About 3 years ago, she was found drowned in a pool, presumably having committed suicide. Dorian later married Marjorie but she also died of a heart attack about one and half years ago. Both Rosa and Marjorie are buried in the Eversleigh family vault in the cemetery. Some villagers claim to have seen them even after their deaths .
After the attack on Alice, a three-member group consisting of Robert Campbell (priest), Paul Pratt (blacksmith), and Hugo Nielsen (salesman) decide to visit the cemetery and investigate. They find the door of the Eversleigh vault slightly ajar. Going inside, they find the coffins of Rosa and Marjorie forced open and the corpses desecrated by stakes driven through them. More shockingly, the corpse of Marjorie is quite fresh as if she has died only a week ago !
Is Dorian really a vampire ? A woman claims that she went to his house once and did not see his reflection on a mirror on two occasions !
Superintendent Thomas Taylor of Royston police station is perplexed at the turn of events and is completely bewildered when about two weeks later a locked room murder takes place where the murderer seems to have vanished in a puff of smoke through the chimney ! Witnesses see the murderer entering the room which is then locked from inside and subsequently they see a large puff of smoke escaping through the chimney. When the door is forced open, the murderer has vanished! Strangely, a half-burnt spinning wheel is found in the hearth. Taylor enlists the help of Inspector Wedekind of Scotland Yard who in turn informs Burns and Stock and all three of them proceed to Cleverley to investigate.
Though not a masterpiece, this is an engrossing and enjoyable novel with an intriguing plot. Most of the impossibilities have clever solutions. The supernatural atmosphere is very well done and the vampire lore is effectively incorporated. Hence, I recommend it heartily and rate it as 4 stars.
The only defect of this novel is that at some places it is too wordy and seems to meander with lack of pace and direction.
It is 1901 and Owen Burns and Achilles Stock with Inspector Wedekind of Scotland Yard are involved in a strange case in London. Father Michael Donovan is called at 9 p.m. to hear the confession of John McCarthy, fitter by profession, who is on his death bed. While listening to the confession, the priest jots down some words on a scrap of torn newspaper. Subsequently, after leaving the house, he is killed by a racing carriage. McCarthy dies the next day morning. The torn paper found with the priest contains the words “Violet Starling”. Now Violet Starling was a widow who was murdered in inexplicable circumstances in a locked room five years ago in 1896. Strangely, a spinning wheel was found in the room. The case has remained unsolved. It is clear that the confession is related to the murder of Violet Starling, but in what way was McCarthy involved ?
At about the same time, strange events are occurring in the village of Cleverley under Royston police station. A boy named Peter sees a strange bird in front of his bedroom window several nights. On the last occasion, the bird is replaced by a man with a frightening face staring through the glass. Another boy named Benjamin while walking near the cemetery sees a man with a frightening face, dressed in a voluminous black cloak untying knots in a cord. Finally, a girl named Alice is attacked near the cemetery by a man similar in appearance to the one seen by Benjamin, but she manages to escape. In each case, a fog of smoke is initially seen which dissipates to reveal the bird or the man with the frightening face.
The strange events are attributed to a Russian count Dorian Radovic who settled in the village 4 years ago and who is regarded as a vampire possessing occult powers. He first married Rosa Eversleigh, a village heiress. Rosa became mentally unbalanced soon after marriage and was often found roaming in the countryside. About 3 years ago, she was found drowned in a pool, presumably having committed suicide. Dorian later married Marjorie but she also died of a heart attack about one and half years ago. Both Rosa and Marjorie are buried in the Eversleigh family vault in the cemetery. Some villagers claim to have seen them even after their deaths .
After the attack on Alice, a three-member group consisting of Robert Campbell (priest), Paul Pratt (blacksmith), and Hugo Nielsen (salesman) decide to visit the cemetery and investigate. They find the door of the Eversleigh vault slightly ajar. Going inside, they find the coffins of Rosa and Marjorie forced open and the corpses desecrated by stakes driven through them. More shockingly, the corpse of Marjorie is quite fresh as if she has died only a week ago !
Is Dorian really a vampire ? A woman claims that she went to his house once and did not see his reflection on a mirror on two occasions !
Superintendent Thomas Taylor of Royston police station is perplexed at the turn of events and is completely bewildered when about two weeks later a locked room murder takes place where the murderer seems to have vanished in a puff of smoke through the chimney ! Witnesses see the murderer entering the room which is then locked from inside and subsequently they see a large puff of smoke escaping through the chimney. When the door is forced open, the murderer has vanished! Strangely, a half-burnt spinning wheel is found in the hearth. Taylor enlists the help of Inspector Wedekind of Scotland Yard who in turn informs Burns and Stock and all three of them proceed to Cleverley to investigate.
Though not a masterpiece, this is an engrossing and enjoyable novel with an intriguing plot. Most of the impossibilities have clever solutions. The supernatural atmosphere is very well done and the vampire lore is effectively incorporated. Hence, I recommend it heartily and rate it as 4 stars.
The only defect of this novel is that at some places it is too wordy and seems to meander with lack of pace and direction.
November 19, 2022
Another Great Paul Halter Mystery
I have read all of Paul Halter’s books to date that have been translated into English and have greatly enjoyed most of them. This one was not a disappointment. I strongly recommend it.
I have read all of Paul Halter’s books to date that have been translated into English and have greatly enjoyed most of them. This one was not a disappointment. I strongly recommend it.
May 26, 2025
In Paul Halter I have found my go-to author when I want to read something exceptionally well writen.
If I happen to read a few mediocre books in a row and don't want to be disapointed by yet another one/two star stinker, I choose one of his books because I know that a great reading time is guaranteed.
This is a well thought out, complex story, that will satisfy the lovers of the genre.
I highly recommend any of his books to be honest!
If I happen to read a few mediocre books in a row and don't want to be disapointed by yet another one/two star stinker, I choose one of his books because I know that a great reading time is guaranteed.
This is a well thought out, complex story, that will satisfy the lovers of the genre.
I highly recommend any of his books to be honest!
Read
May 14, 2023Shit!! Only one paragraph in french to read. Lousyreads.
October 8, 2019
Excesivamente rebuscada, se deja leer pero de ninguna manera es una novela en el mejor género detectivesco. Toda la solución está llena de supuestos. Hay mejores novelas de Paul Halter
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews