A GRAVEYARD TO LET Another Adventure of Sir Henry Merrival.

Sir Henry Merrivale #19

by John Dickson Carr, Carter Dickson

A GRAVEYARD TO LET Another Adventure of Sir Henry Merrival.

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Fiction

269 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1949

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 4 out of 5]

A Graveyard to Let (1949) by Carter Dickson. Carter Dickson is the alter-ego of John Dickson Carr. I love Carr under either name. He is one of the kings of the locked room/impossible crime mysteries. I have read numerous books under both names and he has never repeated a trick.

This one brings Sir Henry Merrivale to the US. On his way to Washington to visit friends, Sir Henry receives a message from another friend to come to his home in New York to witness a miracle. Before making his way to Mr. Frederick Manning's house, Sir Henry has a few adventures with the New York police and the New York subways. The miracle when it happens is a doozy....Frederick Manning dives into his swimming pool fully clothed and completely disappears--leaving his clothes behind One of the best bits for me is the sly reference by one of the policemen to The Dragon Murder Case by S. S. Van Dine. A very similar thing happened in Van Dine's mystery....as the policeman says:

"But, look! This was about a guy who disappeared from a swimming pool too!...Yes, sir. Only it wasn't daylight, it was night; and they couldn't see one end of the pool."

It looks for all the world like Manning has disappeared to avoid being brought to book for embezzlement but, as always with Dickson/Carr, nothing is exactly what it seems. Then Manning shows up in the graveyard adjacent to his property with a couple of knife wounds. Will he make it? And who knew where to find the man who swam away? Will Sir Henry be catching a murderer instead of an embezzler?

The entire story is a delight (as Carter Dickson/Carr's always are). Sir Henry is his usual mischievous and mysterious self. And even reveals some rather surprising talents on the baseball field. Like a good magician, Dickson, manages to have the reader looking everywhere but at the right clue at the right time. I have yet to figure out one of these "impossible mysteries" and I don't mind being muddled by a master one little bit. It was interesting to see what twist Dickson put on the man disappearing from the pool. The only thing I was quite sure of was that it wouldn't be Van Dine's trick...and I was right about that. Four stars.

[C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not one of Carr's best,but an enjoyable romp nonetheless.Starts well,but as with many of Carr's later novels,it kind of peters out towards the end.Plenty of the usual Merrivale slapstick and the usual romantic interludes.
The solution to the swimming pool disappearance will have you kicking yourself with its simple audacity and if you like Carr this is well worth reading.

[Irfan Nurhadi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A man, fully clothes, jumped into a swimming pool. Later, one by one, his clothes floated into the surface. Five minutes later the man didn't show up. Another man (policeman) dived into the pool. He (surprisingly) found that the pool is empty. The pool was drained, only to confirm that the first man, a fully clothes man who jumped into a swimming pool witnessed by six people (including H.M.), has vanished.

A brilliant illusion, dammit! >.<

[Peter Spearing · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining book marred by terrible OCR

H.M. (Sir Henry Merrivale) is always entertaining, and this story is wildly improbable and fun to read. Unfortunately there was no sign of any proofreading after it was scanned. There is missing punctuation, wrong punctuation, and completely wrong words.

[João Gil · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a very confusing book. The plot is promising, but the details of the case get tangled up and are lost among the various (futile) dialogues. Some descriptions are unnecessary, which make the follow up of the story more difficult.
I think it's better to invest on other books from Coleção Vampiro.

[Peter Parziale · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this book, having a recollection of enjoying previous books by John Dickson Carr. Unfortunately, this one was a complete and abject disappointment unworthy of the time I spent waiting, waiting, waiting for it to approach my expectations.

Where do I begin?
The writing is generally poor. Repetitive. Characters who act or speak out of character. Settings that are implausible. This book is poorly written with an outline and grammar of a middle school youth.

Even out-of-the-box mysteries with creative set-ups and solutions must have some ring of plausibility in order to engage the reader. And the principal characters should have some measure of sympathy if not likability so that the reader is on his/her/their side...we generally want the crime to be solved. In this case, I could care less about the "sleuth", his side-kick, the rich guy, or his family.

Speaking of the sleuth, for a Briton he speaks with a vocabulary rife with U.S. Southern phraseology. This is most often expressed with colloquialisms (e.g. "easy as pie", "y'see", cops, "my fatheads", "collywobble", "a hocussing crumpled envelope", calling other guys "son", referring to his head as his "onion", "he hared down that short grass", "I wondered how Manning could take a header [into the pool] without losin' his tile" this last is evidently a hat ) and dropped ending g's (e.g. "bathin' shoes", "sittin'", "wearin'", "somethin'", "blockin' the view", I was in the study a-drowsin'"). What a distraction!

As a nod to his British-ness, Dickson/Carr does put a couple of unconvincing but British-sounding words in Sir Henry Merrivale's mouth when H.M. refers to women as "wench" or says "Lord love a duck". I'm fairly well-read of authors like Christie, Allingham, Colin Dexter, and P.D. James and these faux phrases are absent.

The set-up of the conspiracy between Manning and his, umm, accomplice(?) is extremely unlikely. The apparent theft of the $100,000 is easy to disprove. The multi-year sequestration of one of the characters without the character going mad is possible, I suppose, but dubious.

The disappearance of the wealthy Mr. Manning is totally contrived and, I posit, impossible. Case in point: Manning used a strip of folded newsprint inside the brim of his hat to prevent the hat from being dislodged when he dove into the pool. Nope. The paper strip would not keep the hat on. And this was but one of the incredibly improbable propositions. Every one of the other aspects of the disguise is Really, author Dickson/Carr, have a smidgeon of respect for the intelligence of your readers.

I was on a road trip when I had this book, so I kept at it because of no alternative. Now that I'm home, do I purge my bookshelves of as yet unread works by Dickson/Carr?

[Andy Peterson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Moments before the police can apprehend him, a wealthy businessman accused of embezzlement dives into a pool and vanishes in front of his children and friends— including famous solver of mysteries and debunker of miracles, Sir Henry Merrivale.

A very clever “vanishing act” with a satisfying explanation. The clues were certainly all present and accounted for, although a few more hints wouldn’t have been amiss.

There were too many layers of deception, too many tricks and intrigues all revealed at the end in a whopping 30-page explanation. I would’ve preferred a more gradual reveal, done in stages, with each different “chunk” of the mystery being resolved in the chapters leading up to the finale. This way, as veil after veil is torn down, the reader might have a better chance of deducing the culprit.

The overall solution of the crime— the whodunnit and why— seems convoluted. Not incredible so much as uncredible. Though this wasn’t the author’s most believable work, it is by no means his most outlandish. But the characters also lack a lot of their classic John Dickson Carr sparkle, which reduces my overall rating from four to three stars.

[Adam Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

A man jumps into a swimming pool and disappears, thus commencing an investigation that is simultaneously amusing and frustrating. Merrivale is a wonderful character, with a delightfully mischievous bent. As for the mystery, Dickson parades lots of clues before your eyes, but leaves you scratching your head until the final reveal. Dickson is a master of criminal impossibility, and even if this isn't his strongest work, it still shows why his reputation is justly deserved.

[Robert Henderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

How does a fully grown man leap into a pool and disappear. Surrounded by family, colleagues and independent witnesses, the pool is even drained to make sure there was no hidden escape. The solution this time is of such profound simplicity it's quite refreshing. A reasonably good mystery, with a level of humour and fairly good mix of characters. Whilst avoiding some of the worst elements of his other stories, it doesn't quite rise up to classic status. Enjoyable but not compelling

[Jameson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yet another late Merrivale that read better than its reputation led me to expect it would. A man dives into a swimming pool and disappears in full view of witnesses. So, not unlike the Bronze Lamp, but definitely trickier. A Graveyard to Let brings HM to America and that change of scenery definitely enlivens what is at the end of the day a kind of mediocre yet very daring mystery. Based on the title I expected more atmosphere but I feel that way after I finish most Carrs.

[Gabriele Crescenzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Romanzo affascinante con una delle camere chiuse più belle. Non si tratta però della tipica camera chiusa ma di una piscina: un uomo si tuffa nella piscina, i suoi vestiti tornano a galla ma lui no. Poi ci sarà anche un omicidio. Assolutamente consigliato.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is quite a strong post-war Carr (writing under the Dickson pseudonym). It has atmosphere, tons of misdirection, the usual love story embedded, and a pretty good trick at the heart of the explanation. Those who like corpses might be a mite disappointed, but I found it entertaining and fun.

[Keith Boynton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Feels like a minor one, but it's fun to be hanging out with Merrivale in New York (both the city and upstate) for a change – and the baseball scene is a highlight, full of the sport's all-American romance.

[Calum Reed · Rating 2 out of 5]

C:

A bit of a mess, frankly.

Carr finds time for two lengthy comedic interludes (one involving a train station and another a baseball match), which are diverting enough, but both the solution to the central mystery and the identity of the villain fails to impress.

[Kimberly Karalius · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting premise, but boy did it drag.

[Juan Carlos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Final previsible, interesante novela y con un desenlace limpio como nos acostumbra Carter Dickson.

[Michael Hill · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did try to get through it but eventually gave up. An American vesion of a country house mystery. Who done it? Who cares?

[Rick Mills · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting locked-room type puzzle - but not a locked room murder. Instead, a man dives into his swimming pool and is not seen again.

[Aino Kattilakoski · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lupaava alku ja juoni peittyivät puolivälistä eteenpäin niin sekavan dialogin alle, että lukukokemus oli lopulta aika raskas ja hankala.

[Bruna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Non c'è il miglior Carter Dickson (o Dickson Carr che dir si voglia) in questa trasferta americana del Vecchio. L'enigma della piscina chiusa è suggestivo, ma al di là della variante natatoria, la soluzione non è particolarmente originale. Il tutto risulta strampalato in modo eccessivo, anche se abbastanza piacevole. Come al solito, c'è l'obbligatoria quota di palpitanti bellezze femminili indistinguibili da analoghi personaggi di altri romanzi, ma questo è un difetto ricorrente dell'autore al quale conviene fare il callo per amore della trama e dei trucchi del mestiere.

[Lisa Kucharski · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quirky detective, Sir Henry Merrivale, solves quirky crimes. The books feel like a bit of a throw back to detectives in movies more than detectives found in literature.

In this case, Merrivale is challenged to figure out how someone disappears, right before his eyes. This leads to the unraveling of other mysteries as well. Filled with a cast of "characters."

[March · Rating 2 out of 5]

Frivolous late Merrivale with a great deal of unfunny comedy and lacking even a proper murder. The solution to the impossible swimming pool disappearance is fairly clued but not in the least convincing.