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Dr. Gideon Fell #23
Dark of the Moon
When Dr. Gideon Fell finds himself at a party where guests are in a state of deep agitation, all the faculties of his detective genius are called into play. Why is the host of the party, southern aristocrat Henry Maynard, so cryptic about the strange goings-on in the mansion? And how is the theft of the scarecrow linked to a diabolical and ingenious murder?
256 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 20, 1967
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234 people want to read
About the author
John Dickson Carr
424 books496 followersAKA 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).
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).
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
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May 31, 2018This is the First American Hardcover edition.
March 23, 2025
Not Carr's best work but also not his worst. The one thing I always feel with the later books in this series is that technically they're all supposed to be set later and later in time but he can't figure out how to actually modernize them, so instead they weirdly feel like a classic golden age mystery where occasionally a character will mention the space race and the reader thinks ???? what? This is also a book where characters contrive to talk in circles without ever revealing anything until the final chapter, but it makes it feel like if everyone could stop running around and have an actual conversation, the thing could have been closed out on page 2. It also features another irritating romance with people who are mean to each other; this is a strange reoccurring feature in Carr's books. The earlier books are definitely stronger.
June 9, 2019
COUNTDOWN: Mid-20th Century North American Crime
BOOK 248 (of 250)
It's tough to pull off an entire novel based on a one-trick "locked-room/impossible crime" idea. Here's a good example.
HOOK - 1 star: The author can do no better than give us a cliched weather report: "Dark clouds scudded across a moon which had not quite reached its full....The warmth of the Carolina night...Jessamine and magnolia added their scents of early May." But the author, at least, finishes his opening paragraph with "And emotion stirred here too," but that could mean anything, not a crime. One really doesn't have much impulse to continue reading.
PACE - 1: It seems as if half this book is a history lesson on the Old South/Dixie/the Confederacy. Lots of talk of Forts and battles. It all becomes rather boring and 99% of it has nothing to do with any kind of crime.
PLOT - 2: Henry Maynard's head is bashed in as he sits on his terrace overlooking the ocean. There are no footprints of a second person, no presence of a weapon, etc., all the ingredients of an impossible crime. But if you've read Carr's "Constant Suicides" you might be able to figure this one out early one.
CHARACTERS - 2: Everyone is shrouded in history. The ladies scream and faint often. The men are tough and play rounds of baseball and pool. Dr. Fell is an interesting character but rather blank in this outing. One character, Madge, does have an interesting secret, and, oh, the murdered man, Henry, certainly has skeletons in his closet.
ATMOSPHERE - 1: Carr lays it on thick. There are 2 rows of 5 slave houses nearby, for example, where the house slaves use to live. Maynard House is about 300 years old and there is much description of terraces and beaches and faded carpets and room layouts, etc. In fact, it's too much: it's 99% of the book and is overwhelming. I was often just bored with the history lessons, over and over and they were used, obviously, to stretch the length of the book and had nothing to do with the crime.
SUMMARY: My overall rating is 1.2. Skip this one and read Carr's "Crooked Hinge" or his novella, "Blind Man's Hood". This author is best at shorts and novellas, imo.
BOOK 248 (of 250)
It's tough to pull off an entire novel based on a one-trick "locked-room/impossible crime" idea. Here's a good example.
HOOK - 1 star: The author can do no better than give us a cliched weather report: "Dark clouds scudded across a moon which had not quite reached its full....The warmth of the Carolina night...Jessamine and magnolia added their scents of early May." But the author, at least, finishes his opening paragraph with "And emotion stirred here too," but that could mean anything, not a crime. One really doesn't have much impulse to continue reading.
PACE - 1: It seems as if half this book is a history lesson on the Old South/Dixie/the Confederacy. Lots of talk of Forts and battles. It all becomes rather boring and 99% of it has nothing to do with any kind of crime.
PLOT - 2: Henry Maynard's head is bashed in as he sits on his terrace overlooking the ocean. There are no footprints of a second person, no presence of a weapon, etc., all the ingredients of an impossible crime. But if you've read Carr's "Constant Suicides" you might be able to figure this one out early one.
CHARACTERS - 2: Everyone is shrouded in history. The ladies scream and faint often. The men are tough and play rounds of baseball and pool. Dr. Fell is an interesting character but rather blank in this outing. One character, Madge, does have an interesting secret, and, oh, the murdered man, Henry, certainly has skeletons in his closet.
ATMOSPHERE - 1: Carr lays it on thick. There are 2 rows of 5 slave houses nearby, for example, where the house slaves use to live. Maynard House is about 300 years old and there is much description of terraces and beaches and faded carpets and room layouts, etc. In fact, it's too much: it's 99% of the book and is overwhelming. I was often just bored with the history lessons, over and over and they were used, obviously, to stretch the length of the book and had nothing to do with the crime.
SUMMARY: My overall rating is 1.2. Skip this one and read Carr's "Crooked Hinge" or his novella, "Blind Man's Hood". This author is best at shorts and novellas, imo.
October 30, 2016
At #23, this is the final Gideon Fell novel: and all I want to do is forget that that I ever read the last ten books or so and start back with the first one, HAG’S NOOK, in order to remind myself of how much I liked the pre-war Fell [and how much I dislike the post-war books]. This one is set on James Island outside Charleston, South Carolina: and oh. My. GOD! The book is lousy with bad Southern dialect and creaky Southern stereotypes. All the complaints I’ve had about inauthentic dialogue, poorly-timed and overly-broad humor, stilted dialogue, and a fossilized Mad Men-era attitude towards female characters are in fulsome flower here. Plus there is a lot of clumsy and unnecessary exposition. One character launches into a history of the Civil War in response to an irritable demand from Fell to explain why he invited Fell to Charleston. And there also a lot of lines like this one: “As you know, you got your degree at Cambridge.” As if anyone needs to be told what they did with their own life. I mean, it’s that bad. Sigh.
September 20, 2017
Knowing that I like mysteries, John Carr has long been on my radar. Additionally, it has been years since this book "Dark of the Moon" was also recommended to me as really good. I am glad that I read the book; however, it certainly did not have the suspense that I expected from a Carr book. John Dickson Carr, along with one of his key creations Dr. Gideon Fell, is long held to be the master of the "locked room mysteries," so I was really looking forward to this book.
"Dark of the Moon" was a good story, but no where near what I expected. It still was a decent story; I gave it a solid three (3) star rating. Perhaps I had too high expectations? Regardless, I will go back and read the first Dr. Gideon Fell novel which was "Hag's Nook." This is a mystery book that readers have raved about!
"Dark of the Moon" was a good story, but no where near what I expected. It still was a decent story; I gave it a solid three (3) star rating. Perhaps I had too high expectations? Regardless, I will go back and read the first Dr. Gideon Fell novel which was "Hag's Nook." This is a mystery book that readers have raved about!
February 10, 2013
Not as good as the other one I read. I did see somewhere that the later Dr Fell novels aren't the best. I'll look for earlier ones.
February 4, 2013
Poorly written. Tedious. Formulaic.
August 3, 2018
One of the later novels set in US East Coast. Very wwell written as usual.
April 24, 2021
While this is not my favorite Dr. Fell mystery, it is still pretty good.
It has all the hallmarks of the series; a mysterious death where the actual commission of the crime is seemingly impossible (aka, a locked room), overtones of the eerie supernatural (which are eventually explained by Dr. Fell), and a snippet of a chaste Victorian-like love story (though the motives for the murders can be quite horrific when compared to the average Victoriana). It's not quite a tea-cozy mystery.
Again, I enjoyed it. It's just that I've enjoyed some Dr. Fell books more.
If you like Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child's Agent Pendergast series, you might like this, though the Pendergast series embraces the supernatural more.
It has all the hallmarks of the series; a mysterious death where the actual commission of the crime is seemingly impossible (aka, a locked room), overtones of the eerie supernatural (which are eventually explained by Dr. Fell), and a snippet of a chaste Victorian-like love story (though the motives for the murders can be quite horrific when compared to the average Victoriana). It's not quite a tea-cozy mystery.
Again, I enjoyed it. It's just that I've enjoyed some Dr. Fell books more.
If you like Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child's Agent Pendergast series, you might like this, though the Pendergast series embraces the supernatural more.
August 20, 2025
This was my first book by John Dickson Carr, and I guess I chose poorly. I found it tedious, with annoying characters and a plot that always seemed to be taking place in the next room. It wasn’t even fun as a period piece. The best thing about it was the smell of the paperback’s yellowed pages… God, I love that smell…
March 9, 2022
I've loved other books by John Dickson Carr, but this was sadly underwhelming and tedious to read. Yes, the ending was surprising and did contribute to my rating, but other than that I don't really have anything else to say about this book.
April 8, 2021
Late Gideon Fell set in South Carolina. Not the best Carr but still enjoyable.
August 15, 2021
Not as good as his earlier Gideon Fell books.
April 28, 2023
I am reading this book again, it might be not one of my favorites (it looks a bit "slow" compared to others) but I find the reading intriguing, and the personality of the protagonists well designed.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews