The Hollow Man (1935 novel)
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| Recent UK paperback edition | |
| Author | John Dickson Carr |
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| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | Gideon Fell |
| Genre(s) | Mystery, Detective, Novel |
| Publisher | Hamish Hamilton (UK) & Harper (USA) |
| Released | 1935 |
| Media Type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| ISBN | NA |
The Hollow Man is a famous locked room mystery novel by the American writer John Dickson Carr (1906-1977), published in 1935. It was published in the USA under the title The Three Coffins and has frequently been hailed as the best of all locked room mysteries.
[edit] Plot summary
One wintry night in London, two murders are committed in quick succession. In both cases, the murderer has seemingly vanished into thin air.
In the first case, he has disappeared from Professor Grimaud's study after shooting the professor -- without leaving a trace, with the only door to the room locked from the inside, and with people present in the hall outside the room. Both the ground below the window and the roof above it are covered with unbroken snow.
In the second case, a man walking in the middle of a deserted cul-de-sac at about the same time is evidently shot at close range, with the same revolver, but there is no one else near the man; this is witnessed from some distance by three passersby -- two tourists and a police constable -- who happen to be walking on the pavement. It takes Dr Gideon Fell, scholar and "a pompous pain in the neck," who keeps hinting at the solution without giving it away, some 200 pages to finally condescend and minutely reconstruct the two crimes and thus solve the mystery.
[edit] Literary significance & criticism
This novel is especially famous the "locked room lecture", Dr. Fell's explanation of the various ways a person can commit a near-perfect murder in an apparently locked-room or otherwise impossible-crime situation. Thus, it became one kind of a "textbook for crime writers." In the course of his discourse, however, Dr. Fell states, off-handedly, that he and his listeners are, of course, characters in a book.
[edit] Plot holes
- Unfortunately, the murderer's plan is flawed from the start. Even if everything in this intricate scheme works out as he plans it, the police would still have to investigate Fley's death and the assault on Grimaud. Finding the reason for Fley's threats and eventually finding the connection between the two of them should not be too difficult, considering that Grimaud wasn't too careful about his past. (The coat of arms; having a confidante in his household...) This in return would unveil exactly the secrets the murderer wanted to conceal.
- Why are there no blood stains in Fley's apartment, and no blood traces of the victim leaving?
- Why did a lethally wounded man not call out for help on Cagliostro Street?
- How do you hide an object the size of a door in a chimney? This seems to be a considerable geometrical challenge (unless it's a really big fireplace), especially if there's a fire lit underneath.
- It's moderately unfair to allow a way in and out of the house which can be accessed by a wounded man, but is apparently not examined by the police.
