Tag: Golden Age Detective

Antidote to Venom

Antidote to Venom

by Freeman Wills Crofts (Hodder and Stoughton, 1938)

audiobook read by Gordon Griffin (Soundings, 2015)

Book cover: “Antidote to Venom” by Freeman Wills Crofts (Hodder and Stoughton, 1938); audiobook read by Gordon Griffin (Soundings, 2015)

A remarkably long and tedious book. Crofts spends the first half establishing the unlikable viewpoint character and his motivation for murder. Even once this occurs, Inspector French is held back until the final third. No suspense, let alone mystery, just utter banality.

Till Death Do Us Part

Till Death Do Us Part

by John Dickson Carr (Hamish Hamilton, 1944)

audiobook read by Kris Dyer (Soundings, 2022)

Book cover: “Till Death Do Us Part” by John Dickson Carr (Hamish Hamilton, 1944); audiobook read by Kris Dyer (Soundings, 2022)

A thoroughly ingenious locked room murder mystery, but one in which the author focusses too much on obfuscation. The narrator stumbles from confusion to confusion while the detective (Gideon Fell) skirts the main issue and sits pretty but silent on the solution.