Customer Reviews

Nine Wrong Answers (Carr, John Dickson)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book, like many by John Dickson Carr, has a powerful gothic element-- a sense of fear, dread, and doom that draws the reader into the book. I was impelled to read this entire novel in little more than 24 hours.

The book gets off to a rapid, fast-paced start and does not slow down. In some ways, the first half of the book was more gripping than the conclusion. While the crimes are ingeniously solved, they are almost too contrived. Carr almost goes too far in forcing us to see how every tiny detail thoughout the book was "in line" with the denoument.

The characters were well developed, and the evil characters seem to be Carr's forte. There's also a love interest in the book, and the sense of a loner protagonist going up against enormous odds.

Generally speaking, I liked the book and feel I got my money's worth. A caution for older readers such as me-- the print size on the page is uncomfortably small.

I finished this book in one sitting. I could not put it down. It starts off fast and doesn't slow down until the final page. I've read a lot of Carr's books and got to know his style somewhat so I was almost right about some of the answers but all the twists are guaranteed to outsmart practically any reader.

The little footnotes at strategic points (The Nine Wrong Answers) keep you on track to some degree and true to Carr fashion, the real clues are there to spot if you're observant enough. I have to admit I took this one as a challenge and spent ages thinking about what I'd read, going back over sections and re-reading bits to glean more information.

Readers of Carr who enjoy his detectives will perhaps be disappointed in this one as the "detective" in this case is the reader him/herself. However, I had no hesitation in giving this five stars, it was a stunner of a book.

One of John Dickson Carr's most original works. Unlike his previous novels, there's no locked-room puzzle here, and very little criminal investigation. The solution to the mystery lies in the characters' actions. As always, Carr mesmerizes with an absolutely stunning twist at the conclusion, and deftly shows the reader the numerous clues and inconsistencies, all pointing toward the truth. THE NINE WRONG ANSWERS is an ingenious mystery, and certainly superior to most of its kind, but as a Carr novel it's a bit unsatisfying. The writing is a bit choppy and doesn't pull the reader along as well as it should. Plus, there's no Dr. Fell or Merrivale to ground the story or act as a source of humor. An intriguing, suspenseful, but flawed novel.

In this book, the reader has the possibility to solve the problems using his or her own cleverness. When important turning points appear, Carr comes up with an answer that most people would think of, and show that it is one of nine wrong answers. This is a brilliant way to keep the reader interested, and mixed with Carr's excellent writing it constitutes one of the greatest books in its genre - it's classic crime! It would be a 10 if it wasn't for Agatha Christies "And Then There Were None"...

This is one of the better mysteries I have read lately. Although it was a bit melodramatic sometimes - the love story was a bit too contrived and coincidental- the story reads like an old movie. There are bits of mystery, some horror elements, and sort of a game between the reader and the author in which the author- through footnotes- dissuades the reader why the the obvious assumption is wrong - hence, the nine wrong answers. This was a definite page turner as I was never sure where the story was going. The characters are scary and the book has a forboding atmosphere, but this is an original!

Bill Dawson is an Englishman in New York who gets a strange proposition. Larry Hurst offers Dawson $10,000 to impersonate him in London. Hurst's uncle has sent him a letter offering to make him his primary heir if he will agree to visit once a week for six months. But Hurst was tormented by the old man as a child and is afraid the old man means him harm. He asks Dawson to take his place and impersonate him with the old man so he can get the inheritance without having to face the old buzzard. As if this isn't weird enough, Hurst is poisoned hours later and pleads with Dawson not to let him down. The story has many more twists and turns which I won't reveal as it would rob new readers of the ability to enjoy the story.

As mysteries go, this is a bit of an odd duck. The story is convoluted from the start and gets progressively more so as it moves along. It is short, at 186 pages so at least it doesn't drag. The title comes from footnotes in the novel that suggest possible solutions that readers might be considering and then tells you that the answer is wrong. It's an odd approach that pulls you out of the story without adding anything positive to the novel. The characters are pretty cardboard. Dawson has some depth to him, but the others come out of casting central for mystery stereotypes with no additional depth supplied.

This was my first experience with John Dickson Carr and it will almost certainly be my last. The book isn't really bad but time has passed it by. The characters are flat and boring. The mystery is convoluted but not particularly interesting. When reading the solution, I really just wanted to hurry up and finish so I could put the book down and be done with it. I'm sure fans of the author would probably enjoy this, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone else.

One of the most consistently entertaining later Carrs, reminiscent of classic Hitchcock. Bill Dawson, a young Englishman working in America, is employed by a fellow expatriate to impersonate him for six months in order to inherit his splendidly sadistic uncle's fortune; the nephew is poisoned, and suspicion falls upon Dawson, who travels to Britain to avenge the murder. Full of excitement and tension, with just a touch of diffuseness in the shift from England to America-splendid scenes at the B.B.C. and in Uncle Gaylord's flat. Smash surprise solution given, very aptly, in Sherlock Holmes's rooms. Catch this Carr!

This is a non-series novel by Carr, but, while the reader will miss Gideon Fell and Sir Henry Merrivale, the characters of this book will fascinate. It is one of Carr's most ingenious plots. And while there are no locked rooms, the mystery and its solution are absolutely brilliant - and, I suspect, will completely fool the reader, despite the author's rigorous adherence to fair play. Carr was a genius at misdirection, of course, and he is at his absolute best here in that regard. There is more than enough action, and the device of the "nine wrong answers" is wonderful. Highly recommended (and when will an enterprising publisher get this back in print?).