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The Problem of the Green Capsule

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John Dickson Carr took a heavy-handed turn toward romance in "The Problem of the Green Capsule," which is why I almost immediately picked out the poisoner. If you think romantically instead of using Carr's carefully scattered clues and logically deducing who poisoned Marcus Chesney on a stage in front of witnesses, you'll have the solution right away. Otherwise, this mystery could prove to be quite a challenge.

Carr's serial detective, the humungous Dr. Gideon Fell doesn't show up until halfway through the book, and three poisoned corpses have already littered the landscape. One of the victims is a little boy who was done in by candy from the local tobacconist's shop. The other two murders occur in the house where, according to local gossip, the child killer lives.

The chief suspect certainly doesn't do herself any favors when she is seen trying to buy poison by the Scotland Yard inspector who is assigned to the case. Earlier in the story, she is also spotted asking the little boy who was poisoned to exchange some candy for her at the tobacconist's shop. I guess if I had been one of the locals, I would have thrown stones at her, too.

The main drawback to this book's readability is the artificial nature of the second murder. How believable is it to have someone set the stage for his own murder, just to prove that eyewitnesses are unreliable? He even writes out a questionnaire for his audience to fill out after his staged murder (which turns out to be real).

Of course Marcus Chesney didn't really expect to get murdered. He was so insufferable about proving the unreliability of eyewitnesses that he made it easier rather than more difficult for the poisoner to strike again.

There really wasn't anyone to like in this book except for Inspector Elliott. All of the other characters were either intellectually arrogant, pompous, obsequious, or hysterical. If you enjoy watching Dr. Fell sorting through his bag of tricks, i.e. snorting, wheezing, coyly hinting, and asking mysterious questions, then enjoy, enjoy. "The Problem of the Green Capsule" has one of John Dickson Carr's most ingenious plots--except for romantics like me.

John Dickson Carr took a heavy-handed turn toward romance in "The Problem of the Green Capsule," which is why I almost immediately picked out the poisoner. If you think romantically instead of using Carr's carefully scattered clues and logically deducing who poisoned Marcus Chesney on a stage in front of witnesses, you'll have the solution right away. Otherwise, this mystery could prove to be quite a challenge.

Carr's serial detective, the humungous Dr. Gideon Fell doesn't show up until halfway through the book, and three poisoned corpses have already littered the landscape. One of the victims is a little boy who was done in by candy from the local tobacconist's shop. The other two murders occur in the house where, according to local gossip, the child killer lives.

The chief suspect certainly doesn't do herself any favors when she is seen trying to buy poison by the Scotland Yard inspector who is assigned to the case. Earlier in the story, she is also spotted asking the little boy who was poisoned to exchange some candy for her at the tobacconist's shop. I guess if I had been one of the locals, I would have thrown stones at her, too.

The main drawback to this book's readability is the artificial nature of the second murder. How believable is it to have someone set the stage for his own murder, just to prove that eyewitnesses are unreliable? He even writes out a questionnaire for his audience to fill out after his staged murder (which turns out to be real).

Of course Marcus Chesney didn't really expect to get murdered. He was so insufferable about proving the unreliability of eyewitnesses that he made it easier rather than more difficult for the poisoner to strike again.

There really wasn't anyone to like in this book except for Inspector Elliott. All of the other characters were either intellectually arrogant, pompous, obsequious, or hysterical. If you enjoy watching Dr. Fell sorting through his bag of tricks, i.e. snorting, wheezing, coyly hinting, and asking mysterious questions, then enjoy, enjoy. "The Problem of the Green Capsule" has one of John Dickson Carr's most ingenious plots--except for romantics like me.