He Who Whispers

By: John Dickson Carr

Narrated by: Kris Dyer

When Miles Hammond is invited to a meeting of the Murder Club in London, he is met instead with just two other guests and is treated to a strange tale of an impossible crime in France years before; the murder of a man on a tower with only one staircase, under watch at the time at which the murder took place. With theories of levitating vampires abounding, the story comes home to Miles when he realises that the librarian he has just hired for his home is none other than Fay Seton, a woman at the heart of this bizarre and unsolved past murder.

Carr considered this novel one of his best works, and it is easy to see why when experiencing its ingenious plot delivered with an astounding pace and masterfully drawn characters including none other than the great detective Dr Gideon Fell.

©1946, 2023 The Estate of Clarice M. Carr, Martin Edwards (P)2023 Soundings

Clever story

This was an excellent Gideon Fell story with a nostalgic end of world war 2 setting. I wish Gideon was a more athletic attractive character

Too Improbable

I like Golden Age mysteries, and I've enjoyed other Carr novels, but I felt let down by the level of improbabilites used in orchestrating this mystery.
It's not a brilliant puzzle if I have to play dumb to make it work.

The book that started my love for John Dickson Carr's writing.

This is the book that started my love for John Dickson Carr's writing. He was a Grand Master of Mystery for a reason.

Could be a short story

Towards the end the person who solved the mystery announces that it all came together in three seconds. But the author takes about 47 chapters to explain the resolution.

Old school intellectual puzzle

Carr is always excellent. The reader did a really good job but the characters of Dr Fell and Dr Rigo sometimes sounded very much the same. But overall, excellent work with difficult material.

Fun

I really enjoyed this book and the narration. My thanks to the long-dead author and the narrator.

Wonderful!

Wish there were more of these golden age mysteries. The newer books don't compare. Also one of my favorite readers. Thank you.

Long Long Ago when writers were golden

Yes
It seems all of the card board cut-out characters of today just like paper dolls
Are flimsy unimaginative props that have to descend to the vulgar highly provocative sex
Blood filth to appeal to the reader in today’s world but more than that it try’s to satisfy diversity to the point of perversion
Once upon a time the English were English
I miss that
Even Agatha has been perverted

Brilliant!

I can say, as someone who has been reading for more than half a century that this is one of the finest books I’ve read in a long, long time.

The artistry of JD Carr in setting scene and mood is in full bloom in this book. And the mysteries are top notch.

The performance is wonderful as well and I was taken away into post war England completely. This is one you don’t want to miss. And if you’re listening and think in the early chapters that you’re in a horror story don’t fret. You’re only in a brilliantly written Golden Age mystery story.

Hope this is helpful to y’all and enjoy your day!👍

So Tedious

I like this genre, and I don't think the plotting or characters were too bad in this book. But it was so slow and tedious I stopped listening with 40 minutes to go. Enough time spent and just didn't care enough to finish.