As I mentioned in an earlier blog post, one of the main characters in Akimitsu Takagi's mystery novel, The Tattoo Murder Case, Kenzo Matsushita is himself a big fan of mystery novels. It's mentioned that Kenzo is reading The Three Coffins by John Dickson Carr. Naturally, I searched the web for information on Carr's book.
The Three Coffins was published under that title in the U.S. in 1935. The book was published that same year in the U.K. as The Hollow Man and has received high praise from many critics, particularly for the often-reprinted "locked room lecture" given by investigator Gideon Fell in chapter 17. In 1981, a panel of 17 mystery authors and reviewers selected the novel as "the best locked room mystery of all time".
Upon reading such praise, I decided to read The Three Coffins before going on to Akimitsu Takagi's other novels that are available in English.
I have mixed thoughts on the book. Frankly, I feel the story drags in the early stages and it isn't until the chapter 17 "locked room lecture" that the book picks up. The ending, where the locked room mystery of The Three Coffins is explained is top notch but, unfortunately, one must read a good deal of sub-par writing to get to the end.
The book was placed at No 40 on the Crime Writers' Association's list of The Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time and No 96 on the Mystery Writers of America's Top 100 Mystery Novels of All Time.
Honestly, I don't see it.
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