The Tiger's Head

Dr. Twist #5

by Paul Halter, John Pugmire (Translator)

The murderer known as the "Suitcase Killer," who has been causing panic by leaving dismembered bodies in London's railway stations, vanishes into thin air when cornered cutting up his latest victim. The detective team of Dr. Twist and Inspector Hurst receive a tip that he resides in Leadenham, a sleepy village twenty miles from the capital. Another resident, a retired major of the Indian Army, claims he can summon an evil genie by rubbing an artifact known as "The Head of the Tiger." He and a doubter stay in a room where not only is every door and window locked from the inside, but each is guarded by a witness. Nevertheless, the major is found dead, and the doubter unconscious from wounds which could not have been self-inflicted, and there is nobody else in the room. Could the serial killer be an evil genie? Or is it possible that two murderers, each with the apparent ability to vanish at will, inhabit the same small village?...

Genres: Mystery, Crime

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Paul Halter is a writer of crime fiction known for his locked room mysteries. Halter pursued technical studies in his youth before joining the French Marines in the hope of seeing the world. Disappointed with the lack of travel, he left the military and, for a while, sold life insurance while augmenting his income playing the guitar in the local dance orchestra. He gave up life insurance for a job in the state-owned telecommunications company, where he works in what is presently known as France Télécom. Halter has been compared with the late John Dickson Carr, generally considered the 20th century master of the locked room genre. Throughout his nearly thirty novels his genre has been almost entirely impossible crimes, and as a critic has said "Although strongly influenced by Carr and Christie, his style is his own and he can stand comparison with anyone for the originality of his plots and puzzles and his atmospheric writing."

His first published novel, La Quatrieme Porte ("The Fourth Door")was published in 1988 and won the Prix de Cognac, given for detective literature. The following year, his novel Le Brouillard Rouge (Red Mist) won "one of the highest accolades in French mystery literature", the Prix du Roman d'Aventures. He has now published more than thirty novels. Several of his short stories have been translated into English; by June 2010 six will have appeared in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine; ten were collected and published by Wildside Press as The Night of the Wolf.

Reviews

[Lawrence · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paul Halter is a great writer of mysteries and does the best locked room mysteries since John Dickson Carr. A must read for mystery fans.

[Juan Carlos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Como ya es costumbre en Paul Halter una trama compleja con un final perfecto e inesperado. Excelente

[Gabriele Crescenzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A mio parere, uno dei migliori Halter. Trama molto intricata, con situazioni paradossali, ben due camere chiuse, il tutto contornato da una scia di delitti seriali apparentemente senza senso, furti particolari in un piccolo villaggio fuori Londra e storie di fachiri indiani e trucchi magici. Questo melange così assortito, tipico dell'autore alsaziano che spesso si diverte a porre tanta carne sul fuoco (spesso a fine cottura, ossia a fine romanzo, la carne non è sempre ben cotta, metaforicamente parlando), però non delude nella soluzione finale. Ho trovato le due camere chiuse (la prima in cui il presunto serial killer di prostitute scompare da una stanza chiusa e ispezionata, la seconda con porte e finestre sbarrate e sorvegliate) davvero ottime, semplici e nello stesso tempo ingegnose. Il movente poi alla base degli omicidi seriali e le relative azioni del killer per mettere in opera il suo machiavellico piano hanno un retrogusto christiano a mio parere (il che è positivo). Unica pecca forse è la traduzione italiana (per me qualche errore di traduzione c'è, perché nella spiegazione di una delle camere chiuse, qualcosa dovrebbe ruotare in senso antiorario anziché "orario", per poter davvero funzionare il trucco), infatti alcune pagine sono stampate in ordine invertito (non so se è un difetto solo della mia copia). Del resto un libro notevole, dunque 5 stelle.

[Irfan Nurhadi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gotta re-read this one, since I forget most of the details. What I do remember is that this novel featured a serial killing, body parts inside briefcases, and a locked-room mystery (and a genie?). I remember liking the solution where all of the mysteries come together in unity.

[Rama · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a very good one, especially because of the first intrigue falling flat and resolving itself way too soon and the second one being predictable after the past opens itself right at the beginning in a jarring manner.

[Mark Flowers · Rating 4 out of 5]

SLJ review:

HALTER, Paul. The Tiger’s Head. tr. from French by John Pugmire. 176p. Locked Room International. 2013. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9781484991022.

Adult/High School–In his fifth Dr. Twist and Inspector Hurst mystery, Halter nests his traditional locked room tale within two seemingly related crimes. The locked-room mystery features two men alone in a room, one found dead, the other with wounds impossible to self-inflict, and a fabulous story of a vindictive genie arising from the eponymous tiger’s head cane to fell both men. The surrounding mysteries are a fairly innocuous string of thefts–some of which also show signs of impossibility–and a gruesome series of murders marked by pieces of bodies found in suitcases. The crimes all take place in the sleepy town of Leadenham, and it is only the seeming impossibility of this coincidence that brings Twist and Hurst there to investigate. The suspects include three young couples: two visiting to the town and a local minister and his wife. Halter’s characterization of these suspects is fairly utilitarian, but he more than makes up for it with a strong sense of setting and an intricately worked narrative that includes several flashbacks and a flashforward, as well as glimpses into the thoughts of all the principals–and a tremendously well-designed mystery. The book is less formally inventive than the author’s The Crimson Fog (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2013), and it will appeal to fans of Frances Brody’s surprisingly similar A Medal for Murder (Minotaur, 2013).–Mark Flowers, John F. Kennedy Library, Vallejo, CA

http://blogs.slj.com/adult4teen/2013/...

[Jameson · Rating 4 out of 5]

FIRST READING 12/17/19: 4 Stars

Kind of a rocky start due to the switching back and forth from the cast of characters in the village to the police, but Halter delivers some good whodunit fare, including a satisfying ending.

SECOND READING 2/14/23: 4 Stars

Four stars the second time around. I wonder how this would read if it was rearranged chronologically. I love the particular brand of Justice delivered at the end; I can’t stand the “don’t sink to their level” BS in fiction or real life—an eye for an eye, Old Testament, works for me because when you commit an inhuman act you renounce your humanity and my sympathy. The only part I didn’t really get is at the end—were we supposed to know Carol’s new husband and what narrative purposes were served by her fate being what it was? And the only part of the crimes I really raised an eyebrow at was the bit about the wicker basket. Why did the flower girl “of easy virtue” even have such a huge wicker basket in her digs to begin with? Seemed weird to me, but maybe not.

[C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another engaging page-turner from the new master of the locked room genre.
Very much in the style of Dickson Carr(though a bit more gruesome),this is yet again a wonderful homage to the Golden Age impossible crimes genre.
It is of course highly convuluted,it's full of red herrings,two locked room scenarios and a serial killer
stalking the train stations of local villages.
The tale twists and turns to the very end.Recommended!

[Pipina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Golden Age-type mystery writing, right now.