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Sir Henry Merrivale #10
And So to Murder
1st Zebra edition paperback, vg++
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1940
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211 people want to read
About the author
Carter Dickson
74 books81 followersCarter Dickson is a pen name of writer John Dickson Carr.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
April 10, 2023
I recently acquired a few Carter Dickson’s, but after reading a few reviews was questioning whether my purchases were worth the read. But I loved the first one, the Curse of the Bronze Lamp, and as a novice Carr/Dickson reader I have no real expectations, so decided to slog it out and read on…And So to Murder…
Monica Stanton, “aged twenty-two, only child of Rev. Canon Stanton, country clergyman…had seldom in her life been allowed to venture beyond the confines of East Roystead, Herts.”, has written a salacious best-seller. Albion Films has bought the rights and hired Monica as a script writer, and she is to work under the tutelage of William Cartwright, a writer of detective stories, whom “Monica felt she would like to poison…and dance on his grave.” But when a series of attempts are made on Monica’s, it becomes apparent that it’s her grave someone wants to dance on.
Let’s start out with my only real quibble about this book. Sir Henry doesn’t appear until 2/3’s of the way through. But when you think about it, actuality this allows the focus of the story to be on the victim, the various attempts on her life, and the suspects. Carr takes great advantage of 1940’s film-making industry clichés using it to create an imaginative plot (but then remember, I am a Carr newbie so I reserve the right to change my mind with further reads) which moves at a rapid pace. And, I believe this is another one where you may be totally fooled by who the real culprit and the motive.
We get quirky characters such as the condescending, fast talking, studio head Tom Hackett; chain-smoking, raspy voiced script writer Tilly Parsons, and the alluring femme-fatale with nothing between the ears, actress Frances Fleur. The interactions between the characters are often rapid fire and incredibly witty, much like an actual film of the era. The sequences between the two studio executives discussing altering the events at the Battle of Waterloo to accommodate viewers’ tastes and the actors who had been cast in the lead roles are so fun, and plays more of a role in the plot than you may think!
This may be one of Carr’s more lightweight stories, but I’m so glad that I didn’t give up and cast it in the charity bin. While it’s not brilliant, it was a fun, enjoyable read.
Monica Stanton, “aged twenty-two, only child of Rev. Canon Stanton, country clergyman…had seldom in her life been allowed to venture beyond the confines of East Roystead, Herts.”, has written a salacious best-seller. Albion Films has bought the rights and hired Monica as a script writer, and she is to work under the tutelage of William Cartwright, a writer of detective stories, whom “Monica felt she would like to poison…and dance on his grave.” But when a series of attempts are made on Monica’s, it becomes apparent that it’s her grave someone wants to dance on.
Let’s start out with my only real quibble about this book. Sir Henry doesn’t appear until 2/3’s of the way through. But when you think about it, actuality this allows the focus of the story to be on the victim, the various attempts on her life, and the suspects. Carr takes great advantage of 1940’s film-making industry clichés using it to create an imaginative plot (but then remember, I am a Carr newbie so I reserve the right to change my mind with further reads) which moves at a rapid pace. And, I believe this is another one where you may be totally fooled by who the real culprit and the motive.
We get quirky characters such as the condescending, fast talking, studio head Tom Hackett; chain-smoking, raspy voiced script writer Tilly Parsons, and the alluring femme-fatale with nothing between the ears, actress Frances Fleur. The interactions between the characters are often rapid fire and incredibly witty, much like an actual film of the era. The sequences between the two studio executives discussing altering the events at the Battle of Waterloo to accommodate viewers’ tastes and the actors who had been cast in the lead roles are so fun, and plays more of a role in the plot than you may think!
This may be one of Carr’s more lightweight stories, but I’m so glad that I didn’t give up and cast it in the charity bin. While it’s not brilliant, it was a fun, enjoyable read.
August 31, 2018
An atypical but hugely entertaining mystery from Carr/Dickson. Full review soon at classicmystery.blog
December 25, 2017
While Agatha Christie is widely acknowledged as the best of the so-called Golden Age of mystery writers in terms of plotting, just a step behind is John Dickson Carr, whose expertise in "locked room" mysteries outdoes even Christie's. However, even the best have their off days, or, in this case, off books, Carr's And So to Murder, written under his pen name of Carter Dickson, has all the weaknesses prevalent in Carr's writing, a mystery that is sub-par by his standards, and a setting that was probably far more intriguing to readers in 1940, when the book was first published, than for those of today.
The detective in the Dickson novels is Sir Henry Merrivale, an eccentric MP (member of Parliament) somewhat reminiscent of Rumpole of the Bailey (although the Merrivale novels predated Rumpole’s first appearance by decades). However, in And So to Murder. Merrivale doesn’t appear until the midway point in the book. Before that, the story revolves around intrigue on a movie set, where Monica Stanton, the young author of a best-selling romance novel, has been hired as a screenwriter. But, as soon as she arrives on set, she finds herself the target of a would-be assassin, who first tries to dump some deadly acid on her and then fires a shot at her. Monica’s new boyfriend, William Cartwright, another writer working on a script at the studio, goes to Merrivale, who is working with the War Department, for help.
And So to Murder will be a disappointment for fans of Carr’s intricate mysteries. Despite some close calls, no one gets hurt until fairly late in the book, and the explanation behind the crimes is rather mundane. Indeed, there’s a paucity of real suspects, since most of the crimes occur in settings where only a handful of people were present, thus making it easier to guess the culprit. I’ve often had to go back after the explanation of the crime in one of Carr’s novels to see how I was misled and how the actual crime occurred. There’s no similar feeling of dazzlement at the end of And So to Murder.
While Carr’s usual meticulous plotting is somewhat on the thin side in this book, his other annoying mechanisms remain in full force. He uses overly florid language, creating overblown melodramatic situations, such as the romance between Monica and William here. It’s the old first-they-hate-each-other-then-they-love-each-other routine, with the primary suspense involving whether William will shave his beard, because Monica prefers clean-shaven men. In addition, Carr has the annoying habit of not allowing characters to finish sentences that could reveal key plot points by having someone interrupt them, with the result being they never go back to their original train of thought. That’s supposed to build suspense, but using it multiple times in a short book is frustrating.
I’m guessing that the main attraction of And So to Murder for readers in the 1940’s was its look behind the scenes at a film studio. That may have been like describing the lunar surface to readers of that era, but today’s readers probably know far more than what Carr reveals. The only bit of interesting studio byplay, and the funniest storyline in the book by far, is an ongoing series of conversations between two studio executives as they discuss how they need to alter the events at the Battle of Waterloo to accommodate viewers’ tastes and the actors who had been cast in the lead roles. Those sections, which, of course, have nothing to do with the actual mystery, are preposterous and often rather funny.
I’ve read over a dozen of Carr’s books, but And So to Murder is the first that I can’t give even a mild recommendation to. The mystery is mediocre at best, the romance is ridiculous, and much of the rest is uninteresting filler. Even those who enjoy Henry Merrivale’s eccentricities will feel slighted since he only makes a rather brief appearance (which still allows him to explain the crimes).
The detective in the Dickson novels is Sir Henry Merrivale, an eccentric MP (member of Parliament) somewhat reminiscent of Rumpole of the Bailey (although the Merrivale novels predated Rumpole’s first appearance by decades). However, in And So to Murder. Merrivale doesn’t appear until the midway point in the book. Before that, the story revolves around intrigue on a movie set, where Monica Stanton, the young author of a best-selling romance novel, has been hired as a screenwriter. But, as soon as she arrives on set, she finds herself the target of a would-be assassin, who first tries to dump some deadly acid on her and then fires a shot at her. Monica’s new boyfriend, William Cartwright, another writer working on a script at the studio, goes to Merrivale, who is working with the War Department, for help.
And So to Murder will be a disappointment for fans of Carr’s intricate mysteries. Despite some close calls, no one gets hurt until fairly late in the book, and the explanation behind the crimes is rather mundane. Indeed, there’s a paucity of real suspects, since most of the crimes occur in settings where only a handful of people were present, thus making it easier to guess the culprit. I’ve often had to go back after the explanation of the crime in one of Carr’s novels to see how I was misled and how the actual crime occurred. There’s no similar feeling of dazzlement at the end of And So to Murder.
While Carr’s usual meticulous plotting is somewhat on the thin side in this book, his other annoying mechanisms remain in full force. He uses overly florid language, creating overblown melodramatic situations, such as the romance between Monica and William here. It’s the old first-they-hate-each-other-then-they-love-each-other routine, with the primary suspense involving whether William will shave his beard, because Monica prefers clean-shaven men. In addition, Carr has the annoying habit of not allowing characters to finish sentences that could reveal key plot points by having someone interrupt them, with the result being they never go back to their original train of thought. That’s supposed to build suspense, but using it multiple times in a short book is frustrating.
I’m guessing that the main attraction of And So to Murder for readers in the 1940’s was its look behind the scenes at a film studio. That may have been like describing the lunar surface to readers of that era, but today’s readers probably know far more than what Carr reveals. The only bit of interesting studio byplay, and the funniest storyline in the book by far, is an ongoing series of conversations between two studio executives as they discuss how they need to alter the events at the Battle of Waterloo to accommodate viewers’ tastes and the actors who had been cast in the lead roles. Those sections, which, of course, have nothing to do with the actual mystery, are preposterous and often rather funny.
I’ve read over a dozen of Carr’s books, but And So to Murder is the first that I can’t give even a mild recommendation to. The mystery is mediocre at best, the romance is ridiculous, and much of the rest is uninteresting filler. Even those who enjoy Henry Merrivale’s eccentricities will feel slighted since he only makes a rather brief appearance (which still allows him to explain the crimes).
August 30, 2018
One wouldn’t call And so, to Murder a “locked room mystery” in the tradition of its author, John Dickson Carr (writing as Carter Dickson). And, even though it takes place in an English film studio, one couldn’t even call it a “closed set mystery.” And so, to Murder would make a great romantic comedy. Monica Stanton is an apparently mild-mannered daughter of a country cleric who expresses her frustration by writing a racy romance novel. It is successful enough to be made into a feature film. So, when she is invited to write a screenplay adapting a novel for the film studio which optioned her material, she has the mistaken assumption that she is going to adapt her own novel for the screen. But with a mocking interpretation of somewhat bizarre film industry logic, her expectation is shattered. I won’t spoil it by telling exactly what happened or how it might point to a motive for murder.
And so, to Murder is not only the title of this novel; it is the title of a mystery novel within the plot and the film being made from it. The author of said mystery is described as having a beard which certain female characters find repugnant. In addition to the beard on mystery author William Cartwright’s face, another character is something of a “beard” for another character. You can discover that for yourself, but I liked the way Carr described the literal (as opposed to the figurative) beard. “Hitherto that beard had been his defense in encounters; he had marched, so to speak, behind brush, like Macduff against Dunsinane.” (p. 85)
Strange events and a significant number of red herrings stalk the current film in production and the writers’ offices, where much of the dialogue and action takes place. Indeed, there are even places where pot elements in the And so, to Murder of the fiction almost comes to fruition in the novel we are currently considering (And so, to Murder, in case that was confusing). And if you think that is confusing, the motivation to do in one of the writers is considerably convoluted.
There is also an engaging peripheral comedy routine that takes place for comedy relief at several points in the novel. A producer keeps trying to get the director to punch things up. He feels it would be more dramatic to have Wellington die within the moment of victory at Waterloo. Told that Wellington didn’t die until 1852, the producer admits to having confused the military leader with Lord Nelson, he decides that Wellington’s troops (and presumably the film audience) will only think he’s dying. He miraculously has his life saved by an American surgeon (American in order to have the film play in Peoria) and reminisces about his near-death experience (pp. 72-73). These comic discussions somewhat frame the absurdity within the movie lot like Mr. Nickles and Mr. Zeuss frame the verse play, J.B. (a retelling of the Book of Job in American poetry).
And so, to Murder is one of those perfectly engaging, but lightweight, adventures one needs after reading a somewhat “heavy” book (and I was juggling several of those as I took a break and read this one). To some degree, Carr is an acquired taste, but to anyone who has acquired that taste, this one offers a different pace than one might have come to expect.
And so, to Murder is not only the title of this novel; it is the title of a mystery novel within the plot and the film being made from it. The author of said mystery is described as having a beard which certain female characters find repugnant. In addition to the beard on mystery author William Cartwright’s face, another character is something of a “beard” for another character. You can discover that for yourself, but I liked the way Carr described the literal (as opposed to the figurative) beard. “Hitherto that beard had been his defense in encounters; he had marched, so to speak, behind brush, like Macduff against Dunsinane.” (p. 85)
Strange events and a significant number of red herrings stalk the current film in production and the writers’ offices, where much of the dialogue and action takes place. Indeed, there are even places where pot elements in the And so, to Murder of the fiction almost comes to fruition in the novel we are currently considering (And so, to Murder, in case that was confusing). And if you think that is confusing, the motivation to do in one of the writers is considerably convoluted.
There is also an engaging peripheral comedy routine that takes place for comedy relief at several points in the novel. A producer keeps trying to get the director to punch things up. He feels it would be more dramatic to have Wellington die within the moment of victory at Waterloo. Told that Wellington didn’t die until 1852, the producer admits to having confused the military leader with Lord Nelson, he decides that Wellington’s troops (and presumably the film audience) will only think he’s dying. He miraculously has his life saved by an American surgeon (American in order to have the film play in Peoria) and reminisces about his near-death experience (pp. 72-73). These comic discussions somewhat frame the absurdity within the movie lot like Mr. Nickles and Mr. Zeuss frame the verse play, J.B. (a retelling of the Book of Job in American poetry).
And so, to Murder is one of those perfectly engaging, but lightweight, adventures one needs after reading a somewhat “heavy” book (and I was juggling several of those as I took a break and read this one). To some degree, Carr is an acquired taste, but to anyone who has acquired that taste, this one offers a different pace than one might have come to expect.
July 29, 2015
One particularly successful aspect of this wonderfully complex mystery is the denouement, which in most mysteries is all too often the detective's dramatically dormant lecture explaining with far too much redundancy and laboring over details. Contrastingly, the denouement in And So to Murder is a spirited dialogue, sometimes an argument, between Sir Henry Merrivale and the other characters (including the culprit), who make him work hard to establish the plausibility of his explanation.
April 13, 2023
Monica Stanton, sheltered vicar's daughter, goes off and writes a bombshell bodice-ripper that sells like hotcakes. Before she knows it, she's asked by a film company to come and write up scripts--she thinks she'll be doing the screenplay for her own book Desire, but discovers that there is more to film-making than meets the eye. Authors don't do screenplays for their own books, oh no. So, she'll be putting together a lovely little mystery screenplay for William Cartwright's mystery-thriller, And So to Murder, and Cartwright will be adapting her book for film. She doesn't know the first thing about writing screenplays and she definitely doesn't know about writing screenplays for mysteries--but she's not going to pass up an opportunity to work in films for anything.
But then someone takes a dislike to Miss Monica Stanton. She's nearly blinded by a bottleful of vitriol dumped down a speaking tube. She misses being shot by a hairsbreadth. And her unfortunate fellow screenwriter, Miss Tilly Parsons, is poisoned by cigarette laced with belladonna that was apparently meant for Monica. But Monica doesn't know any of these people. Nasty anonymous notes make it pretty clear that she's the target, but why on earth would someone be out to kill her? Don't worry, Sir Henry Merrivale will find out what's going on and point out the villain of the piece.
So...the title is a lie. There is no murder. Attempted murder? Yes. But no murder. This is the first Dickson/Carr novel I've read where there is no impossible murder to solve. A somewhat impossible attempt at murder--there seems, on the surface, to have been no opportunity for anyone to have doctored the near-fatal cigarette at the end--but the Old Man readily explains how that happened. But, despite there being no murder--and only one death by natural causes mentioned at the very beginning--this is a delightful mystery. The action is brisk and the dialogue sparkles. Dickson/Carr pulls out his standard "boy meets girl, the two despise each other at first sight but later are madly in love" trick, but in this story, it works! For one thing, (unlike my previous read) he allows us to see the two characters actually recognize and acknowledge what's happening. There's a progression towards romance that just didn't happen in Nine--And Death Makes Ten. Dickson/Carr also plays a fine game of misdirection in the middle section that completely fooled me and made me keep my eye on the wrong person.
I, like William Cartwright, do have a problem with one bit (the same bit, actually)--I still don't think the disappearance of the valuable sections of film is properly explained. Who did it and why was it spliced into the other bit of film? Oh--and just out of curiosity (for those who have read this)--did I miss the scene with the ax? I can't for the life of me figure out what that ax is doing on the cover of my Dell Mapback. It's a nice cover and all, but I don't remember an ax being mentioned anywhere. But, overall, a great, fast-moving read.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.
But then someone takes a dislike to Miss Monica Stanton. She's nearly blinded by a bottleful of vitriol dumped down a speaking tube. She misses being shot by a hairsbreadth. And her unfortunate fellow screenwriter, Miss Tilly Parsons, is poisoned by cigarette laced with belladonna that was apparently meant for Monica. But Monica doesn't know any of these people. Nasty anonymous notes make it pretty clear that she's the target, but why on earth would someone be out to kill her? Don't worry, Sir Henry Merrivale will find out what's going on and point out the villain of the piece.
So...the title is a lie. There is no murder. Attempted murder? Yes. But no murder. This is the first Dickson/Carr novel I've read where there is no impossible murder to solve. A somewhat impossible attempt at murder--there seems, on the surface, to have been no opportunity for anyone to have doctored the near-fatal cigarette at the end--but the Old Man readily explains how that happened. But, despite there being no murder--and only one death by natural causes mentioned at the very beginning--this is a delightful mystery. The action is brisk and the dialogue sparkles. Dickson/Carr pulls out his standard "boy meets girl, the two despise each other at first sight but later are madly in love" trick, but in this story, it works! For one thing, (unlike my previous read) he allows us to see the two characters actually recognize and acknowledge what's happening. There's a progression towards romance that just didn't happen in Nine--And Death Makes Ten. Dickson/Carr also plays a fine game of misdirection in the middle section that completely fooled me and made me keep my eye on the wrong person.
I, like William Cartwright, do have a problem with one bit (the same bit, actually)--I still don't think the disappearance of the valuable sections of film is properly explained. Who did it and why was it spliced into the other bit of film? Oh--and just out of curiosity (for those who have read this)--did I miss the scene with the ax? I can't for the life of me figure out what that ax is doing on the cover of my Dell Mapback. It's a nice cover and all, but I don't remember an ax being mentioned anywhere. But, overall, a great, fast-moving read.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 28, 2013
I almost gave this three stars, as I liked it but there again I have given many better books three stars. It is very readable and the charcaters quite striking, the plot (fairly)plausible. Successful young writer Monika Stanton is invited to the famous studios of Albion Films to write the film script, not as it turns out of her novel, as she had expected, but of the whuddunit of a (horrors!) bearded man whom she detests before she even sees. A real life detective mystery develops as someone at the studios for an inexplicable reason seems to be set on destroying Monika or driving her away from the beginning of a promising career. Whom can she trust? This is an engorssing enough read, but like so much of the time in which it was written (the 1950's) is enthused with a heartiness I personally find irritating. However, it is a pleant enough way of passing the time on a long train journey or in the doctor's waiting room with enough suspense to kill unwanted time but with no unsettling profundity threatening to interfere with the normal course of one's life or cause sleepless nights.
February 24, 2013
An interesting mystery set during wartime and involving a movie studio. The detective here, Sir Henry Merrivale, actually appears very little in the story. In fact, he doesn't show up at all until halfway through the book, and then at the end to solve the crime. Our main characters instead are two writers, one who writes mysteries and one who has written a faintly scandalous romance. Monica Stanton and Bill Cartwright are hired to work on movie scripts, and someone on the set seems bent on killing Monica. There's some fun here as Carr pokes fun at moviemaking but he seems genuinely fond of the characters he's created...so much so that he doesn't even kill any of them off! So it's definitely not a murder mystery, but a who-would-the-killer-have-been mystery!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 17, 2020
As England stands on the brink of World War II, young Monica Stanton writes a scandalous novel that gets her a job as a scriptwriter in a film studio. Unfortunately someone in the studio seems to want to kill Monica, although she hasn't met any of the staff before, and seems totally outside any of the internal politics. Dickson (aka John Dickson Carr) includes only a few scenes with his series character Sir Henry Merrivale, irascible head of Military Intelligence, who appears only to solve the crime.
July 22, 2019
Major characters:
Monica Stanton, author and now script writer
Thomas Hackett, producer
Howard Fisk, director
Bill Cartwright, script writer and investigator
Frances Fleur, actress
Kurt Gagern, Frances Fleur's husband, assistant director, a.k.a. Joe Collins
Tilly Parsons, script writer
H.M., Sir Henry Merrivale
Locale: outside London
Synopsis: Monica Stanton, daughter of a parson, has written a spicy book, Desire, which has become a best seller, and is now being made into a movie. She is hired by producer Thomas Hackett, assuming it is to work on the movie version. To her surprise, she is not assigned to write her own script, but instead a detective story by Bill Cartwright; who will, in turn, write her script.
She meets her idol Frances Fleur who will star in Desire. Everyone is on edge following a theft of acid, and its accidental spillage on a set. Then Monica is summoned to a deserted set where an attempt is made on her life using more acid; thwarted at the last moment by Bill Cartwright. Monica receives threatening letters as the pressure mounts. Who wants to kill her, and why?
Review: This is what you would get if Manning Coles wrote Sunset Boulevard. It is a slam-bang thriller (not a murder mystery, despite the title) featuring H.M., Sir Henry Merrivale. It begins with the young girl-next-door getting a job as a script writer at an exciting film studio and falling in love with another writer, our leading man. Then the mayhem begins: poisons, shootings, windows breaking, people thrown into the lake. Most of the legwork is done by our leading man Bill Cartwright, and he manages to pull H.M. in, unwillingly, toward the end. Unlike most of Carr/Dicksons, this one has no locked rooms; just a string of unsuccessful murder attempts. The descriptions of the studio workings are well done. An enjoyable page turner.
Monica Stanton, author and now script writer
Thomas Hackett, producer
Howard Fisk, director
Bill Cartwright, script writer and investigator
Frances Fleur, actress
Kurt Gagern, Frances Fleur's husband, assistant director, a.k.a. Joe Collins
Tilly Parsons, script writer
H.M., Sir Henry Merrivale
Locale: outside London
Synopsis: Monica Stanton, daughter of a parson, has written a spicy book, Desire, which has become a best seller, and is now being made into a movie. She is hired by producer Thomas Hackett, assuming it is to work on the movie version. To her surprise, she is not assigned to write her own script, but instead a detective story by Bill Cartwright; who will, in turn, write her script.
She meets her idol Frances Fleur who will star in Desire. Everyone is on edge following a theft of acid, and its accidental spillage on a set. Then Monica is summoned to a deserted set where an attempt is made on her life using more acid; thwarted at the last moment by Bill Cartwright. Monica receives threatening letters as the pressure mounts. Who wants to kill her, and why?
Review: This is what you would get if Manning Coles wrote Sunset Boulevard. It is a slam-bang thriller (not a murder mystery, despite the title) featuring H.M., Sir Henry Merrivale. It begins with the young girl-next-door getting a job as a script writer at an exciting film studio and falling in love with another writer, our leading man. Then the mayhem begins: poisons, shootings, windows breaking, people thrown into the lake. Most of the legwork is done by our leading man Bill Cartwright, and he manages to pull H.M. in, unwillingly, toward the end. Unlike most of Carr/Dicksons, this one has no locked rooms; just a string of unsuccessful murder attempts. The descriptions of the studio workings are well done. An enjoyable page turner.
January 27, 2018
A perfectly satisfying outing for Sir Henry Merrivale set at the opening of the Second World War, And So to Murder revolves around young Monica Stanton, who has unexpectedly penned a salacious best-seller called Desire, and on the strength of it is invited to Pineham Studios, the film-making outfit, to work as a screenwriter on its adaptation for the cinema. On her arrival at the studio, she meets Bill Cartwright, a detective novelist and script writer, to whom she takes an immediate dislike. However, what would be a mere play about a love-hate relationship in the workplace quickly devolves into something much more serious when it becomes apparent that someone is trying to kill Monica.
What follows is a Dickson (really, of course, John Dickson Carr) tale at its swiftest and best, mixing the pre-war fears of Nazi spies with cold, practical motives and means for and of murder. I'm not sure why this is one of the less-common of the Merrivale tales, but the fact is disappointing, as the book is a corker. Find and copy and read it if you like this sort of thing, as it will be a pleasant way to while away a rainy Sunday afternoon, spending it in the eternal sunshine which came before the darkness of war.
What follows is a Dickson (really, of course, John Dickson Carr) tale at its swiftest and best, mixing the pre-war fears of Nazi spies with cold, practical motives and means for and of murder. I'm not sure why this is one of the less-common of the Merrivale tales, but the fact is disappointing, as the book is a corker. Find and copy and read it if you like this sort of thing, as it will be a pleasant way to while away a rainy Sunday afternoon, spending it in the eternal sunshine which came before the darkness of war.
November 28, 2022
An innocent young woman — the daughter of a village vicar no less — somehow writes a sensational streamy romance story, to the horror of her spinster aunt. But instead of being shamed, Monica Stanton finds herself hired by a movie studio. She thinks she is there to write the screenplay of her book, but she's not, she is there to write the screenplay for a mystery, whose author, William Cartwright, has been charged to write her book's screenplay.
That may be confusing enough but you'd be wrong. Because Britain is soon involved in World War II and there appears to be at least a saboteur, perhaps a murderer, in the studio. And it looks like Monica may be the human target.
Cartwright, no slouch at writing detective fiction contacts one of the men who has helped him with his work and that leads to Sir Henry Merrivale of the War Office. It is up to the old man to get to the heart of what is happening and, with king and country involved, as well as the people working at the studio, find the solution.
This is a fun, entertaining and crafty story with twists, romance and dark good dialogue. Its a delight to read, another clever tale from acclaimed author John Dickson Carr, writing under the pen name Carter Dickson.
That may be confusing enough but you'd be wrong. Because Britain is soon involved in World War II and there appears to be at least a saboteur, perhaps a murderer, in the studio. And it looks like Monica may be the human target.
Cartwright, no slouch at writing detective fiction contacts one of the men who has helped him with his work and that leads to Sir Henry Merrivale of the War Office. It is up to the old man to get to the heart of what is happening and, with king and country involved, as well as the people working at the studio, find the solution.
This is a fun, entertaining and crafty story with twists, romance and dark good dialogue. Its a delight to read, another clever tale from acclaimed author John Dickson Carr, writing under the pen name Carter Dickson.
July 13, 2021
I didn't pick up a book by John Dickson Carr for a very long time, so I had a really enjoyable time reacquainting myself with his great sarcasm, his somewhat wacky character developments, and, of course, Sir Henry Merrivale. This story did not feel as great as the ones I read before (or maybe the distance of more than twenty years made it feel so), but it was still an engrossing read. We got his usual - or rather- unexpected explanation of what really happened, the usual twist on how it was done, and last, but not least, the pair of lovers that started out by really despising one another over some silly trivialities. The Monica Stanton's arc was well done, and the rumblings of Mr. Aaronson about his truly kooky ideas about the movie dedicated to the Battle of Waterloo made for a fantastic comic relief (and, by the way, nothing changed since then; just gotten even more outlandish and plain stupid). At the end of the book I personally still felt bad for Tilly - I think she was the only character that ended up with a pretty raw deal; but, overall, it was a great book to read over a few weekends.
February 7, 2025
Not one of Carr's best in terms of what one might want to expect of him, mostly because it really seems more like a 1930s film script (which is perhaps appropriate since it takes place in a 1930s film studio.) Nonetheless, I think it is only fair to let an author play around with his/her genre a bit. (We love his locked room puzzles, yes, but he doesn't always have to write that kind of story.) As far as criticisms by others here, I happen to enjoy Carr's so-called "florid" style and consider him a far better mystery writer than Agatha Christie. It took about three Christie novels and then I understood her formula for choosing a murderer and all the rest were boring. With Carr, I am always guessing. Even in this one with all its silly rom-com trappings I was still guessing who the "bad guy" was. We know how the culprit commits the preponderance of the crime (although there are still wrinkles that make the crime seem impossible). Ultimately the novel is actually more of a Hollywood style whodunnit a la Christie, b ut it is fun and doesn't tend to take itself too seriously, and neither should the reader.
January 26, 2020
Monica Stanton is hired by the Albion Film studios to write a film script. This is the realization of all her dreams... except that the script she's supposed to be writing is based on a mystery novel written by Bill Cartwright, while Bill is toiling away at a script based on Monica's romantic novel. Confused by the topsy turvy world of filmmaking, Monica is lured to a lonely film set where she a barely escapes a threat on her life. Later additional attempts are made. But why would anyone want to murder her? Sir Henry Merrivale gets interested only when it turns out that some precious film footage shot in a military harbor has gone missing. He does not want that to end up in Hitler's hands, and so he grudgingly interests himself in the goings-on at Albion Films. The solution to the mystery of who wanted Monica Stanton dead is complicated and ingenious - a real puzzler.
December 29, 2025
Well, Dickson Carr must have deserved his reputation somehow; one commonly hears it's the excellence of his locked-room mysteries. I'll read some more and see if I like other works by him. Being a fan of truly mesmerising GAD authors like Freeman Wills Crofts, Francis Iles (aka Anthony Berkeley Cox), Ernest Bramah, E.C.R. Lorac, I could go on and on, this opus, "And So to Murder," falls very short indeed.
The characters have zero intelligence and appeal, and function as if anesthetised, i.e., fail to take direct logical action to solve the various mishaps occurring around a 1930s movie set. There's much filler and padding, some of it intended as humour. If it strikes your funnybone, so much the better, then there's a compensation to you for reading about all the unsatisfying plot elements
The characters have zero intelligence and appeal, and function as if anesthetised, i.e., fail to take direct logical action to solve the various mishaps occurring around a 1930s movie set. There's much filler and padding, some of it intended as humour. If it strikes your funnybone, so much the better, then there's a compensation to you for reading about all the unsatisfying plot elements
April 6, 2021
3.5* rounded up...
This 10th book in the Sir Henry Merivale series, written by Carr under the pseudonym Carter Dickson, involves a case at the Pineham film studio lots just as England is about to enter WW2. It is much more of a romantic suspense than I had expected, which was OK by me since I like romantic suspense!
Merivale himself doesn't appear until near the end and for a while I was wondering if this book was a stand-alone.
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Note: my Kindle edition is from The Langtail Press, 2010
This 10th book in the Sir Henry Merivale series, written by Carr under the pseudonym Carter Dickson, involves a case at the Pineham film studio lots just as England is about to enter WW2. It is much more of a romantic suspense than I had expected, which was OK by me since I like romantic suspense!
Merivale himself doesn't appear until near the end and for a while I was wondering if this book was a stand-alone.
--------------
Note: my Kindle edition is from The Langtail Press, 2010
August 12, 2021
A very enjoyable Merrivale mystery set in a film studio at the outbreak of WWII. Someone seems intent on doing serious harm to Monica Stanton, a clergyman's daughter who has written a racy bestseller and is now engaged as a scriptwriter.
The story involves attacks with acid, gunfire and poison, but it's not at all a grim affair and is seasoned liberally with the author's humor.
One could say the mystery is somewhat slight and that Merrivale is absent for much of the time yet the atmosphere is strong and the writing compelling and pacy. Most enjoyable.
The story involves attacks with acid, gunfire and poison, but it's not at all a grim affair and is seasoned liberally with the author's humor.
One could say the mystery is somewhat slight and that Merrivale is absent for much of the time yet the atmosphere is strong and the writing compelling and pacy. Most enjoyable.
March 26, 2025
This is a fun mystery that I really enjoyed. Some of the underlying plot setup is so ridiculous that it would never have occurred in real life, EXCEPT Carr effectively dismisses these complaints by really leaning into the absurdity that is show business.
I think it really benefits from how little Sir Henry Merrivale actually appears in the story. By focusing on the efforts of our fictional mystery writer it allows Carr to give us some clues and red-herrings that readers would expect Merrivale to pick up, but we can forgive other investigators for missing.
I think it really benefits from how little Sir Henry Merrivale actually appears in the story. By focusing on the efforts of our fictional mystery writer it allows Carr to give us some clues and red-herrings that readers would expect Merrivale to pick up, but we can forgive other investigators for missing.
January 1, 2021
Maybe no great shakes as a mystery, but a triumph of style and setting. The tone is breezy and droll yet laced with dread, the romance is unusually central, and the time and place – an English film studio at the outbreak of WWII – are fascinating. All in all, a jolly time.
February 9, 2020
Very enjoyable, quite immersive.
July 23, 2020
No es de los mejores libros de Carter Dickson, peor como es acostumbrado la solución es lógica e imprevista
February 11, 2021
A clever plot, but somehow unconvincing. Some amusing and interesting characters. Liked the depiction of a mid 20c, pre-digital era, British film studio but wonder how realistic that was too.
June 10, 2021
Almost Agatha Christiesque in setting and just as tightly plotted, this is a brilliant read.
March 10, 2022
Quite entertaining, but lacking a crime, the payoff is rather an anti-climax. For completists and big HM fans only.
August 28, 2024
4/5 stars!
Read my review here:
https://goldenageofdetectivefiction.c...
Read my review here:
https://goldenageofdetectivefiction.c...
December 7, 2024
Enjoyable. I did not see the twist at the end coming.
December 4, 2025
I giggled quite a bit, but the story itself was just meh...
December 25, 2017
While Agatha Christie is widely acknowledged as the best of the so-called Golden Age of mystery writers in terms of plotting, just a step behind is John Dickson Carr, whose expertise in "locked room" mysteries outdoes even Christie's. However, even the best have their off days, or, in this case, off books, Carr's And So to Murder, written under his pen name of Carter Dickson, has all the weaknesses prevalent in Carr's writing, a mystery that is sub-par by his standards, and a setting that was probably far more intriguing to readers in 1940, when the book was first published, than for those of today.
The detective in the Dickson novels is Sir Henry Merrivale, an eccentric MP (member of Parliament) somewhat reminiscent of Rumpole of the Bailey (although the Merrivale novels predated Rumpole’s first appearance by decades). However, in And So to Murder. Merrivale doesn’t appear until the midway point in the book. Before that, the story revolves around intrigue on a movie set, where Monica Stanton, the young author of a best-selling romance novel, has been hired as a screenwriter. But, as soon as she arrives on set, she finds herself the target of a would-be assassin, who first tries to dump some deadly acid on her and then fires a shot at her. Monica’s new boyfriend, William Cartwright, another writer working on a script at the studio, goes to Merrivale, who is working with the War Department, for help.
And So to Murder will be a disappointment for fans of Carr’s intricate mysteries. Despite some close calls, no one gets hurt until fairly late in the book, and the explanation behind the crimes is rather mundane. Indeed, there’s a paucity of real suspects, since most of the crimes occur in settings where only a handful of people were present, thus making it easier to guess the culprit. I’ve often had to go back after the explanation of the crime in one of Carr’s novels to see how I was misled and how the actual crime occurred. There’s no similar feeling of dazzlement at the end of And So to Murder.
While Carr’s usual meticulous plotting is somewhat on the thin side in this book, his other annoying mechanisms remain in full force. He uses overly florid language, creating overblown melodramatic situations, such as the romance between Monica and William here. It’s the old first-they-hate-each-other-then-they-love-each-other routine, with the primary suspense involving whether William will shave his beard, because Monica prefers clean-shaven men. In addition, Carr has the annoying habit of not allowing characters to finish sentences that could reveal key plot points by having someone interrupt them, with the result being they never go back to their original train of thought. That’s supposed to build suspense, but using it multiple times in a short book is frustrating.
I’m guessing that the main attraction of And So to Murder for readers in the 1940’s was its look behind the scenes at a film studio. That may have been like describing the lunar surface to readers of that era, but today’s readers probably know far more than what Carr reveals. The only bit of interesting studio byplay, and the funniest storyline in the book by far, is an ongoing series of conversations between two studio executives as they discuss how they need to alter the events at the Battle of Waterloo to accommodate viewers’ tastes and the actors who had been cast in the lead roles. Those sections, which, of course, have nothing to do with the actual mystery, are preposterous and often rather funny.
I’ve read over a dozen of Carr’s books, but And So to Murder is the first that I can’t give even a mild recommendation to. The mystery is mediocre at best, the romance is ridiculous, and much of the rest is uninteresting filler. Even those who enjoy Henry Merrivale’s eccentricities will feel slighted since he only makes a rather brief appearance (which still allows him to explain the crimes).
The detective in the Dickson novels is Sir Henry Merrivale, an eccentric MP (member of Parliament) somewhat reminiscent of Rumpole of the Bailey (although the Merrivale novels predated Rumpole’s first appearance by decades). However, in And So to Murder. Merrivale doesn’t appear until the midway point in the book. Before that, the story revolves around intrigue on a movie set, where Monica Stanton, the young author of a best-selling romance novel, has been hired as a screenwriter. But, as soon as she arrives on set, she finds herself the target of a would-be assassin, who first tries to dump some deadly acid on her and then fires a shot at her. Monica’s new boyfriend, William Cartwright, another writer working on a script at the studio, goes to Merrivale, who is working with the War Department, for help.
And So to Murder will be a disappointment for fans of Carr’s intricate mysteries. Despite some close calls, no one gets hurt until fairly late in the book, and the explanation behind the crimes is rather mundane. Indeed, there’s a paucity of real suspects, since most of the crimes occur in settings where only a handful of people were present, thus making it easier to guess the culprit. I’ve often had to go back after the explanation of the crime in one of Carr’s novels to see how I was misled and how the actual crime occurred. There’s no similar feeling of dazzlement at the end of And So to Murder.
While Carr’s usual meticulous plotting is somewhat on the thin side in this book, his other annoying mechanisms remain in full force. He uses overly florid language, creating overblown melodramatic situations, such as the romance between Monica and William here. It’s the old first-they-hate-each-other-then-they-love-each-other routine, with the primary suspense involving whether William will shave his beard, because Monica prefers clean-shaven men. In addition, Carr has the annoying habit of not allowing characters to finish sentences that could reveal key plot points by having someone interrupt them, with the result being they never go back to their original train of thought. That’s supposed to build suspense, but using it multiple times in a short book is frustrating.
I’m guessing that the main attraction of And So to Murder for readers in the 1940’s was its look behind the scenes at a film studio. That may have been like describing the lunar surface to readers of that era, but today’s readers probably know far more than what Carr reveals. The only bit of interesting studio byplay, and the funniest storyline in the book by far, is an ongoing series of conversations between two studio executives as they discuss how they need to alter the events at the Battle of Waterloo to accommodate viewers’ tastes and the actors who had been cast in the lead roles. Those sections, which, of course, have nothing to do with the actual mystery, are preposterous and often rather funny.
I’ve read over a dozen of Carr’s books, but And So to Murder is the first that I can’t give even a mild recommendation to. The mystery is mediocre at best, the romance is ridiculous, and much of the rest is uninteresting filler. Even those who enjoy Henry Merrivale’s eccentricities will feel slighted since he only makes a rather brief appearance (which still allows him to explain the crimes).
January 21, 2024
FIRST READING 8/3/15*: 3 Stars
If I’d rated this book 4/5ths in it would earn 5 stars. It had everything I like in a Carr: interesting premise, snappy dialogue, and colorful characters, plus a B-Movie studio setting which opened up the possibility for some meta commentary about B-potboilers. On top of that, I even thought Carr might take the opportunity to air out some of his personal frustrations with the film industry. But the story screeches to a halt. HM enters and takes a quarter of the time it took for everything to happen to explain everything that happened. Great start, poor ending.
SECOND READING 1/21/24: 4 Stars
How fitting that Carr’s studio-set novel reads like a novelization of a screwballish, melodramatic crime film. In a good way. In fact, I wish the B-mystery movies from the early 1940s were as good as this (although I do like them still.) Tis a damn shame Hollywood never took a shine to Carr. The romance here is especially very 1940 noir: hate, love, hate, love, slap! And Tilly, the washed up platinum blonde American writer is a silver screen hoot, smokin’ and drinkin’ and crackin’ wise, see?
Apropos of nothing much: if you ever hear a horror fan lament that there aren’t any good slasher novels, point them to JDC. Some of his mysteries are proto-slashers. Whodunnits and slashers, of course, are non-identical twins: one twin got more of mommy’s horror than pappy’s mystery is all. Carr’s just missing the higher body count. Speaking of which, where the fook are the bloody dead bodies, Monsieur Carr/Dickson? Myself, I prefer 2-3 corpses per novel. I’ll settle for one, if needs must. But anything less than that is daylight robbery. Hey, where’s my wallet? Oh, Carr!
I’d assumed the movie studio angle had done a lot of the heavy lifting in keeping this one in my memory banks, but I’m happy to say it holds up well. Maybe it was the adrenaline of the beginnings of war, I don’t know, but this is a pretty peppy book and the whole thing just flies by. As much as I love the more atmospheric and gorey Carrs, he’s pretty good at froth and fun, too. Yadda yadda yadda, highly enjoyable read.
Random thoughts:
1. HM really doesn’t play fair with the reader, or the lead characters.
2. Like many golden age detective mysteries, the “star” detective barely makes more than a cameo appearance until the finale. But it’s definitely his show from then on, so I can’t say this is one of those mysteries where the author simply stapled a star character onto the ending for whatever reason.
3. Carr must have read very “now” back then because he sure uses a lot of slang and contemporary references. Some are easy to figure while others defy, in the 21st century, definition. Case in point: “boz-yew.” Huh?
4. I love paperbacks. My 1988 Zebra is a lot of fun to read. The size is perfect and the contrast between page and ink is easy on the eyes. My Dell mapback, though, is a Dell mapback. I love the back cover, of course, even if it isn’t vital to the plot. The old edges are a little cracked and the pages too yellow to read for too long, though. But it does have chapter titles. And I love chapter titles. Maybe the first edition didn’t have them either and they were invented by Dell, I don’t know, but they aren’t in the Zebra in any case.
*NOTE TO SELF:
DATES CONFUSION FOR FIRST READING
3/2/15 (“date added,” maybe the date I marked it as “want to read”)
8/3/15 (marked “finished”)
11/29/19 (according to the date on my review)
Maybe I marked it “want to read” in March 2015, read it in August 2015, and reviewed it in 2019?
If I’d rated this book 4/5ths in it would earn 5 stars. It had everything I like in a Carr: interesting premise, snappy dialogue, and colorful characters, plus a B-Movie studio setting which opened up the possibility for some meta commentary about B-potboilers. On top of that, I even thought Carr might take the opportunity to air out some of his personal frustrations with the film industry. But the story screeches to a halt. HM enters and takes a quarter of the time it took for everything to happen to explain everything that happened. Great start, poor ending.
SECOND READING 1/21/24: 4 Stars
How fitting that Carr’s studio-set novel reads like a novelization of a screwballish, melodramatic crime film. In a good way. In fact, I wish the B-mystery movies from the early 1940s were as good as this (although I do like them still.) Tis a damn shame Hollywood never took a shine to Carr. The romance here is especially very 1940 noir: hate, love, hate, love, slap! And Tilly, the washed up platinum blonde American writer is a silver screen hoot, smokin’ and drinkin’ and crackin’ wise, see?
Apropos of nothing much: if you ever hear a horror fan lament that there aren’t any good slasher novels, point them to JDC. Some of his mysteries are proto-slashers. Whodunnits and slashers, of course, are non-identical twins: one twin got more of mommy’s horror than pappy’s mystery is all. Carr’s just missing the higher body count. Speaking of which, where the fook are the bloody dead bodies, Monsieur Carr/Dickson? Myself, I prefer 2-3 corpses per novel. I’ll settle for one, if needs must. But anything less than that is daylight robbery. Hey, where’s my wallet? Oh, Carr!
I’d assumed the movie studio angle had done a lot of the heavy lifting in keeping this one in my memory banks, but I’m happy to say it holds up well. Maybe it was the adrenaline of the beginnings of war, I don’t know, but this is a pretty peppy book and the whole thing just flies by. As much as I love the more atmospheric and gorey Carrs, he’s pretty good at froth and fun, too. Yadda yadda yadda, highly enjoyable read.
Random thoughts:
1. HM really doesn’t play fair with the reader, or the lead characters.
2. Like many golden age detective mysteries, the “star” detective barely makes more than a cameo appearance until the finale. But it’s definitely his show from then on, so I can’t say this is one of those mysteries where the author simply stapled a star character onto the ending for whatever reason.
3. Carr must have read very “now” back then because he sure uses a lot of slang and contemporary references. Some are easy to figure while others defy, in the 21st century, definition. Case in point: “boz-yew.” Huh?
4. I love paperbacks. My 1988 Zebra is a lot of fun to read. The size is perfect and the contrast between page and ink is easy on the eyes. My Dell mapback, though, is a Dell mapback. I love the back cover, of course, even if it isn’t vital to the plot. The old edges are a little cracked and the pages too yellow to read for too long, though. But it does have chapter titles. And I love chapter titles. Maybe the first edition didn’t have them either and they were invented by Dell, I don’t know, but they aren’t in the Zebra in any case.
*NOTE TO SELF:
DATES CONFUSION FOR FIRST READING
3/2/15 (“date added,” maybe the date I marked it as “want to read”)
8/3/15 (marked “finished”)
11/29/19 (according to the date on my review)
Maybe I marked it “want to read” in March 2015, read it in August 2015, and reviewed it in 2019?
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