Best Selling Books by John Dickson

Is the world better off without Christianity? Combining narrative with keen critique of contemporary debates, author and historian John Dickson gives an honest account of 2,000 years of Christian history that helps us understand what Christianity is and what it''s meant to be. To say that the Christian Church has an "image problem" doesn''t quite capture it. From the Crusades and the Inquisition to the racism and abuse present in today''s Church--both in Catholic and Protestant traditions--the institution that Christ established on earth has a lot to answer for. But the Church has also had moments throughout history when it has been in tune with Jesus'' teachings--from the rise of charity to the invention of hospitals. For defenders of the faith, it''s important to be able to recognize the good and bad in the church''s history and be inspired to live aligned with Christ. For skeptics, this book is a thought-provoking introduction to the idea that Christianity is, despite all, an essential foundation of our civilization. Bullies and Saints will take you on a big-picture journey from the Sermon on the Mount to the modern church: Giving contextual accounts of infamous chapters of Christian history, such as the Crusades, and acknowledging their darkness. Outlining the great movements of the faith and defending its heroes and saints, some of whom are not commonly recognized. Examining the Church beside the teachings and life of Jesus and how it has succeeded in its mission to imitate Christ.

In this mystery by the acclaimed author of To Wake the Dead, an inheritance hangs in the balance in a case of stolen identities, imposters, and murder. Banished from the idyllic English countryside he once called home and en route to live with his cousin in America, Sir John Farnleigh, black sheep of the wealthy Farnleigh clan, nearly perished in the sinking of the Titanic. Though he survived the catastrophe, his ties with his family did not, and he never returned to England—not even for the funerals of his mother, his father, or, most recently, his older brother Dudley. Now, nearly twenty-five years since he was first sent away, Sir John has finally returned home to claim his inheritance. But another “Sir John” soon follows, an unexpected man who insists he has absolute proof of his identity and of his claim to the estate. Before the case can be settled, however, one of the two men is murdered, and Dr. Gideon Fell, who happens to be passing through the village, finds himself facing one of the most challenging cases of his career. To solve it, he’ll have to confront a series of bizarre and chilling phenomena, diving deep into the realm of the occult and brushing up against witchcraft, magic, and a sinister automaton to solve a seemingly impossible crime . . . Selected by a panel of twelve mystery luminaries as one of the ten best locked-room mysteries of all time, The Crooked Hinge is a creepy and atmospheric puzzle inspired by a real-life case. It is the ninth installment in the Dr. Gideon Fell series, which may be read in any order. “Carr . . . is at his best in this creepy and baffling entry in the American Mystery Classics series, originally published in 1938. . . . This is an all-time classic by an author scrupulous about playing fair with his readers. Golden age fans won’t want to miss it.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

Uniquely among the world’s religions, the central claims of Christianity concern not just timeless spiritual truths, but tangible historical events. At the heart of the of the Christian faith are things that are meant to have happened in Palestine between 5 BC and AD 30. It’s as if Christianity happily places its head on the chopping block of public scrutiny and invites anyone who wants to come and take a swing. Some of Christianity’s claims are so spectacular that they provoke a firestorm of questions, scrutiny, debate, and misinformation whenever they are discussed. The popularity of The Da Vinci Code and the frequent airing of TV documentaries delving into the darker uncertainties of Christianity show that such skepticism flourishes in the Western world today. In The Christ Files you will learn how historians know what they know about Jesus. Historian John Dickson embraces the need to examine Christianity’s claims in the light of history, opening readers to a wealth of ancient sources and explaining how mainstream scholars—whether or not they claim Christian faith personally—reach their conclusions. Christianity arrived on the historical scene at a time of great literary activity. While many texts penned by ancient philosophers, historians, poets, and playwrights can reliably inform us about Jesus himself and about the culture in which he lived, others are not so credible. Dickson skillfully highlights both types of sources along with the historical methods used to study Christianity’s claims. He also shows how historians asses the reliability of available data, and provides an honest but informed perspective on where historical issues are clear-cut and where personal faith comes into play. The Christ Files is a must-read for those looking to expand their understanding of early Christianity and the life of Jesus.

The most famous of all locked-room mysteries - a classic in the crime genre. ''The first deadly walking of the hollow man took place when the side streets of London were quiet with snow and the three coffins of the prophecy were filled at last...'' The murderer of Dr Grimauld walked through a locked door, shot his victim and vanished. He killed his second victim in the middle of an empty street, with watchers at each end, yet nobody saw him, and he left no footprints in the snow. And so it is up to the irrepressible, larger-than-life Dr Gideon Fell to solve this most famous and taxing of locked-room mysteries.

To solve a centuries-old crime, a man makes a deal with the devil: “The fantasy, the murder and the historical action are . . . all wonderful” (San Francisco Chronicle). An aging scholar of Restoration history, Nicholas Fenton has long dreamed of traveling into the past. He has a date in mind—May 10, 1675—as well as a purpose: to solve the murder case of the woman he loves, his rakehell ancestor’s lovely wife. Obsessed with delivering her from danger, he turns to an unlikely accomplice: the devil. After striking a bargain with the prince of darkness, Fenton awakens in the seventeenth century in the much-younger body of dashing Sir Nick Fenton. In an era when gentlemen died by the blade, Fenton is handy with a rapier, and his knowledge of local history gives him a leg up on the swashbucklers who would have his hide. But while his sword may help him rescue his beloved, it will take more than that to save his soul. Even in 1675, the devil is in the details.

Famed French detective Monsieur Bencolin comes out of retirement to solve a crime of passion in Golden Age mystery master John Dickson Carr’s sophisticated and surprising novel London lawyer Richard Curtis is sent to Paris by one of the firm’s senior partners to handle a delicate case. Revelations about playboy Ralph Douglas’s former mistress, the stunning redhead Rose Klonec, threaten Douglas’s impending marriage. But upon Curtis’s arrival in Paris, a body is discovered alongside not one but four different murder weapons. To save his client from the gallows, Curtis turns to the brilliant Monsieur Bencolin. Only this suave, devilish detective is ideally suited to unravel a case this strange with so many contradictory clues and passionately motivated suspects. The Four False Weapons is the 5th book in the Monsieur Bencolin Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

An accessible account of Jesus'' life, teachings, death and resurrection - and their significance today

Famed crime solver Dr. Gideon Fell attends a housewarming party in the English countryside, but a ghost spoils the fun in Golden Age mystery master John Dickson Carr’s stylish, baffling mystery novel The house is called Longwood, and its history is wet with blood. It is closed up for good in 1920, when a massive chandelier falls, crushing an eighty-year-old butler. Oddly enough, the old chandelier was sturdy, and there was no way it could have fallen unless the butler leapt and swung on it. Was he mad? Suicidal? Or was he being pursued by something from beyond the grave? Seventeen years later, Longwood is purchased by Martin Clarke, a rakish young man with a taste for the supernatural. He invites his friends for a paranormal housewarming, but it is not long before the festivities turn gruesome. Chairs fly, guns fire on their own, and a mysterious fire threatens to engulf the whole mansion in flames. Clarke and his guests came for a ghost hunt—but could it be that the ghost is hunting them? The Man Who Could Not Shudder is the 12th book in the Dr. Gideon Fell Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order. The Man Who Could Not Shudder is the 12th book in the Dr. Gideon Fell Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

In this Golden Age British-style mystery, Mystery Writers of America Grand Master John Dickson Carr presents Dr. Gideon Fell’s most chilling case, in which a clock-obsessed killer terrorizes London A clockmaker is puzzled by the theft of the hands of a monumental new timepiece he is preparing for a member of the nobility. That night, one of the stolen hands is found buried between a policeman’s shoulder blades, stopping his clock for all time. The crime is just peculiar enough to catch the attention of Dr. Gideon Fell, the portly detective whose formidable intellect is the terror of every criminal in London. Working closely with Scotland Yard, he finds that the case turns on the question of why the clock hands were stolen. And learning the answer will put Dr. Fell squarely in the path of a madman with nothing but time on his hands. Death-Watch is the 5th book in the Dr. Gideon Fell Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

One October night in the middle of the twentieth century Detective Inspector John Cheviot got into a taxi, bound for New Scotland Yard. When he stepped out it was from a horse-drawn cab, the year was 1829, and a beautiful woman was beckoning him in front of Old Scotland Yard. There were things Cheviot remembered but couldn''t use - like how to analyse fingerprints; and things he didn''t know that he could have used - like how advanced his romance with Lady Flora really was. And there wasn''t even time to learn, because in the midst of helping Robert Peel establish the respectability and competence of his new police force, Cheviot suddenly finds himself and his lady accused of cruel murder.

Hailed by Agatha Christie as “the king of the art of misdirection,” John Dickson Carr presents a thrilling murder mystery that has the redoubtable Dr. Gideon Fell tracing clues from London to Sussex to South Africa Mystery novelist Christopher Kent accepts a friend’s outlandish bet and sets out to travel from Johannesburg to London with nothing but the cash in his wallet and the clothes on his back. He arrives with twenty-four hours to spare, his wallet and his stomach both empty. While cadging a breakfast at a luxurious hotel, he is implicated in the brutal murder of a hotel guest. Fleeing the scene of the crime, Kent takes refuge with Dr. Gideon Fell, the portly genius who specializes in murders too baffling for Scotland Yard. For Kent, getting to London was the easy part. The trick will be avoiding the hangman. To Wake the Dead is the 9th book in the Dr. Gideon Fell Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

''The Starberths die of broken necks'' goes the legend in the village of Chatterham . . . The Starberth family governed the now-abandoned Chatterham prison for many years, and each male heir must spend the night of his twenty-fifth birthday there, alone, overlooking the hanging site of Hag''s Nook. Meanwhile, after a chance encounter on a railway platform, Dorothy Starberth and young American graduate Tad Rampole fall in love. Rampole is here in rural Lincolnshire to see Gideon Fell. The following day, Dorothy''s brother is found dead of a broken neck, just as his father and grandfather before him. Ingeniously plotted and packed with atmosphere, Hag''s Nook will not disappoint mystery lovers.

This "[Is a] nail-biting locked room puzzle...Carr''s gift for creating a creepy atmosphere again meshes with a brilliantly constructed and eminently fair whodunit." — Publishers Weekly, Starred Review "Who can I trust?" Love-sick Dick Markham is reeling. He''s set to marry Lesley Grant—a woman whom he learns is not who she appears to be. She seems to have been associated with three poisonings, all of which were in locked rooms. Another crime has been committed and we will watch the great Dr. Fell investigate through Markham''s watchful eyes. That night the enigmatic fortune teller—and chief accuser—is found dead in an impossible locked-room setup, casting suspicion onto Grant and striking doubt into the heart of her lover. Lured by the scent of the impossible case, Dr. Gideon Fell arrives from London to examine the perplexing evidence and match wits with a meticulous killer at large. First published in 1944, Till Death Do Us Part remains a pacey and deeply satisfying impossible crime story, championed by Carr connoisseurs as one of the very best examples of his mystery writing talents. This edition includes an introduction by CWA Diamond Dagger Award-winning author Martin Edwards.

When a spiritual medium is murdered in a locked hut on a haunted estate, Sir Henry Merrivale seeks a logical solution to a ghostly crime. Plague Court is old and crumbling, long neglected after its lord, hangman’s assistant Louis Playge, fell victim to the black death hundreds of years before. Famously haunted by Playge’s ghost, the property finally has a new owner and banishing the spirit is the first order of business. And when the medium employed with this task is found stabbed to death in a locked stone hut on the grounds, surrounded by an untouched circle of mud, the other guests at Plague Court have every reason to fear an act of supernatural violence—for who among them would be diabolical and calculating enough to orchestrate such an impossible execution? Enter Sir Henry Merrivale, an amateur sleuth of many talents with deductive powers strong enough to unspool even the most baffling crimes. But in the creepy, atmospheric setting of Plague Court, where every indication suggests intervention from the afterlife, he encounters a seemingly-illogical murder scene unlike anything he’s ever encountered before . . . Reissued for the first time in years, The Plague Court Murders is the first novel in the Sir Henry Merrivale series. Originally published under the name Carter Dickson, it is a masterful example of the “impossible crime” novel for which John Dickson Carr is known. “Very few detective stories baffle me nowadays, but Mr. Carr’s always do.” —Agatha Christie

A Grand Master of the British-style detective story brings Victorian England to vivid life in this murder mystery, which critic Anthony Boucher hailed as a “faultless formal puzzle in detection” In 1865, novelist Clive Strickland is relaxing at his club when his friend Victor Damon comes to him in a panic, begging Clive to help him marry off his sister to a cash-poor marquis whose affections reek of gold-digging. Victor doesn’t care. Something sinister lurks at High Chimneys and he wants his sisters out of the house before their lives are put in danger. Old Matthew Damon, their father, has long been dogged by scandalous rumors of solitary visits to the cells of women about to be hanged for murder. But when murder is done at High Chimneys, Strickland and private investigator Jonathan Whicher will have to sort out the rumors and look behind the discreetly drawn curtains of High Chimneys for a killer.

John Dickson Carr, master of the Golden Age British-style whodunit, delivers a dazzling historical mystery set in Restoration London In England, the Civil War is finished, Cromwell is dead, and the monarch Charles II sits happily upon the throne. It is a fine time to be rich, young, and bold—and there are few in the kingdom more daring than Roderick Kinsmere. A country boy come to London to become a man, Roderick is drawn into a whirlwind of danger that will not slow until the streets of the metropolis are stained with blood. With the monarchy depending on him, Roderick knows survival will mean a quick study in the arts of court intrigue, piracy, and swashbuckling romance—and that somehow everything centers on the beautiful sapphire ring he inherited from his father.

A corpse in a top hat leads Dr. Gideon Fell to a killer with a sick sense of humor in this mystery by the celebrated author of Hag’s Nook. At the hand of an outrageous prankster, top hats are going missing all over London, snatched from the heads of some of the city’s most powerful people―but is the hat thief the same as the person responsible for stealing a lost story by Edgar Allan Poe, the manuscript of which has just disappeared from the collection of Sir William Bitton? Unlike the manuscript, the hats don’t stay stolen for long, each one reappearing in unexpected and conspicuous places shortly after being taken: on the top of a Trafalgar Square statue, hanging from a Scotland Yard lamppost, and now, in the foggy depths of the Tower of London, on the head of a corpse with a crossbow bolt through the heart. Amateur detective and lexicographer Dr. Gideon Fell is on the case, and when the dead man is identified as the nephew of the collector, he discovers that the connections underlying the bizarre and puzzling crimes may be more intimate than initially expected . . . Reprinted for the first time in thirty years, the second novel in the Dr. Gideon Fell series, which need not be read in any order, finds the iconic character investigating one of the most extraordinary murders of his career. A baffling whodunnit with menace at every turn, The Mad Hatter Mystery proves that Carr is the “unexcelled master of creepy erudition, swift-moving excitement and suspense through atmosphere” (New York Times). “Every sentence gives a thrill of positive pleasure. [The Mad Hatter Mystery] is the most attractive mystery I have read for a long time.”―Dorothy Sayers

The master of the Golden Age British-style detective novel presents his redoubtable sleuth Dr. Gideon Fell in a baffling murder mystery set in the Swiss Alps Young Audrey Page has been warned against joining the aging film star Eve Eden and her temperamental friends at a Swiss chalet. Trustingly, she goes anyway and finds herself encircled by terror when a murderer strikes. With its eerie similarities to a crime that dates back to World War II, the murder attracts the attention of Dr. Gideon Fell, a brilliant sleuth with an eye for solving impossible murder cases. He will find that in this corner of the Alps, the air is thin, the scenery is beautiful, and the snow runs red with blood. In Spite of Thunder is the 20th book in the Dr. Gideon Fell Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

A concise account of the whole biblical narrative and what it means—as well as the beliefs and lifestyle it inspires—for those observing Christianity from the outside, especially those who think there are good reasons not to believe. A Doubter''s Guide to the Bible charts a biblical roadmap from the story of creation to the fulfillment of creation, answering many of the most frequently asked questions along the way: How can we read the creation account in Genesis in light of modern science? How should Old Testament law be understood when it appears inconsistent and irrelevant? Isn''t the story of Jesus'' birth a little far-fetched? What is the Gospel? Why are there four accounts of the same thing, and what are they really saying? John Dickson provides a readable and inviting Bible primer for anyone interested in informing themselves about the most widely read book in the history of humanity. By presenting the whole of the Bible as an account of God''s promise to restore humanity to Himself, and humans to one another and to creation, Dickson allows believers and skeptics alike to gain insight into why the Bible has been a compelling, life-changing, and magnetic force throughout the ages—and why it still matters.

Hailed by Agatha Christie as “the king of the art of misdirection,” John Dickson Carr draws readers into a thrilling tale of a family’s hunt for an inheritance hidden in a haunted New Orleans mansion Before he became a commodore in the Confederate Navy, Serena Hobart’s grandfather was a treasure hunter who combed the bottom of the sea in search of Spanish gold. In 1927, after her father dies, Serena wants nothing more than to be rid of Delys Hall, the commodore’s rambling old New Orleans mansion, which has been nicknamed “Deadly Hall” because some pretty awful things have occurred there, including murder. When her relatives hear rumors that there may be gold hidden in the old house, they will stop at nothing to keep it in the family. Serena’s childhood friend Jeff Caldwell senses that Serena is in danger and wants to protect her. But there are many dark corners in Deadly Hall, maybe even ghosts, and certainly relatives who can dream up a thousand ways to kill.

On the verge of a second marriage, a divorcee discovers her first husband has returned, and murder ensues in this chilling tale, which the New York Times Book Review hailed as “one of the most ingeniously constructed mystery stories John Dickson Carr has ever told” After divorcing her husband, Ned, Eve Neill falls in love with banker Toby Lawes and quickly agrees to marry him. But news of the engagement brings Ned back, intent on reclaiming his bride, whatever the cost. The price of passion proves too high when a dead body is found—and beside it, the shattered fragments of a snuff-box that once belonged to Napoleon. These fragments tell two tales, one true and one false. And in order for Eve to know whether her future holds a white bridal gown or a black hangman’s cloak, she will have to trust that an expert in criminology will be able to force the evidence to tell the truth and point out the real murderer.

A man fears his beloved is not who she claims to be in this sophisticated puzzler by John Dickson Carr, a master of the British-style detective novel David Garth has just stepped off the train at Charing Cross when he is summoned to Scotland Yard to answer questions about a person believed to be living a double life. A neurologist, Garth is an expert on the brain, but in matters of the heart he is clueless. He has fallen in love with Betty Calder, a delicate young woman whom the police suspect of blackmail and prostitution. Garth refuses to believe these accusations, but when a strangled body is found on Betty’s property, surrounded by fifty feet of wet sand with no footprints but her own, the challenge before him seems daunting. Can he outwit a cunning murderer and a hostile detective-inspector to prove his fiancee’s innocence?

For believers and skeptics alike, A Doubter''s Guide to World Religions introduces the five major world religions so that you can explore their similarities and differences in a fair and engaging way. The world is a very religious place. Wherever you look, people are worshipping, praying, believing, following, even dying for their faith. But what does it mean to be religious? Are all religions the same? Do they all call on the same God simply using different names? Are their beliefs and practices simply cultural expressions of the same spiritual longings? Written by historian and theologian John Dickson in his characteristically engaging style, this book presents each of the world''s five major systems of faith, carefully outlining the history, doctrines, beliefs, and spiritual practices of: Hinduism ("The Way of Release") Buddhism ("The Way of Enlightenment") Judaism ("The Way of the Torah") Christianity ("The Way of the Christ") Islam ("The Way of Submission") In his own words, Dickson acts as an art curator in a gallery, presenting each of these "works of art" in their best light and letting each have their say. Along the way, he demonstrates the importance of religion in general—to society and to individual believers—and addresses many of the universal questions that all of these serious and ancient religions ask: Who are we? What is our worth? How should we live? Are we alone? At the end of each section is a bibliography of helpful books and websites for those who are interested in learning even more.

Golden Age mystery author John Dickson Carr displays his mastery of the historical mystery in this thrilling tale of courtship and punishment in Regency-era England To inherit her family fortune, beautiful Miss Caroline Ross must marry before her twenty-fifth birthday. But she has found only two breeds of husband: violent drunks and irresponsible dandies. To evade wedded agony, she chooses a spouse not long for this world—a convicted murderer with just a few hours left until his date with the hangman. But clever, cold-hearted Caroline does not yet realize it is her neck around which the noose is tightening and that she risks facing a life sentence far grimmer than one at Newgate jail.

When Dr. Gideon Fell finds himself at a party where guests are in a state of deep agitation, all the faculties of his detective genius are called into play. Why is the host of the party, southern aristocrat Henry Maynard, so cryptic about the strange goings-on in the mansion? And how is the theft of the scarecrow linked to a diabolical and ingenious murder?

John Dickson Carr, one of the masters of the British-style detective novel, evokes the danger and delights of 1912 New Orleans in this puzzling murder mystery Journalist and spy novelist Jim Blake takes an assignment for Harper’s Weekly that puts him on a train to New Orleans, where congressional candidate James Claiborne Blake is being targeted by enemies who threaten to reveal that there is a glamorous Creole courtesan in his past. But in New Orleans, a sexual indiscretion is not enough to ruin a politician. That would require murder. When one of Clay’s supporters is found murdered, Jim Blake sets out to clear the candidate’s name—a dangerous mission in a city that comes alive at night, where rumor can be as deadly as poison.

A madcap tale of murder on an ocean liner that offers “good mystery and lots of fun in the bargain” (The New York Times). The majestic ocean liner Queen Victoria is halfway through another uneventful transatlantic crossing when bad weather drives most of the passengers to their cabins. Only six have the iron stomachs necessary to take a seat at the captain’s table. Of those six, one will die—and the rest will make utter fools of themselves. The theft of a reel of top-secret government film sets off a chase involving stolen jewels, massive marionettes, and a corpse that won’t stay put. Murder has been committed, but the passengers can’t be sure who’s dead—and are too busy boozing, fighting, and robbing one another to be bothered. They do embark on an inadvisable attempt at amateur detective work—but every clue they turn up drives them deeper into madness. It will take the timely intervention of Dr. Gideon Fell to cut through the insanity and unmask a killer. John Dickson Carr wrote some of the most brilliant mystery novels of the golden age of detective fiction, and this book shows him at his funniest. As Anthony Boucher warned, “Never was a reader more bedeviled with distractions from detection. Who observes clues while he’s wiping his laughter-streaming eyes?” The Blind Barber is the 4th book in the Dr. Gideon Fell Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

Dr. Gideon Fell investigates a series of strange deaths in the Scottish Highlands.

This original digital short by scholar and cultural commentator John Dickson presents an entirely new and convincing biblical argument for allowing women to preach freely in churches.

Jimmy Answell is summoned for an audience with Avory Hume. The two men are later discovered after witnesses break into Hume''s study - a room with bolted steel shutters and a heavy door locked on the inside. Answell is found lying unconscious and Hume stabbed to death with an arrow. How can young Answell not be guilty? Sir Henry Merrivale investigates and reconstructs the crime in the courtroom.

The master of the Golden Age detective novel displays his expertise in the historical whodunit with this Gothic tale of passion and bizarre murder, which Newsday hailed as “mystery fiction at its finest” When headstrong young heiress Peg Ralston flees London for Versailles, her father sends dashing rake Jeffrey Wynne to bring her home from the court of England’s greatest enemy. But upon their return it appears that a mysterious portrait and a child’s nursery rhyme link vivacious Peg to a bawdy old seamstress who resided near London Bridge and was quite literally scared to death. The old woman’s murder is but one thread in a web of conspiracy that includes blackmail, court intrigue, and an underground club that has made a hobby out of murder. With Peg’s life at stake, Wynne will do everything he can to trace the diabolical connection between the two women—and resist falling in love.

Dr. Gideon Fell solves two impossible murders in one of the most baffling locked room mysteries ever created.