The Eight of Swords

The golden age of detective novels produced many talented writers, including Agatha Christie, Gilbert Chesterton, Earl Stanley Gardner, and Rex Stout. They developed and refined the detective genre, creating works that remain popular to this day and are considered classics. One of the iconic authors of this era was John Dixon Carr (1906–1977) — a master of intriguing “impossible crimes in a locked room.” His novel “Eight Blades” is part of the series about the amateur detective Dr. Gideon Fell. The hero’s appearance is supposedly inspired by another famous detective—Gilbert Chesterton—and his contribution to the development of the genre earns the respect of many detective fiction fans. For instance, writer Kingsley Amis called Dr. Fell “one of three great successors to Sherlock Holmes” in his essay “My Favorite Detectives.”