Chapter 2 guide

"Think about it, in a room that is completely inaccessible, the murder case can be solved reasonably and satisfactorily. What a fascinating charm for the author! Therefore, according to my respected friend Eizo Inoue said: Most detective novel writers will definitely try to create the kind of 'closed room murder' works like John Dickson Carr's good at." Randomly flipping through the information on the Internet, I happened to see this passage in Henggou's official history, and I couldn't help feeling quite emotional.On the one hand, I was extremely obsessed with Mr. Henggou’s works back then. Looking back, I always feel nostalgic; Who is John Dickson Carr in the book, and what is "Plague Cotter Murder" (actually "Plague Village Murder").

It is no wonder that Mr. Henggou mentioned this work, because from the perspective of the mystery, it is quite similar to the design of "Plague Village Murder". It's just that although the latter provides a wet ground without footprints, it does not have a positive aspect. Challenge it, so I couldn't help but think of another book——. Only four years have passed since its publication in 1930, and John Dickson Carr has completed his standard chamber of secrets, The Plague Grange Murder.At this time, he probably wanted to escape from the scenes where the doors and windows were locked from the inside, the entrance was monitored, and the murder weapon disappeared without a trace, in order to seek a more innovative mystery. At that time, it seemed that it might be regarded as a relatively different kind of confined space - the snow secret room.

Generally speaking, when we mention a "secret room", a house always comes to mind, the doors and windows are locked from the inside, or the exit is under surveillance to prove that no one can enter or leave; Holding a dead body, and looking left and right, it doesn't look like suicide.In doing so, it proves impossible either physically (room conditions) or manually (surveillance).The snow room is presented as follows: there are no footprints on the white snow, or there are only footprints of the victim. In this way, the murderer is equivalent to letting nature testify for himself-the snow has not been destroyed by outsiders, so "I" cannot Walking through, this is the basic law of nature, such an impossibility, isn't it very interesting?What's more interesting is that this is a snow field, not a room, so any secret passages, ropes to fiddle with the latches, and the like will not work.Therefore, facing a snow chamber, even the famous Sir Henry Merrillville felt that it was too bad.

"If it's just a locked room, you can still cheer. Everyone knows several tricks to lock the door from the outside: the bolt can be pulled with a needle and thread mechanism, the key can be turned in a vise, The hinges can be detached from the door and put back on, so you don't have to worry about the lock. But when your back room contains a simple, mundane, crazy problem, and within a hundred feet of it, it's half an inch thick. When the snow marks..." Well, the famous Sir Henry Merrillville, a detective modeled after Churchill.If you have read his debut "The Murder of Jaundice Village" or the following works, readers should be deeply impressed by this old man-the author directly describes his superciliousness, rudeness, and slight delusions of being persecuted, but in the detection In terms of crime, he is brilliant and talented.And in one book, James Bennett, a nephew of Sir Henry's relatives, appeared. From the eyes of a relative, it is more interesting to see the words and deeds of this strange man.

In most of the other books in the series, Sir Henry Merrillville does not reveal his character until he is on stage, but not in this one.Just at the beginning of the first chapter, Bennett’s father made an introduction to H.M. It turns out that he is not only a hereditary baronet, but also a supporter of socialism (referring to the national capitalism advocated by the British Labor Party. ), and holds qualifications as a lawyer and a surgeon; that is, a man who, in his usual behavior, is loose, rude, vulgar, and contemptuous of authority, but who has a knack for detecting "impossible crimes."Here, by describing his past words and deeds, the huge contrast with the people around him, or the completely different identity from others, he vividly creates a maverick detective.

The grotesqueness of the detective's behavior does not detract from his genius in solving crimes.In the book, the author uses the mouth of Sir Henry Merrillville to give a motivational handout for "impossible crime": one is to forge suicide, the other is to pretend to be a ghost to commit crimes, and the third is to cause accidents.Different from the large number of examples and proofs in the Lectures on the Chamber of Secrets and Lectures on the Poisoning and Killing, the Motivation Lectures did not mention any works or actual examples, but Sir Henry Merrivier cited several suitable methods to complete a certain motivation. Techniques, these techniques are memorized by assistant Masters' amazing knowledge.Although this handout seems rough and not complete to a certain extent, it is also very valuable in guiding the way of detection.In addition, when Sir Henry Merrillville compared the case and ruled out the possibilities one by one from the handouts, it really made readers feel that there was no way out. Therefore, the strangeness of this "impossible crime" incident also Added many points.

Looking back at the publication time of this book - 1934, it will also make people feel a lot of emotion.Just earlier in the year, John Dickson Carr completed The Murders at Plagueland, the first in the Sir Henry Merrillville series, a film that excelled in plot, atmosphere and intrigue. s work.In addition, Ellery Quinn also published the only secret room work in the name of the country series. Although it is just a secret room with a door locked from the inside and a door monitored, but because everything in the house is turned upside down, so, It's not bad at all.What's more, S.S. Van Dyne wrote the work "Dragon Killing Incident", which depicts a case where a person disappears immediately after jumping into a swimming pool, which greatly escapes the scope of the narrow chamber of secrets. It presents an incomparably brilliant mystery.It can be said that in 1934, several well-known writers at the time were all pursuing the fun of "impossible crime", hoping to renovate the old field, and they all achieved good results (although there are some Many people have made many bad comments on the latter two).And John Dickson Carr, perhaps, was experimenting and preparing for the stunning masterpiece in 1935.

Of course, as an early Snow Chamber of Secrets work, its trick pattern is inevitably referenced by many later works.Therefore, the sudden realization during the case and the knowing smile after the mystery is revealed can also bring a different kind of pleasure to reading. Well, the author's rap may have gone too far, and readers are invited to open this book to judge the depth of this reading pleasure.