The Black Spectacles

Written by John Dickson Carr

Narrated by Kris Dyer

A sinister case of deadly poisoned chocolates from Sodbury Cross's high street shop haunts the group of friends and relatives assembled at Bellegarde, among the orchards of 'peach-fancier' Marcus Chesney. To prove a point about how the sweets could have been poisoned under the nose of the shopkeeper, Chesney stages an elaborate memory game to test whether any of his guests can see beyond their 'black spectacles'; that is, to see the truth without assumptions as witnesses. During the test - which is also being filmed - Chesney is murdered by his accomplice, dressed head to toe in an 'invisible man' disguise. The keen wits of Dr Gideon Fell are called for to crack this brazen and bizarre murder. This classic novel is widely regarded as one of John Dickson Carr's masterpieces and remains among the greatest impossible crime mysteries of all time.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Soundings
• Release date: Jul 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9781399164283

John Dickson Carr

John Dickson Carr was born in 1906 in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, the son of a lawyer. While at school and college, he wrote ghost, detective and adventure stories. After studying law, he headed to Paris in 1928. Once there, he lost any desire to study law and soon turned to writing crime fiction full-time. His first novel, It Walks by Night, was published in 1930. Two years later, he moved to England with his English wife; thereafter he became a prolific author and became a master of the locked-room mystery. He also wrote a biography of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, radio plays, dozens of short stories, and magazine reviews. He died in 1977 in South Carolina.

Reviews for The Black Spectacles

[Tim Gluckman · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Kris Dyer is a poor choice as reader. He would do a social science textbook well but as a voice to convey bizarre & macabre atmospheres (JDC's forte) he -- in my opinion -- remains a non-starter. John Telfer is somewhat better e.g. 'The White Priory Murders' but to hear how it should be done try Peter Noble's superb rendition of JDC's finest book, 'The Hollow Man'.