The Emperor's Snuff-Box

John Dickson Carr

ISBN 10: 0241023130 / ISBN 13: 9780241023136

Published by Hamish Hamilton, London, 1973

About this Item

Covers and contents clean with no inscriptions. The dustjacket is price-clipped. Size: 5" x 7.5".

Seller Inventory # 050767

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Emperor's Snuff-Box
• Publisher: Hamish Hamilton, London
• Publication Date: 1973
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0241023130
• ISBN 13: 9780241023136
• Binding: Red Cloth
• Edition: Reprint.
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good
• Book Type: Hardback
• Seller catalogs:
  • Fiction

About this title

Synopsis

Beside the dead body of Sir Maurice Lawes are the shattered fragments of a snuff-box that once belonged to Napoleon. These fragments tell a tale, or rather two tales, one true and one false. Now, an English expert in criminology forces the evidence to tell the truth about what happened and to point out the real murderer.

About the Author

John Dickson Carr, the master of the locked-room mystery, was born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, the son of a US Congressman. He studied law in Paris before settling in England where he married an Englishwoman, and he spent most of his writing career living in Great Britain. Widely regarded as one of the greatest Golden Age mystery writers, his work featured apparently impossible crimes often with seemingly supernatural elements. He modelled his affable and eccentric series detective Gideon Fell on G. K. Chesterton, and wrote a number of novels and short stories, including his series featuring Henry Merrivale, under the pseudonym Carter Dickson. He was one of only two Americans admitted to the British Detection club, and was highly praised by other mystery writers. Dorothy L. Sayers said of him that 'he can create atmosphere with an adjective, alarm with allusion, or delight with a rollicking absurdity'. In 1950 he was awarded the first of two prestigious Edgar Awards by the Mystery Writers of America, and was presented with their Grand Master Award in 1963. He died in Greenville, South Carolina in 1977.