I’ve been moved of late to give some thought as to what my favourite examples of my favourite subgenre of detective fiction could possibly be. And I’m finally willing to commit — so here are, for today at least, my ten favourite impossible crimes in fiction.
Having previously published on this blog a list of 100 recommended impossible crime novels and short story collections, this post is a chance to drill down into the individual impossibilities — cases where the setup is baffling and the solution ingenious — rather than the story overall, as well as pick a few from shorter works where authors saw the validity of not stretching out a brilliant idea too thin.
And so, chronologically by original publication, I give you…
1. An impossible-to-predict poisoning in Obelists Fly High (1935) by C. Daly King
A deeply flawed, some might even say bad, book — over-long, poorly-structured, boring, and with no idea how prologues and epilogues work — Obelists Fly High (1935) nevertheless contains one of the great impossible problems: how a man can be killed at a time and date given well in advance, when at the moment stated he’s seated on a plane next to the police officer who is protecting him…and the feat is still achieved. The problem is great, and the answer more than lives up to the potential…but, wow, does something this clever deserve to be in a far, far superior novel.
2. A stabbing in a locked, watched room in Whistle Up the Devil (1953) by Derek Smith
One of those impossible-to-find books — though no more, thanks to the tireless work of John Pugmire under the banner of Locked Room International — whose reputation turned out to be deserved. Waiting in a room that is watched from both inside the house and without, a man is stabbed in the back by the ghost of his father while also locked in the room with the doors to the garden bolted shut. Utilises its setup superbly, and makes a most fascinating puzzle that is ingeniously unpicked by a piece of startlingly open-handed clewing. Smith was a fanboy of the best sort, and his two novels a complete delight for the connoisseur and the ingenue alike.
3. A murder in a moving elevator in ‘The Impossible Murder of Dr. Satanus’ (1965) by William Krohn
Not only brilliantly titled, this superbly clever little puzzle — the only published work by Krohn in the genre — sees a man get into a lift on the eleventh floor of a hotel and reach the ground floor, without pause, stabbed in the back. A variation on The Death of Laurence Vining (1928), this improves matters with a superbly accidental impossible situation that comes about by the sort of freak combination of accidents and inattention that feels very lived-in and, though the word is often anathema in this subgenre, realistic. The story doesn’t need the inexplicably-relayed second scene, at the theatre, but other than that it’s a textbook piece of plotting and misdirection.
4. A skeleton in a spacesuit in Inherit the Stars (1977) by James P. Hogan
They rarely come more brilliantly baffling than this: a 10,000 year-old skeleton buried under the surface of the moon in a fully-operational spacesuit. Inherit the Stars (1977) is undeniably dry going at times, but the application of pure science to the impossible crime makes a fascinating genre hybrid where the impossibility ends up only more impossible because of what has been proven around it: it’s not just a case of some simple misdirection, there’s clearly something more going on here. And the answer melds the two genres perfectly, too, with an answer that hits like a truck and makes perfect sense of all that’s gone before.
5. A man terrified to death in Invisible Green (1977) by John Sladek
A man in fear of his life, discovered dead while locked in the hall toilet of his house, outside which is a talcum powder-covered floor showing that no-one could have walked in or out. The body is wedged into the corer of the room as if in fright, several of its fingernails are broken…but there’s no other mark to show how he died. The impossible crime lost a find proponent when Sladek abandoned detection for SF, and Invisible Green (1977), his second and final crime novel, is full of genius conceits, of which this is probably just about my favourite. So clever and so weird, and as such the perfect combination for this most tricksy of subgenres. This novel needs to be reprinted, and soon.
6. A body in a locked room in ‘The Lure of the Green Door’ (1991) by Rintaro Norizuki
The beauty of the impossible crime is how something so simple can baffle so completely, as with this tale of a man murdered in a room where, because of the sinking foundations of the house, the frame of the door has been buckled and so will not open. The clewing here is also top notch, doing exemplary work in such a small space that you have little choice but to be wowed by the sheer magnificence of it all. The tidiness of this might even make it my favourite overall, but narrowing down just ten has been agony enough; I’m not committing to a winner…even though, yeah, it’s probably this one.
7. An impossible defenestration in The Demon of Dartmoor (1993) by Paul Halter
Yes, 40% of this list comes from the mind of one author, and while The Demon of Dartmoor (1993) is a too-busy book which perhaps strives for more effect than it should, the means by which a man is propelled out a window to his death when no-one is anywhere near him are simply wonderful to experience…especially when you consider how clever the killer is in achieving the effect. Halter’s talent is to pick his way through these crowded fields with new, creative solutions which show how much scope still exists in the impossible crime, and this is a wonderful example of how good the man can be. He’s 40% of this list for a reason!
8. A dream that comes true in ‘The Cleaver’ (2000) by Paul Halter
Predictions as the basis for an impossibility are very tricky, and I think that’s why I love them so much, especially here where a man is discovered murdered in a way that matches a dream someone had about his death. We know that Halter’s clewing is faulty, it’s just not the French way, but the setup here is inspired, and the way everything is explained dovetails so perfectly that surely only the hardest of hearts could fail to love it. If you know of anything that does this even half as well, do tell — it’s so good that halfway there would still be brilliant and worthy of anyone’s time.
9. A no-footprints murder in ‘The Night of the Wolf’ (2000) by Paul Halter
The no-footprints crime is my favourite type of impossible situation, and this one, in which a dead body is found in a snowbound cabin, highlights why Halter’s ingenuity is so highly prized. The framing has proven a little distracting to some, but instead soak up how the tiny details all coalesce to a near-perfectly pitched piece of murderous magnificence that would enhance any narrative, and hits all the harder because of how completely you’ve been bamboozled in such a little space. I understand why some people struggle to like Halter as much as I do, but, hot damn, this is wonderful.
10. Another no-footprints murder in The Gold Watch (2019) by Paul Halter
Put simply, the no-footprints murder in The Gold Watch (2019), in which a body is discovered bonked over the head with only its footprints to account for its presence in the snowy landscape, is the best example of the form ever written. The book overall is a delightfully odd brew, an astoundingly French piece of mystery-making, and so there’s no clewing to hint at how things might have been done, but the revelation of the workings is so phenomenal that I’m willing to forgive that and just bask in the brilliance of Halter’s design. This is also my favourite example of an impossible crime on this list…along with all the others. Look, it’s hard to pick, okay? But best no-footprints murder ever? Undoubtedly.
Honourable Mentions
Interesting to note that only one of these hails from the Golden Age, suggesting that it’s as the genre has gotten older, and needed to employ more ingenuity, that the impossible crime has, for me, really come into its own. The absence of John Dickson Carr on this list might see apostasy, too, but I’d suggest Carr’s novels are such exquisite constructions that the individual impossibilities can, when taken out of context, underwhelm.
Golden Age examples so very nearly on this list include the locked room’s locked room that is The Judas Window (1938) by Carter Dickson, the slaying in a locked house surrounded by unmarked snow of The Honjin Murders (1946) by Seishi Yokomizo, and the impossible murder-while-all-the-suspects-were-in-view of Death of Jezebel (1948) by Christianna Brand.
Latterly, there’s the thrice-invisible companion of ‘The Problem of the Leather Man’ (1992) by Edward D. Hoch, the magnificent impossibly-appearing body in ‘The Ghost of the Badminton Court’ (2004) and locked room murders of Death in the House of Rain (2006) by Szu-Yen Lin, and M. Halter rearing his head once more with the simultaneous murders of ‘The Wendigo’s Spell’ (2023). And, hey, I also commend the completely original locked room murder and impossible poisoning of The Red Death Murders (2022) — definite favourites for the simple matter that I was delighted to have devised them.
Particular thanks to Ben of The Green Capsule, who made me realise exactly how complex an undertaking I’d, er, undertaken in compiling this list. And remember — criticise not the splinter in my eye without acknowledging the wooden beam in yours: so please share your own picks below!
The Invisible Event 
The man flying off the boat in The Stingaree Murders deserves a mention. As for the other nine, I’ll ponder it and make a post with my list.
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Heh, that is certainly the balls to the wall pick. There’s so much panache in that crime that it’s a wonder it didn’t originate decades later in Japan.
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That’s a good one, and with a suitably pulpy and bonkers solution that’s — amazingly — well-established beforehand. Great call.
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I was really caught off guard when I saw Obelists at the top of the list, as I recall you giving that a somewhat sour review. Looks like I will have to track down the recent reprint on account of the impossibility alone.
Whistle Up the Devil certainly makes the list, but in my mind, more so for the second impossibility, which is absolutely brilliant. And what testament is that to the book being a masterpiece – two separate impossibilities that vie for the list.
It looks like I need to prioritize reading the Norizuki entry – fortunately I have the collection. I also need to track down copies of the Krohn and Hogan stories. Looking forward to them.
The only entry that I disagree with is The Night of the Wolf. Yes, a nice simple solution, but not the sort that snapped my brain like a rubber band. In my recollection from several years back it was more of an “on to the next one in the collection”.
The Gold Watch and The Demon of Dartmoor are indisputable in this list; no debate at all. I’d nudge your The Ghost in the Badminton Court to the list, although it’s a shame people will have to shell out money for a nearly 20 year old magazine to get to it.
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The recent Obelists reprint is Obelists at Sea — so, for god’s sake, don’t buy it expecting to come across this poisoning…!
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Heh, thanks for the course correction. Sigh, I guess I’ll just have to buy the $8 vintage copy of Obelists at Sea I just found…
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Great list! I’ve only read a little under half of these now, though I’ll definitely get the other LRI ones at some point. Inherit the Stars sounds great, wish I could run down a reasonably priced copy of that.
Not sure what I’d put on my own list like this…Probably Murder in the Crooked House just for the insanity factor. But there’s a lot I still haven’t read.
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The sheer loopiness of Murder in the Crooked House is definitely a factor in its favour, but the solution — which I anticipated — was nevertheless followed hard upon by the realisation that nobody would actually do that and so it weakened the effect for me.
It undeniably makes me wish more Shimada was available in English, however, because the ability to look at a problem and propose that as the solution clearly takes some amazing convolutions of the mind. What else has that corkscrew brain come up with?!?
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Easy for me to comment on your list, but now to stick my neck out. Well, I’m not going to give an actual top 10 – that’s for another time – but here is where my mind goes.
John Dickson Carr does deserve inclusion for The White Priory Murders, which in my mind (until happily disproved) will remain forever a top five impossible crime. Add to that The Judas Window (seriously, is there a better locked room?). Where I’ll separate myself from the masses is The Ten Teacups (fell out of favor in recent years; why I don’t know) and The Problem of the Wire Cage (a weakness in the justification of it all, I admit). I’ll also give Carr props for his first novel, It Walks by Night. As much as the solution admittedly pissed me off, it’s a whopper.
Where else to go?
Murder in the Crooked House – like Whistle Up the Devil, this offers up two solutions that are as confounding as the solution is satisfying. Yeah, the marquee one is as ballsy as The Stingaree Murders, but we need more of that.
The Case of the Solid Key – a nice simple “it never occurred to me” solution, which is what you want after racking your brain for 150 pages.
The Devil Drives – nobody could ever see that solution coming, but it is dangled in front of the reader the entire time. Pure bravado.
Christianna Brand – Suddenly at His Residence is another simple “how could I have missed it?” solution, amplified by it being barely alluded to in the final page or so. And yes, Death of Jezebel, because, I mean, who would have ever thought…
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I love the locked room shooting of The Ten Teacups, and it might have made the list but for the cavil that it could be made virtually perfect with a single line to allow for…alternatives.
Some good picks here, especially the Markham. I toyed with that, and with Case for Three Detectives…but I feel that CfTD is going to require a loooong post all of its own.
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I like lists like yours and the discussion that follows as I discover books/stories that I otherwise would have missed. The fact that it is hard to create a ‘top 10’ is evident in that most other best impossible crime lists I have seen are ‘top 100’ given a plethora of good choices.
If I use Ben’s analogy above of which ones ‘snapped my brain like a rubber band’, I would come up with Carr’s The House in Goblin Wood, The White Priory Murders, The Burning Court and She Died a Lady. I would add Virgil Markham’s The Devil Drives as well as Bruce Elliot’s You’ll Die Laughing. Perhaps also I include John Sladek’s Black Aura.
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Thank you for the reminder to track down You’ll Die Laughing. I’ve been meaning to read that one for a while.
There’s an interesting discussion here, which is the nuance between “the best impossibility” and “the best novels to feature an impossibility”. As I examine the dearth of John Dickson Carr novels on the list, I think it is because he wrote more of the latter than the former. The Burning Court is a hands down contender for best impossible crime novel, but I don’t know if the actual impossible crimes – when looked at in isolation – make a best impossible crime list.
That reminds me of a discussion that I had with Jim back in 2019, and I’ve tracked down an excerpt:
I recently completed Whistle Up the Devil and I was thinking, “you know, those are probably the two best solutions to an impossible crime that I’ve seen, but as a story it wasn’t that strong”. But it had me thinking – “what are the best stories to feature an impossible crime?”
This is where Carr excels – Till Death Do Us Part, The Red Widow Murders, The Problem of the Wire Cage, The Case of the Constant Suicides, She Died a Lady… They all have strong impossible crime setups, and while the solutions don’t necessarily disappoint, they aren’t why you remember those books. It’s because the stories are so damn good, and the presence of the impossibility amplifies that.
Additional examples – Green for Danger, Rim of the Pit, Wilders Walk Away, Hardly a Man is Now Alive. Rim of the Pit is an interesting one to look at, because I think the solutions somewhat suck the air out of the read, and yet I will happily list it as a top impossible crime novel.
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Right, Till Death Do Us Part is one of the best detective novels ever written, and easily one of the best to feature an impossible crime…but the impossibility itself is hardly world-bending stuff. It’s clever, sure, but it also relies on a principle or two that takes too long to explain to really snap in the brain with its invention and chutzpah. See also The Problem of the Green Capsule/The Black Spectacles.
And, yes, Rim of the Pit. And, double yes, Hardly a Man is Now Alive. All these do — and did — make a list of recommended books when you’re taking in the whole edifice. But for simple, minute, brilliant examples of the impossible crime boiled down to its most ingenious elements…nah.
That’s in part why I wanted short stories on this list — and, indeed, where the idea for the list first came from — because a mediocre idea can be made exceptional by fitting well in appropriate surroundings (c.f. The Bishop’s Sword by Norman Berrow), but a genius idea…well, hose are rare indeed, and deserve to be celebrated.
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The vanishing from the chapel in Black Aura is inspired in its simultaneous complexity and simplicity — easily one of the best classically-styled impossibilities past the Golden Age. And the levitation, while a little problematic, is very clever.
The vanishing from the toilet, however…man, I hated that on first read. I should read that book again, with a better sense of what’s coming, because I have a feeling it’s due a re-evaluation.
Okay, look out for that in 2024. Or 2025.
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Apart from your well-motivated Halter paeans, the fact that a third of the remainder are from a couple of sci-fi authors seems significant, with the bending of scientific reality seemingly preparing well for the apparent bending of normality.
Still, though appreciating your point about how the passing years spur ever greater invention, and your wide range of fine choices, I still have a soft spot for the clear effects of some of the groundbreakers, like Chesterton’s The Secret Garden, Futrelle’s The Leak, Zangwill’s The Big Bow Mystery, and even The Mysteries of the Rue Morgue, where, apparently in the minority, I’ve always loved the juxtaposition of the heights of reason with the depths of blind, brute force.
That said, hats off and deep bows to all your choices—as well as to you, Scott, and all the other authorial suggestions so far—for such continuing originality in both problem and method.
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Somehow missed the “James” there (as in Mr. Byrnside)…though I definitely agree with Scott’s choices as well!
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The Murders in the Rue Morgue, of course…was apparently operating on fumes last night!
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a couple of sci-fi authors seems significant, with the bending of scientific reality seemingly preparing well for the apparent bending of normality.
Huh, good point. And interesting to juxtapose those with the early examples of the form you cite: there’s a link between the pioneers and the latter-day experimentalists that my mind is striving to make…so expect me to return to this thread at some point…
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Bester’s DEMOLISHED MAN is the one that I really rate as an SF impossible crime story.
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Yeah, that one didn’t seem to qualify in my mind when I read it…but it was so many years ago that I couldn’t tell you why not 🙂 Perhaps a revisit is in order…
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I could mention as well A. Carver’s The Author is Dead with its four impossible crimes in homage to the Rawson and Carr stories with murders from inside rooms that were taped shut from the inside. I just started Carver’s sequel, The Christmas Miracle Crimes that has even more than four impossibilities.
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Shoot, two more novels to add to the “to buy” list. I recall Jim reviewing The Author is Dead, but for some reason lost track of it. Let me know how The Christas Miracle Crimes plays out.
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I just finished this second in the series from A. Carver (The Christmas Miracle Crimes) that once again is the love child of the shinhonkaku style and traditional GAD from Carr, Rawson, Berrow, etc. I admire the author’s audacity and cheek at including eight impossible situations, which A. Carver mostly pulls off as well as the fact that this is a Christmas mystery where the holiday season is embedded into the plot instead of incidental to it was also welcome.
So anyone who wants a true Christmas mystery that is a stocking stuffed with creative impossible events and pure puzzle, this is recommended reading.
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Eight?!? Holy hell 😆
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You haven’t read my review of The Christmas Miracle Crimes? Eight, Jim. Eight! Even more impressive than those numbers is that none of those eight impossibilities are filler material sporting routine, shopworn solutions.
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You know me well enough to know that I don’t read reviews of books I already know I’m going to read, and Carver’s sophomore effort definitely falls into that category. Expect my own frenzied, fanboyish response in due course 🙂
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Carver’s debut is more one where the overall effect was stronger for me than any individual impossibility — and, since this puts that book in the same bracket as the work of John Dickson Carr, hopefully I don’t need to explain that this is by no means a criticism 🙂
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I bet it was agony limiting yourself to just 10! Lovely to see that SF title by Hogan (which I must get my hands on). Not sure I could as easily use your premise on full length novels to focus purely on the ingenuity of the methods as it has to be part of the whole to generate its effect. Or rather, for me the “how” shouldn’t really be separated from the “why” – which is certainly what tends to make this reader enjoy Halter less than some. For me the inclusion of such big Carr titles as JUDAS WINDOW, HE WOULDN’T KILL PATIENCE and SHE DIED A LADY would be completely justified under your criteria. And I think the defenestration in his CONSTANT SUICIDES is much better than Halter’s DARTMOOR in fact. Really enjoyed this plot pretzel post!
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Yes, for someone who it terrible at remembering the motives of books, I do enjoy a good “why” for an impossibility. That might be an interesting list, in fact: not the best crimes, but the best in-universe reason for them being present ed as impossible.
Hmmm, the gears are turning…!
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I need some time to figure out which ten titles, “where the setup is baffling and the solution ingenious,” would go on my list, but approve you included Inherit the Stars and second The Stingaree Murders. That third murder is the pulp-style impossible crime at its best and most insane. Just to add one suggestion to the list, the one-hour Detective Conan/Case Closed special “The Cursed Mask Laughs Coldly” deserves to be on it. A bizarre murder in a locked room strewn with masks and the brilliantly original solution turned the strange into the absolute terrifying. A trick some would deem as pure nightmare fuel. A great demonstration of what can be done with the impossible crime story in a visual medium.
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One of these days — one of these days — I’m going to find some Case Closed anime, and then we’ll talk on this further. I’m not as big a fan of the manga as you are, but I can see a different medium giving a new perspective to those stories.
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Why can YOU find all these Detective Conan cases and I can’t find any?!?
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I don’t know why you can’t find them! 😦
Or why I forgot to mention Cor Docter’s Koude vrouw in Kralingen. The setup is both chilling and baffling. A group of people gathered in front of a locked bedroom door in a dimly lit hallway, only light coming from underneath the crack of the door, when someone from the insight flings the key from under the door into the hallway. When they go inside, the only person they find inside is a cold, dead woman. One of the pleasures came from reading a genuine locked room mystery in my own language and remembered hoping the solution wouldn’t turn out to be shit. It wasn’t!
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“If you truly, deeply hate someone, and wish to deprive them by removing from their life the joy that detective fiction can be, give them this book and tell them it’s the greatest mystery novel ever written”
This is what you said about Obelists Fly High in your review seven years ago. And now you’re telling us it is one of the greatest mystery novels ever written?
🤨
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That quote had me laughing out loud – both because of Jim’s hilarious snark, and your flourishing it in this thread. It does reinforce my memory of Jim’s review, and my subsequent reaction to seeing the book at the top of the list. But, to be fair to Jim, this list is about the individual impossibilities, not the surrounding novel. But yes, heh, still that quote…
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N-n-n-n-n-nooooo, that’s definitely not what I’m telling you 😄 The book is awful, it really is, but, man, that poisoning is so damn clever. It makes me angry to see such mediocrity rub shoulders with such ingenuity, it really does
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There was something about James Hogan bothering me that I couldn’t quite put my finger on… then I looked it up and realised he’s a Holocaust denier. Still, he’s dead now, so I may read Inherit the Stars as that hybrid does look fun.
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Oh, wow, what an asshole. If you’re able to separate the art and the artist, though, ItS is staggering in its conception, and remarkably thorough in its execution.
Oh, hey, he was also a climate change denier, and didn’t believe in evolution. Man, this guy is hard to like 🙂
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Why do you write science fiction if you deny the majority of science? Especially for a book that sounds are rigorous as this?
I believe the book can be rented for free on Internet Archive at least, if you want to appreciate the art exclusively.
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A surprising amount of sci-fi writers from that era, I think, were religious and “questioned” established truths like evolution. RA Lafferty was one. The Holocaust denial of Hogan pushes it into evil for me, though.
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I hate to interrupt you nerd boys in your reverie, but this post brings up the challenge that “howdunnits” hold for me. Ben has already said it his way, but the best mysteries are those whose pleasing sense of wholeness transcends whatever “specialty” the case might be embracing. I can no longer remember the method found in most of the impossible crime novels I have read, which goes to show I don’t have that sort of technical mind. I have no memory of how the killer done it in Obelists Fly High, but that book was so impenetrable a reading experience to me that I have no desire to leaf through the pages of my copy to find out.
And yet, with most of my reads, the motive resonates with me so that the countless mysteries where people kill for gain are a jumble, but the cases where the motive is special make the book special. Sure, there are whodunnits where the who is so special they stand out, but I’m much more interested in their motivations. It’s why I’m looking forward so much to reading Murder in the Family when the new, unexpurgated edition arrives. It’s why I love Christie (I wrote about that here five years ago: https://ahsweetmystery.com/2018/05/30/a-motive-for-loving-christie/) – she does motive so good!
Ben cites She Died a Lady, which sits alongside He Who Whispers as two of my favorite Carrs. No one can argue that the murder methods are among his best (if only I could remember what they are), but the motive and the emotional upheaval caused by these crimes are what sell the books to me. Or think about The Punch and Judy Murders, which I think has an impossible crime in it. Who cares?!? Surprise killer? Check! And the humor!!!!! Oh, man, was that a hilarious read!!
And so I envy you all your ability to wallow in pleasure at this list. You probably all made model cars in your basements as kids! If an impossible crime has an emotional link, then I’m happy. (Probably why so many of the “accidental” impossibilities are more pleasurable to me.) And when you’re ready to talk motives, JJ, let’s talk!!! (In G We T!!!!)
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Admittedly, most of the mystery fiction I read has an impossible crime to it and there’s a good chance I’ll forget the solution after as little as 6 months (or even less, depending on how much I liked the book). It’s mostly the completely insane/grand-scale tricks that stick with you for life, I’d say. So for me, instead of the solution, it’s the atmosphere/general feel the book produces using the impossible crime that I end up remembering.
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Weird, innit, because it’s the grand scale tricks that I often find the most disappointing — like when you realise how David Copperfield made the Statue of Liberty disappear…the bigger the trick, the fewer options there are for its execution, and the more underwhelmed I tend to be.
But, hey, this is why books keep getting published and read, because we all like different things. As I’ve said before, the majority of the British Library Crime Classics range doesn’t float my boat at all, but that series would have crashed and burned a looong time ago if all they put out was books I was interested in 🙂
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Well, a grand trick doesn’t necessarily need a grand setup — for example, I’d call Shimada’s Crooked House a grand trick in spite of not doing anything like making the statue of liberty disappear.
But I do agree with the statement that the more ridiculous the setup is, the more limited the explanation is… But it also gives the chance to provide a trick so large-scale and ridiculous that no reader would accept, while still being entertaining. Make impossible crime solutions dumber.
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I mean, look, I also love a good motive — who was it who got you excited for Murder in the Family, after all…? — but, like, this is a list with a different focus. When I have ten motives I love, rest assured they will be turned into blog content…and then everyone will pile on, saying that they thought I was more of a howdunnit kinda guy — gleeps, a man can’t win 🙂
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Great discussion. Been awhile since I’ve seen more than 30 comments to a post in the GAD blogosphere. Nice stuff.
I take the point above that Jim’s post (and it is his post / blog) was about the best impossibilities regardless of the quality of the story in which they’re contained. That said, my small brain struggles to separate the who-, how- and why-dunits. Also, impossibilities with a mysterious, supernatural or sinister atmosphere (even when debunked by the book’s end) always get my attention.
Suffice to say that for me, the best impossibilities are the ones I remember weeks, months or years later. If I can’t remember it, then for me it cannot be the best.
Case in point: earlier this year, Tom Mead appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine (Mar/Apr 2023 edition) with The Sleeper of Coldwreath (eerie atmosphere, cool detective, mute assistant and best of all a body in a frozen pond surrounded by undisturbed snow all efficiently in less than 20 pages). Is it the best impossibility according to Jim’s definition? Nope, but it is one that I remember not only the who, how and why … but how the story made me feel reading it.
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Thanks for this list! I’d only read one of these! And I’m woefully behind on Paul Halter’s novels! I might have listed Clayton Rawson’s “Off The Face of the Earth.”
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‘Off the Face of the Earth’ is a favourite of mine, and so nearly made this list…except that I reread it and found the way Merlini offers the explanation to be lacking somewhat compared to my memory — so maybe I shouldn’t have reread it and just let my loose, ill-remembered impressions rule my brain 🙂 Either way, still a wonderful problem, I agree.
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So, you after years of playing the snowy field you decided to settle down and commit to one (ingeniously murdered) body.. or rather ten. Good man. I appreciate that while you give Carr his due, you didn’t feel obligated to include him purely because of his legacy in the genre.
Sadly I feel my interest in LRM has long since peaked (intensive overindulgence to the point of saturation is to blame) and assuredly I have fewer reads ahead of me than lay behind, but I retain a strong sense of those titles that impressed me the most, which are as follows:
10. Come to Paddington Fair – Derek Smith
9. The Fourth Door – Paul Halter
8. Sealed Room Murder – Rupert Penny
7. Hollow Man – John Dickson Carr
6. The Kennel Murder Case – S.S. Van Dine
5. Whistle up the Devil – Derek Smith
4. The Demon of Dartmoor – Paul Halter
3. Tokyo Zodiac Murders – Soji Shimada
2. Death of Jezebel – Christiana Brand
1. The Gold Watch – Paul Halter
Some of these may require elaboration but for the most part nothing too controversial with the possible exception of TZM, as its inclusion is based on the so-astonishing-as-to-make-you-faint true purpose behind “Azoth” rather than the more conventional and uninspired locked room.
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Oh and under no circumstances will I pick up sci-fi, so unfortunately will have to take you at your word as regards “Inherit the Stars”; will continue to check back on ebay on the off-chance of finding a reasonably priced copy of “Invisible Green” as I have done for years; and I may some day sign up for the masochistic experience that “Obelists fly high” appears to be, but am in no rush.
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I can understand your feeling that way, but it’s a shame, because there’s some great SF mystery stuff out there. But, if it doesn’t float your boat then there’s no point going out onto the lake, eh?
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Yeah, I sympathise, “intensive overindulgence to the point of saturation” is how I feel about blogging at the moment, so I can fully understand how enthusiasm might, through excess, inspire a jaded element in what one used to love.
Still, your indulgence has resulted in a pretty good list, so at least you had a chance to see much of what is great about this subgenre before tiring of it — better that than to tire because it failed to produce anything worth experiencing.
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Great list from AB. Personally, I find rotating the crops even within a genre—as you’ve done so commendably here—key to maintaining my enthusiasm, with Lorac’s period detail and humanity preparing for Carr’s pure storytelling prowess, or the polished gems of Ellin setting off the wild ingenuities of Halter…with horror and sci-fi excursions also keeping things fresh. But the main help is informative and personable blogs like this one!
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If you manage to run down the January/February edition of EQMM, there’s a no-footprints story called “Sacrifice in White” by Qinwen Sun. Apparently John Pugmire translated it himself, so perhaps will get more Chinese-language publications.
Anyway, I only read it recently but I think I’d put in on my own Top 10 Impossibility list. Definitely worth a read
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Thanks for the heads up. I ordered the current issue of EQMM and look forward to reading “Sacrifice in White”.
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Ah, thanks for this — John P mentioned ‘Sacrifice in White’ a few years ago, and I assumed it had just been forgotten or overlooked. Great to know that it’s available, really appreciate you bringing this to my attention.
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Just read it! Unbelievably gory – but I can’t say the gore wasn’t warranted!
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This weekend I read “Sacrifice in White” and thought it was good, although I normally avoid anything that grisly. I do like a good “no footprints in the snow” mystery and the solution was a variation I had seen elsewhere. The EQMM introduction states that the author is a Carr fanboy (that shows here) and has circa fifty other stories that have not been translated.
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It’s feedback like this that makes me wish I had easier access to EQMM. It’s difficult to want to subscribe given that old-fashioned detective fiction is so out of vogue, but when something tbis intriguing comes along I’d love to have easy access to be able to track it down. Ho-hum.
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I just read ‘The Impossible Murder of Dr. Satanus’ by William Krohn and it was brilliant. I liked the simple, efficient way Krohn set the scene and then explained the solution in a way that I immediately understood. Much as I love impossible crime stories, I often have to read the ‘howdunit’ multiple times to understand it. That wasn’t the case here.
Shame that this was Krohn’s only contribution to the genre as it was excellent. I had never heard of this one so am glad your post made me aware of its existence. Thank you.
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Excellent news! Krohn did a wonderful job here, and I agree that it’s a shame he published no more in the genre (rumours persist of a second story that was rejected for being too complex…). Delighted to bring this little gem to someone’s attention.
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Would you happen to remember the solution for Obelists Fly High? Trying to remember it, but after like two weeks I’ve already forgotten everything about the book.
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The setup of the impossible poisoning is that a man will be poisoned at a certain time, regardless of what anyone does about it. So our detective sits next to him on a plane and ensures that the time of said poisoning will be mid-flight when no-one else can get to him. In the middle of the flight, the detective hands the proposed victim something — I forget what, I think it’s some kind of sweet or toy — taken picked at random from a box, and that contains the poison which kills him, as foretold.
The solution is that [rot13] gur qrgrpgvir qvqa’g cvpx gur cbvfba-svyyrq guvatl ol nppvqrag, ohg vafgrnq svarffrq guvatf fb gung ur unaqrq gur vagraqrq ivpgvz fbzrguvat gung zreryl eraqrerq uvz hapbafpvbhf — gura ur gbyq rirelbar ba gur cynar gung gur thl jnf qrnq naq uvq gur obql va gur ubyq orsber nalbar ryfr jbhyq trg n punapr gb pbagenqvpg uvz.
We know the detective isn’t going to kill the man, so I think this is a genius way around the problem. It just deserves to be in a book that isn’t so tedious.
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Thanks! Qnza, V bayl erzrzorerq Gvaxunz orvat gur xvyyre. Jnf gung whfg n snyfr fbyhgvba gura?
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Mate, after all these years, I’ve got no idea. It’s not a book I’m keen to have linger in my memory, y’know? 😄
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