The Island of Coffins and Other Mysteries from the Casebook of Cabin B-13

The unparalleled creativity in devising fiendishly clever plots that Carr (1906–1977) displayed in his novels and short stories is abundantly in evidence in this collection of 23 scripts from his 1940s radio series, Cabin B-13, discovered in the holdings of the Library of Congress. The eponymous cabin is the residence of John Fabian, an ocean liner’s surgeon who serves as each tale’s narrator. In the outstanding “The Man Who Couldn’t Be Photographed,” film star Bruce Ransom winds up in the bizarre situation of being informed by separate studio photographers in Paris that none of the images taken of him came out. As always, Carr’s explanation for the anomaly is logical, fairly clued, and surprising. Another highlight is “Death in the Desert,” which features six passengers on a Nile steamboat, one of whom dumps another’s corpse overboard. Carr’s trademark impossible crimes also get their due, as in “The Footprint in the Sky,” in which “guilt left a footprint where no human being ever walked.” The scripts are supplemented by commentary provided by mystery scholar Tony Medawar. The spare but sufficient prose makes the stories vivid, even without the originals’ aural component. (Jan.)