The Kindling Spark: Early Tales of Mystery, Horror, and Adventure

The superior skills of Carr (1906–1977) at crafting creepy atmospherics in the service of fair-play plots are manifest in this intriguing collection of 10 of his earliest short stories. Even the least polished entries, such as one in which the solution is revealed in the final sentence without explanation, are distinguished by a palpable sense of menace. Fans of the author’s unparalleled ingenuity at concocting—and then logically resolving—impossible crimes will be delighted by “The Marked Bullet.” Written when Carr was just 16, it centers on a murder committed in a locked room inside a mansion whose walls were patched with ivy “like scars on its stolid gray face.” In the longest and best entry, “The New Canterbury Tales,” which introduces Carr’s first series sleuth, Henri Bencolin, unrelated legends shared by guests at a dinner party end up combining into a brilliant, fairly clued whodunit. The tales are enhanced by the end notes of editor Dan Napolitano, who points out how their plotlines and clues anticipate some of the older Carr’s best-known works. This is a treasure trove for golden age fans. (Sept.)