Review: No competition for John Dickson Carr et al.
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 08 5, 2012
The fictional Inspector Zhang liberally acknowledges the work of the master of the impossible crime tale, John Dickson Carr, but unfortunately his creator can't compare with Carr or other masters like Edward D. Hoch, Hake Talbot, Clayton Rawson, Joseph Commings, and Paul Halter, all of whom I recommend.Understand, Stephen Leather's story is a decent quick read; it's just not in the same league as the aforementioned authors' works, whether for plot, atmosphere, or mystification. (I've left out characterization because most of the others are only adequate at best in that department. Leather is no better--in this story, at least.)One thing this story would benefit from is a good proofreader. It's loaded with punctuation errors.