''He Who Whispers'' is a
mystery
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novel (1946) by
John Dickson Carr
John Dickson Carr (November 30, 1906 – February 27, 1977) was an American author of detective stories, who also published using the pseudonyms Carter Dickson, Carr Dickson, and Roger Fairbairn.
He lived in England for a number of years, and is ...
. Like many of the works by Carr, the book features a so-called "impossible crime". For the most part, such crimes fall into the category of
locked room mysteries. In this case, the novel falls into a smaller sub-category of Carr's work in that it is suggested that the "impossible" crime is the work of a supernatural being (here, a vampire).
Dr. Gideon Fell is featured as the detective. Carr considered this one of his best novels.
Plot summary
A few months after the end of World War II, Miles Hammond is invited to the first meeting of the Murder Club in five years. When he arrives, no one else is there except Barbara Morell and Professor Rigaud. When no one else shows up, Rigaud tells the story of Fay Seton.
Seton was a young woman working for the Brooke family. She fell in love with Harry Brooke and the two became engaged, but Harry's father, Howard, did not approve. One day, he agreed to meet Fay in a tower—all that remained of a burned-out
chateau. It was a secure location on a lonely waterfront, and was the perfect place for such a meeting. Harry and Professor Rigaud left Howard alone at ten minutes before four. When they returned, fifteen minutes later, Howard had been stabbed, and the sword-cane that did it was found in two pieces beside his body. At first it seemed an open-and-shut case, but a family that was picnicking a few feet from the entrance of the tower swore that no one entered the tower in those fifteen minutes, that no boat came near the tower, and no one could have climbed up, because the nearest window was fifteen feet off the ground. The only one with any motive was Fay Seton, who was believed to be able to bring a
vampire
A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deat ...
to life and terrorize people.
Miles quickly becomes involved in the affair because the new librarian he just hired is Fay Seton.
Literary criticism and significance
This novel is of some significance in the field of the
Golden Age mystery because of its treatment of a sexual theme, that of
nymphomania
Hypersexuality is extremely frequent or suddenly increased libido. It is controversial whether it should be included as a clinical diagnosis used by mental healthcare professionals. Nymphomania and satyriasis were terms previously used for the c ...
. This is one of a few Carr mystery novels to deal with such a psycho-sexual theme (others are ''
The Judas Window'', where a woman character poses for obscene photographs for her lover, and ''
The Sleeping Sphinx'', which deals with sexual hysteria). Many
whodunnit
A ''whodunit'' or ''whodunnit'' (a colloquial elision of "Who asdone it?") is a complex plot-driven variety of detective fiction in which the puzzle regarding who committed the crime is the main focus. The reader or viewer is provided with th ...
novels are criticised for being artificial puzzles with little or no characterization, and this novel stands as an example of a writer attempting to bring some semblance of psychological realism to the motivations of his characters.
{{John Dickson Carr
1946 American novels
Novels by John Dickson Carr
Locked-room mysteries
Hamish Hamilton books