''The Eight of Swords'', first published in February 1934, is a detective story by American writer John Dickson Carr, featuring his series detective Gideon Fell. It is a mystery novel of the type known as a whodunnit.

Plot summary

Mr. Septimus Depping is found dead in his Gloucestershire country house, shot with his own gun and holding a card from the

Tarot deck The tarot (, first known as '' trionfi'' and later as ''tarocchi'' or ''tarocks'') is a pack of playing cards, used from at least the mid-15th century in various parts of Europe to play card games such as Tarocchini. From their Italian roots, ...

, the eight of Swords, which stands for "condemning justice". Among those present is an Anglican bishop who is an expert in criminology, and sees wanted criminals in every parlourmaid, and Henry Morgan, who writes exciting mystery novels under two different names. Mr. Depping turns out to have been an American criminal, and Gideon Fell must penetrate the secrets of his American associates as well as his British life in retirement in order to bring home the crime to the unlikely criminal.
1934 American novels Novels by John Dickson Carr Novels set in Gloucestershire Hamish Hamilton books Harper & Brothers books {{1930s-mystery-novel-stub