The Hollow Man is an amateur sleuth mystery. Dr. Gideon Fell solves impossible mysteries but this time, even he has questions. A man is locked in his 3rd floor study with an uninvited guest. A gunshot is heard. The door is broken down to find the dying man – alone.
Bottomline: The Hollow Man is for you if you love locked room mysteries.
I picked up this classic after it was referenced in the 3rd Knives Out movie. I wanted to read Dr. Fell’s lecture on the art and science of the locked room mystery. Mystery lovers, it lived up to the hype!
The impossible is picked apart and reframed bit by bit. Do I have questions? Oh, heck yes. I should probably re-read it.
Warning: this is not an easy read. Written in 1935 in the UK, the language is complicated, the sentences long, and the pop culture references way over my head.
One of my favorite things about this book is you get the feeling that it’s fan fiction. Dickson Carr is as much enjoying Fell’s conundrum as we are. At one point, he breaks form and has Fell talk directly to us.
This is the only book I’ve read in the Dr. Gideon Fell series but I’ll be looking for me at a bookstore near me.
TG Wolff 