"The Most Imaginative
Detective Stories of Our Times" So wrote Ellery Queen about The Curious Mr. Tarrant, an extraordinary collection of detective stories by Charles Daly King (1895-1963). The cases solved by Trevis Tarrant, during the early 1930's, assisted by his manservant (who is in actuality a Japanese spy) include locked rooms, headless corpses, a vanishing harp, and newly built but haunted house, and other bizarre events. With the encouragement of Ellery Queen, King wrote four additional stories about Mr. Tarrant, some of them becoming "curiouser and curiouser." They include the case of a Hollywood star who disappears from a locked suite of rooms, in a house surrounded by detectives, and the murder solved only because of the absence of a fish. These additional stories along with the original six tales are included in The Complete Curious Mr. Tarrant. Introductiuon by Edward D. Hoch
From Booklist
Part of Crippen and Landru's Lost Classic Series, this collection of detective stories resurrects a neglected but tremendously influential talent. According to Edward Hoch's intriguing introduction, C. Daly King (1885-1963) was, with G. K. Chesterton and Carter Dickson, one of the masters of the "locked room" mystery. King's stories were heralded by Ellery Queen as "the most imaginative detective stories of our times." Published primarily in the 1930s, they star gentleman detective Trevis Tarrant and his manservant, who doubles as a Japanese spy. Readers who love the puzzle mysteries of the 30s, especially those with an Edgar Allan Poe sense of claustrophobia, should flock to these 12 stories crowded with locked rooms and hairy situations--including a locked chamber within New York's Metropolitan Museum; a house that is haunted, though new; and a Hollywood star who disappears from a locked suite in a house ringed round with detectives. Connie Fletcher
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