Sat 23 Apr 2011
HAKE TALBOT – Rim of the Pit. Bantam, 1965. Originally published by Simon and Schuster, hardcover, 1944. Reprinted several times in other editions.
This book was chosen by Anthony Boucher for Bantam’s “World’s Great Novels of Detection” series, along with such classics as Christianna Brand’s Green for Danger and Ellery Queen’s Cat of Many Tails. Like those two, this is an excellent book that should be far better known than it is (it was not mentioned by Barzun & Taylor).
The detective in Rim of the Pit is gambler Rogan Kincaid, who tries to determine a rational explanation of seemingly supernaturally caused murders.
Many years ago Grimaud Desanat froze to death in the North Woods of New England. His wife Irene, a supposed medium, holds a seance to ask him about some trees he owned. During the seance Desanat appears and terrifies Irene, who is later found inside a locked room brutally murdered
The question is, who murdered her? Was it another member of the house party or the spirit of Desanat himself acting through another’s body?
More and more inexplicable events pile up that seem to favor the latter theory, including a second murder that seems to clinch it, but Talbot makes it all come clear in a brilliant ending.
Talbot wrote only two detective novels, the other being Hangman’s Handyman (1942), which may help to explain why he is so little known today, but Rim of the Pit is a classic of the genre that bears out Boucher’s comparison with such more noted masters of impossible crime as John Dickson Carr and Clayton Rawson.
Editorial Comments: Both of Talbot’s detective novels have recently been reprinted by Ramble House. Puzzle Doctor, on his/her blog, suggests that Talbot wrote a third, one that was never published and is now presumed lost.
April 23rd, 2011 at 4:35 pm
That Rim of the Pit sounds interesting- especially as in 1944, technical solutions to the ‘miracles’ perceived by that party were not really existent.
I’ll look out for that new edition, no need to hunt here.
The Doc
April 23rd, 2011 at 5:43 pm
I’m positive I’ve read this one, perhaps in its Dell mapback edition, but even as I was typing Jeff’s review in, none of the details came back to me. It’s on my own “Must Read” list now.
April 23rd, 2011 at 7:23 pm
This is one of the major classics of the impossible crime.
It is full of inventive plotting.
Talbot also published two good short stories.
He also wrote a play, non-mystery, which I’ve never tracked down.
April 23rd, 2011 at 7:36 pm
This is one of my favorite impossible crime novels in all of the genre. It’s really a remarkable feat of imaginative writing. Leave it to the magician writers to come up with these ingenious books. I think it’s the closest book to a John Dickson Carr mood & plot NOT written by Carr. I was hoping that the wendigo would be real, but the solution as it is presented is still brilliant.
Talbot (really magician and set designer Henning Nelms) wrote at least three short stories also with Rogan Kincaid. Robert Adey reprinted them in two locked room anthologies.
(Brand new ISP & email, Steve. Last change, I promise.)
April 23rd, 2011 at 8:33 pm
John
I hadn’t noticed the change of ISP etc., but that explains why I’ve had to re-approve you as a commenter a couple of times over the past week or so…
— Steve
April 23rd, 2011 at 8:35 pm
For anyone wishing to read more by Mike Grost about Hake Talbot, here’s the link to his website:
http://mikegrost.com/laterimp.htm#Talbot
June 8th, 2011 at 12:57 pm
I only got the info about the third novel from Wikipedia – info about Talbot seems to be very thin on the ground.
As I said in my review, this is a wonderful book, highly recommended.
Oh, and it’s “his blog” by the way.
Another Steve
June 8th, 2011 at 1:05 pm
Thanks for stopping by. Other Steve’s are always welcome!
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