虎の首

The murderer known as the “Suitcase Killer,” who has been causing panic by leaving dismembered bodies in London’s railway stations, vanishes into thin air when cornered cutting up his latest victim. The detective team of Dr. Twist and Inspector Hurst receive a tip that he resides in Leadenham, a sleepy village twenty miles from the capital. Another resident, a retired major of the Indian Army, claims he can summon an evil genie by rubbing an artifact known as “The Head of the Tiger.” He and a doubter stay in a room where not only is every door and window locked from the inside, but each is guarded by a witness. Nevertheless, the major is found dead, and the doubter unconscious from wounds which could not have been self-inflicted, and there is nobody else in the room. Could the serial killer be an evil genie? Or is it possible that two murderers, each with the apparent ability to vanish at will, inhabit the same small village?

‘The Head of the Tiger’ is the sixth Paul Halter novel to be published in English. The author, a best-selling novelist in his native France, has written over thirty novels, almost all ‘locked room’ or ‘impossible crime,’ and is widely regarded as the successor to John Dickson Carr. He appeared on BBC Radio 4’s program ‘Miles Jupp in a Locked Room,’ broadcast on May 21, 2012. His prize-winning novel ‘The Fourth Door,’ ‘The Demon of Dartmoor,’ and ‘The Seventh Hypothesis,’ all featuring Dr. Twist, have been published by Locked Room International on Amazon and Kindle, as have two novels featuring the dilettante Owen Burns: ‘The Lord of Misrule’ and ‘The Seven Wonders of Crime.’ A seventh novel ‘The Riddle of Monte Verita’ by Jean-Paul Torok (“wonderfully captures and evokes the glory days of the detective story”) was published in 2012.

For information about signed and lettered editions of all seven novels, limited edition hardcover editions of Paul Halter’s award-winning short story collection ‘The Night of the Wolf,’ and future publication plans, please contact pugmire1@yahoo.com or go to www.lockedroominternational.com.