The Eight of Swords

1934 novel by John Dickson Carr

For the tarot card, see Eight of Swords.

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The Eight of Swords

First US edition

Author| John Dickson Carr
Language| English
Series| Gideon Fell
Genre| Mystery, Detective novel
Publisher| Hamish Hamilton (UK)
Harper (USA)

Publication date

| 1934
Publication place| United Kingdom
Media type| Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages| 225
Preceded by| The Mad Hatter Mystery
Followed by| The Blind Barber

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.[1] It is a mystery novel of the type known as a whodunnit.

## Plot summary

[edit]

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 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.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "The Eight of Swords: A Dr. Gideon Fell Mystery | ISBNdb". isbndb.com. Retrieved April 6, 2025.

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Works by John Dickson Carr

Sir Henry Merrivale series|

| Novels|

* The Plague Court Murders (1934)
* The White Priory Murders (1934)
* The Red Widow Murders (1935)
* The Unicorn Murders (1935)
* The Punch and Judy Murders (1936)
* The Ten Teacups (1937)
* The Judas Window (1938)
* Death in Five Boxes (1938)
* The Reader Is Warned (1939)
* And So to Murder (1940)
* Murder in the Submarine Zone (1940)
* Seeing is Believing (1941)
* The Gilded Man (1942)
* She Died a Lady (1943)
* He Wouldn't Kill Patience (1944)
* The Curse of the Bronze Lamp (1945)
* My Late Wives (1946)
* The Skeleton in the Clock (1948)
* A Graveyard to Let (1949)
* Night at the Mocking Widow (1950)
* Behind the Crimson Blind (1952)
* The Cavalier's Cup (1953)

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Short stories|

* Merrivale, March and Murder (1991)

Gideon Fell series|

| Novels|

* Hag's Nook (1933)
* The Mad Hatter Mystery (1933)
* The Eight of Swords (1934)
* The Blind Barber (1934)
* Death-Watch (1935)
* The Hollow Man (1935)
* The Arabian Nights Murder (1936)
* To Wake the Dead (1938)
* The Crooked Hinge (1938)
* The Black Spectacles (1939)
* The Problem of the Wire Cage (1939)
* The Man Who Could Not Shudder (1940)
* The Case of the Constant Suicides (1941)
* Death Turns the Tables (1941)
* Till Death Do Us Part (1944)
* He Who Whispers (1946)
* The Sleeping Sphinx (1947)
* Below Suspicion (1949)
* The Dead Man's Knock (1958)
* In Spite of Thunder (1960)
* The House at Satan's Elbow (1965)
* Panic in Box C (1966)
* Dark of the Moon (1968)

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Short story
collections|

* Dr. Fell, Detective, and Other Stories (1947)
* The Men Who Explained Miracles (1963)
* Fell and Foul Play (1991)

Henri Bencolin series|

| Novels|

* It Walks By Night (1930)
* Castle Skull (1931)
* The Lost Gallows (1931)
* The Waxworks Murder (1932)
* The Four False Weapons (1937)

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Short stories|

* "The Shadow of the Goat"
* "The Fourth Suspect"
* "The End of Justice"
* "Murder in Number Four"

Other novels|

| As John Dickson Carr|

* Poison in Jest (1932)
* The Burning Court (1937)
* The Emperor's Snuff-Box (1942)
* The Bride of Newgate (1950)
* The Devil in Velvet (1951)
* The Nine Wrong Answers (1952)
* Captain Cut-Throat (1955)
* Patrick Butler for the Defense (1956)
* Fire, Burn! (1957)
* Scandal at High Chimneys (1959)
* The Witch of the Low Tide (1961)
* The Demoniacs (1962)
* Most Secret (1964)
* Papa La-Bas (1968)
* The Ghosts' High Noon (1970)
* Deadly Hall (1971)
* The Hungry Goblin (1972)

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As Carter Dickson|

* The Bowstring Murders (1934)
* The Third Bullet (1937)
* Drop to His Death (1939)
* The Department of Queer Complaints (1940)
* Fear Is the Same (1956)

Other works|

* The Murder of Sir Edmund Godfrey (1936)
* The Life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1949)
* The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes (1954)

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