C. Daly King

The Curious Mr. Tarrant

originally published:

1936

awards:

  • Queen's Quorum(1936)

reference info

bio notes:
born as: Charles Daly King

Born 1895, Died 1963. According to Edward Hoch, 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. (Booklist, September 15, 2003)