The Night of the Wolf (2006)
Wildside Press, Rockville, MD
This is the first English translation of Paul Halter’s short mystery fiction. The book consists of ten “Impossible Crime” stories written mostly in the 1990’s. Mr. Halter has received both popular and critical acclaim in his native France for his atmospheric, plot-driven stories written in the tradition of John Dickson Carr’s best work. Carr (1906-1977) was a prolific American mystery writer who resided in England for several years, He is considered the greatest practitioner of the ‘Locked Room” or “Impossible Crime” murder mystery. He specialized in stories that featured a crime (usually a murder) that occurred in a locked or watched room into which there was no apparent access. An “Impossible Crime” story would run along the same lines in that a murder would be committed without any apparent means by any of the possible suspects.
Halter deploys at least three different detectives to solve the crimes. Owen Burns (a sort of Sherlock Holmes/Oscar Wilde combination) for stories set at the turn of the 19th century. Irving Farrell (an elderly man who has a knack of encountering unusual crimes in 1920’s England) and Dr. Alan Twist (a criminologist often called upon by the police to solve unusual crimes in mid to late Twentieth Century Europe).
Several of these stories take place during or just after a snowfall, which allows Halter to work his literary trickery with footprints (or the lack thereof) in the snow. Architecture plays an important role in his stories either by setting a mood or by playing a direct part in the mysteries themselves. Though the stories often have supernatural overtones, most of the solutions to the crimes are logically explained and a careful reader might, by correctly interpreting Halter’s clues, be able to solve the mysteries before the detectives offer their explanations.
Whether Halter is describing a murderous snowman, a dancing corpse, a modern “Lorelei”, an avenging ghost or a werewolf as seen from both the lupine and human perspectives, he often evokes the best of not only John Dickson Carr but the mastery of Agatha Christie and the artistry of G. K. Chesterton.
John Pugmire (a co-translator and great admirer of Halter) has provided this chronology of when the stories appearing in The Night of the Wolf were written:
1988 “The Dead Dance at Night”
1990 “The Night of the Wolf”
1992 “Rippermania”
1993 “The Tunnel of Death”
1998 “The Flower Girl”
1998 “The Call of the Lorelei”
1999 “Murder in Cognac”
2000 “The Cleaver”
2000 “The Golden Ghost”
2002 “The Abominable Snowman”
John has graciously provided the following information on additional Paul Halter short stories appearing in EQMM since the publication of The Night of the Wolf:
| June 2007 | “The Robber’s Grave” |
| Sep/Oct 2008 | “Nausicaa’s Ball” |
| June 2010 | “The Gong of Doom” |
| July 2012 | “The Man With the Face of Clay” (Owen Burns & Achilles Stock, 1912) |
| February 2014 | “Jacob’s Ladder” (Dr. Alan Twist) |
| March/April 2015 | “The Wolf of Fenrir” (Owen Burns & Achilles Stock, 1912) Burns relates a case to Stock from several years earlier that was unknown to Stock. The case involved a group of people in an isolated house in France, footprints in the snow, a wild dog/wolf, a stopped clock and an apparently impossible crime. The solution is satisfying and logical. |
| May 2016 | “The Scarecrow’s Revenge” (Dr. Alan Twist) In 1968 Dr. Twist is traveling in France when he is called upon to solve the mysterious death of a farmer killed by a scarecrow’s pitchfork. Halter reveals a key clue early in the story by which an experienced detective story reader can fairly easily solve the crime before Dr. Twist offers his explanation. Not a top notch effort by this talented writer. |
| July/August 2017 | “The Yellow Book” (Dr. Alan Twist) in 1938 Dr. Twist, again traveling in France, solves the riddle of the mysterious death of a retired French Army captain. It is a fairly-clued story in which Twist explains away supernatural possibilities with prosaic logic. |
| May/June 2018 | “The Fires of Hell” (Dr. Alan Twist) In mid-twentieth century London an expatriate Frenchman tells Twist of a series mysterious fires that occurred in a small town in Southwestern France during the 1920’s. The narrator is unreliable and the culprit is identified before Twist can offer his complete deductions. The tale leaves more questions than answers but it is still a decent “impossible crime” story with some some good misdirection. March/April 2019 “The Helm of Hades” (Owen Burns & Achilles Stock) in late 1930s London an expatriate Frenchman asks Burns to solve an impossible crime that he witnessed several years earlier. in Fontainebleau, France involving a wealthy archaeologist. |