Twenty-five years ago John Farnleigh, the heir to the baronetcy of Mallingford and Sloane, then a young and wild boy exiled to America, survived the sinking of the Titanic. It’s now 1937, two years after he returned to England to claim his inheritance. Only is he really the heir? Another man has just shown up also claiming to be John Farnleigh, explaining that, as boys, the two men switched identities as the ship was sinking. The key to solving the mystery lies with an old set of fingerprints taken by young Farnleigh’s tutor.

But before the two men’s fingerprints can be compared one member of the household has his throat cut in plain sight by an unseen hand. Everyone is pretty certain the crime isn’t the work of a ghost. Odder yet, the victim is the last person one would expect to be murdered. Fortunately, Dr. Gideon Fell, an amateur sleuth with a knack for solving impossible crimes, happens to be staying at the local pub.

First published in 1938, The Crooked Hinge is considered one of the best books by the acknowledged master of the locked room and impossible crime.

约翰·狄克森·卡尔 John Dickson Carr（1906-1977）,美国宾州联合镇人,父亲是位律师。从高中时代起卡尔就为当地报纸写些运动故事,也尝试创作侦探小说和历史冒险小说。1920年代末卡尔远赴法国巴黎求学,他的第一本小说《夜行者》（It Walks By Night）在1929年出版。他曾经表示：「他们把我送去学校,希望将我教育成像我父亲一样的律师,但我只想写侦探小说。我指的不是那种旷世巨作之类的无聊东西,我的意思是我就是要写侦探小说。」

1931年他与一位英国女子结婚定居英国。在英国期间,卡尔除了创作推理小说外也活跃于广播界。他为BBC编写的推理广播剧“Appointment with Fear”是二次大战期间BBC非常受欢迎的招牌节目。美国军方因而破例让他免赴战场,留在BBC服务盟国人民。1965年卡尔离开英国,移居南卡罗来纳州格里维尔,在那里定居直到1977年过世。

卡尔曾获得美国推理小说界的最高荣耀──终身大师奖,并成为英国极具权威却也极端封闭的「推理俱乐部」成员（只有两名美国作家得以进入,另一位是派翠西亚．海史密斯Patricia Highsmith）。卡尔擅长设计复杂的密谋,生动营造出超自然的诡异氛围,让人有置身其中之感。他书中的人物常在不可思议的情况下消失无踪,或是在密室身亡,而他总能揭开各种诡计,提出合理的解答。他毕生写了约80本小说,创造出各种「不可能的犯罪」,为他赢得「密室之王」的美誉。著名的推理小说家兼评论家埃德蒙．克里斯宾（Edmund Crispin）就推崇他：「论手法之精微高妙和气氛的营造技巧,他确可跻身英语系国家继爱伦坡之后三、四位最伟大的推理小说作家之列。」