The Skull of the Waltzing Clown [图书] 豆瓣
作者: Harry Stephen Keeler publishing house: Wildside Press 2021 - 8
I My guiltiest pleasure is Harry Stephen Keeler. He may have been the greatest bad writer America has ever produced. Or perhaps the worst great writer. I do not know. There are few faults you can accuse him of that he is not guilty of. But I love him." —Neil Gaiman
Shirt salesman George Stan-nard returns from Hawaii to find that his racist uncle Simon wants him to pay off a loan that he made to George's father years ago. Or he can do Simon a favor by getting the goods on Titus Fenwick, a gambler who's had experience with Pau-Ho, the odd Hawaiian drug that causes amnesia for 6 weeks. Dash in a dollop of diabolism in the persona of Lucifer Zull, the cruel ship captain, and you have the makings of a webwork mystery that only a master like Keeler could have penned.
A Note for the Sensitive: This book was first published in 1935 and is a product of its time. It is not politically correct by current standards.

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瑕瑜互见的遗憾之作——这部作品于1934年出版,彼时的奎因兄弟交出了国名系列第八作的《中国橘子之谜》,阿加莎出版了至上的名作《东方快车谋杀案》,卡尔则以《普雷格庄园谜案》为自己的HM系列交出了高质量的开篇之作——而keeler的这部作品被干碎至此也完全是名副其实,毕竟相比于当时的一众大家大作而言,本作的优缺点实在过于明显。
本作严格意义上而言没有什么奇特之处,故事的实验性在于“全程大半的网状叙事由限定在固定场景内的二人对话引出”,从借据到信件再到小说甚至还可以自己讲故事,铺陈紊乱而且在前期没有明显的线路串联,一直到百分之八十的部分还在开枝散叶,没有什么明显的谜团,就连悬念都很淡薄,宛若在看一堆梦话。直到最后的一个揭露,猛然重构了整个故事——但是,仔细盘完,又觉得实在有些土味了。
以上。