The Night of the Wolf

Paul Halter, whose “The Crimson Fog” was named #2 in Publisher’s Weekly’s Top Mysteries of 2013 presents ten superb tales of locked rooms and impossible crimes.

Coffins dancing in a hermetically sealed crypt; a tunnel that murders people; a werewolf killer who leaves no trace on the snow; a victim killed by an invisible hand at the top of a guarded tower; a homicidal snowman that kills in front of witnesses...there cannot be a rational explanation for these and other hideous crimes; and yet there is. Each story is a glittering example of the brilliant plotting and atmosphere of foreboding that characterized the Golden Age of detective fiction, of which Paul Halter is the current master.

This is a republication of the original “The Night of the Wolf,” which garnered critical acclaim when it first came out in 2006:

Publisher’s Weekly (*starred review): "Most of the 10 outstanding stories in this collection from French author Halter, the first English-language edition of his work, center on an impossible crime, a still potent subgenre that was once a fixture of last century's golden age of detective fiction.”

Mystery Scene: “This is the most important collection of locked room stories in years, and fans of brilliant puzzles….will love it.”

Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine: “For the devotee of locked rooms, impossible
crimes, and other features of classical detective fiction, reading these stories is like discovering
a hitherto unknown cache of tales by G.K. Chesterton or John Dickson Carr."

Ed Hoch, himself a prolific contributor to EQMM: “As Paul Halter's stories begin reaching
American readers in EQMM and elsewhere, I think they'll discover a combination of baffling
mystery and eerie atmosphere not encountered since the glory days of John Dickson Carr.”

One of the stories “The Flower Girl” was short-listed for the Barry award for best short story of the year 2006

“The Night of the Wolf” collection, not to be confused with the short story of the same name, is also available in e-book form via Kindle, and hardcover Signed and Lettered editions are available by contacting [email protected]