The Emperor's Snuff-Box

1942 novel by John Dickson Carr

The Emperor's Snuff-Box
First edition (US)
Author	John Dickson Carr
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Genre	Mystery, Detective novel
Publisher	Harper (US) Hamish Hamilton (UK)
Publication date	1942 (US), 1943 (UK)
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)

The Emperor's Snuff-Box is a non-series mystery novel (1942) by mystery novelist John Dickson Carr.^[1] The detective is psychologist Dr. Dermot Kinross.

The novel takes place in France and concerns a jeweled snuff-box in the shape of a pocket watch said to have belonged to Napoleon. A pretty young Englishwoman living in France forms a romantic attachment and becomes a suspect in the murder of her fiancé's father; the theft of a valuable necklace and the smashing of the snuff-box are also mysteries to be solved. The novel served as the basis for the 1957 film That Woman Opposite, for which Compton Bennett wrote the screenplay.

It is considered one of Carr's great novels and is considered the best among the best mystery plots with no locked room murders, impossible crimes, or supernatural elements.

References

^ Joshi, S. T. (1990). John Dickson Carr: A Critical Study. Bowling Green State University Popular Press. pp. 55–59. ISBN 978-0-87972-477-1.

Works by John Dickson Carr

Sir Henry Merrivale series

Novels	The Plague Court Murders (1934) The White Priory Murders (1934) The Red Widow Murders (1935) The Unicorn Murders (1935) The Punch and Judy Murders (1936) The Ten Teacups (1937) The Judas Window (1938) Death in Five Boxes (1938) The Reader is Warned (1939) And So to Murder (1940) Murder in the Submarine Zone (1940) Seeing is Believing (1941) The Gilded Man (1942) She Died a Lady (1943) He Wouldn't Kill Patience (1944) The Curse of the Bronze Lamp (1945) My Late Wives (1946) The Skeleton in the Clock (1948) A Graveyard to Let (1949) Night at the Mocking Widow (1950) Behind the Crimson Blind (1952) The Cavalier's Cup (1953)
Short stories	Merrivale, March and Murder (1991)

Novels

The Plague Court Murders (1934)
The White Priory Murders (1934)
The Red Widow Murders (1935)
The Unicorn Murders (1935)
The Punch and Judy Murders (1936)
The Ten Teacups (1937)
The Judas Window (1938)
Death in Five Boxes (1938)
The Reader is Warned (1939)
And So to Murder (1940)
Murder in the Submarine Zone (1940)
Seeing is Believing (1941)
The Gilded Man (1942)
She Died a Lady (1943)
He Wouldn't Kill Patience (1944)
The Curse of the Bronze Lamp (1945)
My Late Wives (1946)
The Skeleton in the Clock (1948)
A Graveyard to Let (1949)
Night at the Mocking Widow (1950)
Behind the Crimson Blind (1952)
The Cavalier's Cup (1953)

Short stories

Merrivale, March and Murder (1991)

Gideon Fell series

Novels	Hag's Nook (1933) The Mad Hatter Mystery (1933) The Eight of Swords (1934) The Blind Barber (1934) Death-Watch (1935) The Hollow Man (1935) The Arabian Nights Murder (1936) To Wake the Dead (1938) The Crooked Hinge (1938) The Black Spectacles (1939) The Problem of the Wire Cage (1939) The Man Who Could Not Shudder (1940) The Case of the Constant Suicides (1941) Death Turns the Tables (1941) Till Death Do Us Part (1944) He Who Whispers (1946) The Sleeping Sphinx (1947) Below Suspicion (1949) The Dead Man's Knock (1958) In Spite of Thunder (1960) The House at Satan's Elbow (1965) Panic in Box C (1966) Dark of the Moon (1968)
Short story collections	Dr. Fell, Detective, and Other Stories (1947) The Men Who Explained Miracles (1963) Fell and Foul Play (1991)

Novels

Hag's Nook (1933)
The Mad Hatter Mystery (1933)
The Eight of Swords (1934)
The Blind Barber (1934)
Death-Watch (1935)
The Hollow Man (1935)
The Arabian Nights Murder (1936)
To Wake the Dead (1938)
The Crooked Hinge (1938)
The Black Spectacles (1939)
The Problem of the Wire Cage (1939)
The Man Who Could Not Shudder (1940)
The Case of the Constant Suicides (1941)
Death Turns the Tables (1941)
Till Death Do Us Part (1944)
He Who Whispers (1946)
The Sleeping Sphinx (1947)
Below Suspicion (1949)
The Dead Man's Knock (1958)
In Spite of Thunder (1960)
The House at Satan's Elbow (1965)
Panic in Box C (1966)
Dark of the Moon (1968)

Short story
collections

Dr. Fell, Detective, and Other Stories (1947)
The Men Who Explained Miracles (1963)
Fell and Foul Play (1991)

Henri Bencolin series

Novels	It Walks By Night (1930) Castle Skull (1931) The Lost Gallows (1931) The Waxworks Murder (1932) The Four False Weapons (1937)
Short stories	"The Shadow of the Goat" "The Fourth Suspect" "The End of Justice" "Murder in Number Four"

Other novels

As John Dickson Carr	Poison in Jest (1932) The Burning Court (1937) The Emperor's Snuff-Box (1942) The Bride of Newgate (1950) The Devil in Velvet (1951) The Nine Wrong Answers (1952) Captain Cut-Throat (1955) Patrick Butler for the Defense (1956) Fire, Burn! (1957) Scandal at High Chimneys (1959) The Witch of the Low Tide (1961) The Demoniacs (1962) Most Secret (1964) Papa La-Bas (1968) The Ghosts' High Noon (1970) Deadly Hall (1971) The Hungry Goblin (1972)
As Carter Dickson	The Bowstring Murders (1934) The Third Bullet (1937) Drop to His Death (1939) The Department of Queer Complaints (1940) Fear Is the Same (1956)

As John Dickson Carr