Henri Bencolin

2025-11-03T03:28:57Z

2001:8003:2640:F600:4CC4:DDEA:1264:3372:

{{short description |Fictional detective character}}
{{More citations needed |date=February 2024}}
{{Use American English |date=February 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates |date=February 2024}}
{{Infobox character
| name = Henri Bencolin
| series =
| image =
| caption =
| first = ''The Shadow of the Goat''
| last = ''The Four False Weapons''
| creator = [[John Dickson Carr]]
| portrayer =
| gender = Male
| occupation = Magistrate
| nationality = French
}}
'''Henri Bencolin''' is a fictional [[detective]] created by [[John Dickson Carr]]. He was Carr's first series detective, appearing in five "locked-room" and "impossible crime" mystery novels in the 1930s, and four short stories that appeared even earlier. In later decades, Carr did not return to the Bencolin character, but instead focused on creating English sleuths such as [[Dr. Gideon Fell]] and [[Sir Henry Merrivale]].

==Biography==
Bencolin is a ''[[juge d'instruction]]'' ([[examining magistrate]]) in the [[Paris]] judicial system, and occasionally takes private cases. During World War I, he served as a French spymaster. Bencolin has a forbidding appearance. The narrator of the stories, American writer Jeff Marle, describes him as looking "Satanic", and characterizes his manner with witnesses and suspects as sometimes very harsh. He is sophisticated and cultured, and written to appeal to an American audience that would associate France and French people with sophistication.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Verdaguer |first=Pierre |title=Borrowed Settings: Frenchness in Anglo-American Detective Fiction |journal=[[Yale French Studies]] |date=2005 |issue=108 |pages=146–159 |doi=10.2307/4149304 |jstor=4149304 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4149304 |access-date=14 February 2024 |issn=0044-0078 |quote=Frenchness-and even excessive Frenchness—is associated in Anglo-American crime fiction with upper-class elegance and poise. |archive-date=February 14, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240214120645/https://www.jstor.org/stable/4149304 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==List of stories==
===Short stories===
The short stories in which Bencolin appears were all originally published in ''[[The Haverfordian]]'':

*"The Shadow of the Goat"
*"The Fourth Suspect"
*"The End of Justice"
*"The Murder In Number Four" (1928)

===Novels===
*''It Walks By Night'' (1930)
*''The Lost Gallows'' (1931)
*''Castle Skull'' (1931 – not published in the UK until c. 1980)
*''The Waxworks Murder'' (1932)
*''The Four False Weapons'' (1937)

==Spin-off==
Bencolin is mentioned in Carr's book ''Poison in Jest'' (1932), but does not appear in it. The novel, however, is narrated by Marle.

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{John Dickson Carr}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bencolin, Henri}}
[[Category:Book series introduced in 1930]]
[[Category:Characters of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction]]
[[Category:Literary characters introduced in 1926]]
[[Category:Fictional French police detectives]]
[[Category:Fictional French people]]
[[Category:Novel series by featured character]]
[[Category:John Dickson Carr characters]]

Sir Henry Merrivale

2025-11-03T03:14:56Z

2001:8003:2640:F600:4CC4:DDEA:1264:3372: /* Character */

{{notability|date=May 2023}}
{{Infobox character
| name = Sir Henry Merrivale
| series =
| image =
| caption =
| first = ''[[The Plague Court Murders]]'' (1934)
| last = ''[[The Cavalier's Cup]]''
| creator = [[John Dickson Carr|Carter Dickson]]
| portrayer =
| nicknames = The Old Man, H. M., The Maestro
| gender = Male
| occupation = Government official, barrister
| nationality = British
| family = Kitty Bennett (sister)
| spouse = Lady Merrivale
| children = Two daughters
| relatives = James Bennett (nephew)
}}

'''Sir Henry Merrivale''' is a fictional amateur [[detective]] created by "Carter Dickson", a [[pen name]] of [[John Dickson Carr]] (1906–1977). Also known as "the Old Man," by his initials "H. M." (a [[pun]] on "His Majesty"), or "the Maestro", Merrivale appears in 22 of Carr's [[locked-room mystery|locked-room mysteries]] and "impossible crime" novels of the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s,<ref>Greene, Douglas G. (1995). ''John Dickson Carr: The Man Who Explained Miracles. pps. 474-478.''</ref> as well as in two short stories.

==Character==
Merrivale is a fairly serious character in the early novels but becomes more of a comic figure in the later books, sometimes bordering on the grotesque. Much of the humor surrounding the character derives from his outbursts of temper and his absurdly colourful language. In many of the stories, he is accompanied by Chief Inspector Humphrey Masters of Scotland Yard, who is more down-to-earth by contrast.

When first introduced as a character, he is described as an older man nearing retirement. In later works, he talks explicitly about his age. In the 1940 novel ''And So to Murder'', set in late 1939, Merrivale refers to himself as being almost 70. In the 1941 novel ''Seeing is Believing'', while dictating his memoirs, he even gives his date of birth, February 6, 1871, which is consistent with his earlier comment. But his age becomes more ambiguous in subsequent novels. In the final books in the series, when he theoretically would be in his 80s, there's no indication that he has been slowed by the years.

He is a [[baronet]] and a [[barrister]] – in ''[[The Judas Window]]'' he actually appears for the defence in court in a murder case – and he holds a medical degree. He has a number of other talents, including stage magic, disguise and a vast knowledge of the history of crime.

Merrivale occasionally mentions his family — a wife, two daughters and (late in the series) two sons-in-law. With his characteristically comic gruffness, he is inclined to complain about the trouble these relations give him, but none of them appear in any of the books or stories.

Due to the nebulous government position he holds and his eccentric personality, he is thought to have been partially based on [[Winston Churchill]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Amos |first1=William |title=The Originals: Who's Really Who in Fiction |date=1985 |publisher=Cardinal |page=353}}</ref>

==Appearances==
#''[[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 (UK title: ''The Magic Lantern Murders'')
#''[[The Ten Teacups]]'' - 1937 (US title: ''The Peacock Feather Murders'')
#''[[The Judas Window]]'' - 1938 (alternate US paperback title: ''The Crossbow Murder'')
#''[[Death in Five Boxes]]'' - 1938
#''[[The Reader is Warned]]'' - 1939
#''[[And So To Murder]]'' - 1940
#''[[Murder in The Submarine Zone]]'' - 1940 (US title: ''Nine - And Death Makes Ten'', also published as ''Murder in the Atlantic'')
#''[[Seeing is Believing (novel)|Seeing is Believing]]'' - 1941 (alternate UK paperback title: ''Cross of Murder'')
#''[[The Gilded Man (novel)|The Gilded Man]]'' - 1942 (alternate US paperback title: ''Death and The Gilded Man'')
#''[[She Died A Lady]]'' - 1943
#''[[He Wouldn't Kill Patience]]'' - 1944
#''[[The Curse of the Bronze Lamp]]'' - 1945 (UK title: ''Lord of the Sorcerers'', 1946)
#''[[My Late Wives]]'' - 1946
#''[[The House in Goblin Wood]]'' - 1947 (short story)
#''[[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

==In other media==
HM appeared in "Death in the Dressing Room", an episode of the radio anthology series ''Murder Clinic''.<ref>{{cite web |title=MURDER CLINIC: Radio's Golden Age of Detection|url=https://mysteryfile.com/M_Clinic.html |access-date=November 2, 2023|work=mysteryfile.com}}</ref> [[Roland Winters]] played the part.

''[[And So to Murder]]'' and ''[[The Judas Window]]'' were adapted for the BBC anthology series ''[[Detective (TV series)|Detective]]''. Merrivale was played by [[Martin Wyldeck]] and [[David Horne (actor)|David Horne]] respectively.

''[[He Wouldn't Kill Patience]]'' was adapted for the [[BBC Home Service]] in 1959, with [[Felix Felton]] portraying Sir Henry.

In Anthony Shaffer's play ''[[Sleuth (play)|Sleuth]]'', mystery writer Andrew Wyke's most famous character is an aristocratic detective named St. John, Lord Merridew. This character was inspired by Sir Henry Merrivale, and the character of Wyke was inspired by Carr.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040619022214/http://www.mysterylist.com/carr5.htm Appraisal of all the HM books]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20061016160507/http://www.booksandwriters.co.uk/writer/C/john-dickson-carr.asp John Dickson Carr] at Books and Writers

{{John Dickson Carr}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Merrivale, Henry}}
[[Category:Literary characters introduced in 1934]]
[[Category:Characters of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction]]
[[Category:Fictional amateur detectives]]
[[Category:Fictional British detectives]]
[[Category:Novel series]]
[[Category:John Dickson Carr characters]]

{{novel-char-stub}}

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Henri Bencolin

Sir Henry Merrivale