Steal from the Best
Something Old: The Problem of Cell 13, by Jacques Futrelle
Something New: The Book of the Dead, by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the publication of one of the greatest stories ever written. “The Problem of Cell 13″, by Jacques Futrelle, was published as a serial in The Boston American newspaper in 1907, and it has been published and re-published many times since. I would imagine that aside from a half-dozen stories by a guy named Doyle it is the most anthologized mystery story ever.
Brains and ingenuity are the stock-in-trade of Futrelle’s character, Professor Augustus S. F. X. Van Dusen. After quickly learning the rules of chess he defeated a world champion in an exhibition, and the newspapers have dubbed him The Thinking Machine as a result. The Problem of Cell 13 features the consequences of a bet that Van Dusen makes in the course of a friendly dinner discussion. He bets that he can “think himself out” of a jail cell, that is, that he can “so apply his brain and ingenuity that he can leave a cell”. He has to cleverly make use of the limited resources available to him to accomplish what he wants to do.
Arrangements are made with the warden to have Van Dusen admitted to a cell, and treated like any other prisoner. And then the fun starts.
If you know how to read, then you should read this story. Early on it was recognized as a classic, and when Queen conducted his informal poll of writers and critics to select the best detective story ever in 1950, The Problem of Cell 13 came in sixth. (Doyle had a story higher on the list, as did five other very worthy writers. More on those another time.) I don’t think it has slipped very far down the list since.
Futrelle wrote more than 40 stories about Van Dusen. As you might guess, the stories have puzzles to be solved at their heart, and Futrelle was also a born storyteller who had a way with narrative drive. You can read them all here:
Start with Cell 13, and then try a lesser known but no less brilliant story called “The Problem of the Crystal Gazer.”
In 1995, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child’s thriller Relic was published. It was a mind-blower. These guys took the high concept of a thriller and added the ingenuity of an old-fashioned detective story to come up with the best mystery/crime/suspense/thriller/horror novel since The Silence of the Lambs.
Since then they’ve written 10 more books, some standalone, some in a series. The Book of the Dead, out in paperback several weeks ago, again takes place against the setting they have exploited so successfully, the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan, and again stars FBI agent Aloysius Pendergast and his evil brother Diogenes. The Preston/Child books wander wonderfully across the line separating the supernatural from the natural, and often you don’t know which kind of book you’re in until the end.
In Book of the Dead, Pendergast finds himself in solitary confinement in a jail cell. He has to cleverly make use of the limited resources available to him to accomplish what he wants to do. Interestingly enough, he does exactly what The Thinking Machine did over 100 years ago! In this particular case they really are using the ingenuity of an old-fashioned detective story.
That’s terrible, you might say. Well, maybe. I admit I would have enjoyed the story more if the writers had tipped their hats by having Pendergast say something along the lines of “Just a trick I learned from my old friend Futrelle.” Certainly Preston and Child have demonstrated that they can come up with great ideas on their own, and these particular items are not at the core of the story.
But sometimes it’s hard to resist borrowing, especially when an idea is so good, and so little known to the public at large. While you’re reading Futrelle’s Thinking Machine stories on that web site I provided above, why don’t you pay close attention to one called, “Kidnapped Baby Blake, Millionaire,” and compare it to a certain story written by a man named Poe 60 years earlier.
Always steal from the best.
Bonus Bookfling: Jacques Futrelle was only 37 years old when he went down on the Titanic after making sure his wife got into a lifeboat. Read more about Futrelle’s life and the Titanic tragedy in this Mystery Scene article by Jeff Marks.