Twenty-five years ago John Farnleigh, the heir to the baronetcy of Mallingford and Sloane, then a young and wild boy exiled to America, survived the sinking of the Titanic. It’s now 1937, two years after he returned to England to claim his inheritance. Only is he really the heir? Another man has just shown up also claiming to be John Farnleigh, explaining that, as boys, the two men switched identities as the ship was sinking. The key to solving the mystery lies with an old set of fingerprints taken by young Farnleigh’s tutor.

But before the two men’s fingerprints can be compared one member of the household has his throat cut in plain sight by an unseen hand. Everyone is pretty certain the crime isn’t the work of a ghost. Odder yet, the victim is the last person one would expect to be murdered. Fortunately, Dr. Gideon Fell, an amateur sleuth with a knack for solving impossible crimes, happens to be staying at the local pub.

First published in 1938, The Crooked Hinge is considered one of the best books by the acknowledged master of the locked room and impossible crime.