Rim of the Pit is a locked-room mystery

Locked room mystery

The locked room mystery is a sub-genre of detective fiction in which a crime—almost always murder—is committed under apparently impossible circumstances. The crime in question typically involves a crime scene that no intruder could have entered or left, e.g., a locked room...

 novel written by Hake Talbot

Hake Talbot

Hake Talbot was an American writer chiefly known for his impossible crime mystery novel Rim of the Pit . His real name was Henning Nelms , which he reserved for writing non-fiction about showmanship .During a poll by experts in 1981 arranged by Edward D...

, a pen name of Henning Nelms. Nelms published one other mystery novel as well as two short stories. After 1945, when it became very difficult to publish mystery fiction, Nelms could not get his third novel published. He then stopped writing fiction and to this day no copy of his third novel has been found. Nelms is, of course, best known as a magician, and wrote what is widely considered to be one of the most important books on the performance of magic: Magic and Showmanship: A Handbook for Conjurers.

In a poll of 17 detective story writers and reviewers, this novel was voted as the second best locked room mystery

Locked room mystery

The locked room mystery is a sub-genre of detective fiction in which a crime—almost always murder—is committed under apparently impossible circumstances. The crime in question typically involves a crime scene that no intruder could have entered or left, e.g., a locked room...

 of all time, behind John Dickson Carr

John Dickson Carr

John Dickson Carr was an American author of detective stories, who also published under the pen names Carter Dickson, Carr Dickson and Roger Fairbairn....

's The Hollow Man

The Hollow Man (1935 novel)

The Hollow Man is a famous locked room mystery novel by the American writer John Dickson Carr , published in 1935. It was published in the US under the title The Three Coffins, and in 1981 was selected as the best locked room mystery of all time by a panel of 17 mystery authors and reviewers.-Plot...

.

Plot

A group of people gather at a remote snowbound lodge in the wilds of northern New England. A seance is held in order to reach the dead husband of the medium. Remarried, the medium's husband wants permission from the dead man to open a tract of land to logging. During the seance it appears that the spirit of the dead man returns to possess one of the group, using him as an instrument to murder another of the group.

The hero, Rogan Kincaid, is an adventurer who takes it upon himself (with help from a Czech refugee, the daughter of the dead man, and others), to solve the mystery before the police are brought in. As impossibilities pile up (including a locked room murder, footprints that begin and end in the middle of an expanse of snow, and a murderer who seems to be able to fly after being taken over by a Windigo

Wendigo

The Wendigo is a mythical creature appearing in the mythology of the Algonquian people. It is a malevolent cannibalistic spirit into which humans could transform, or which could possess humans...

), it looks like the only explanation is a supernatural one.