View source for The Devil in Velvet

{{short description|1951 mystery novel by John Dickson Carr}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{infobox book
| name          = The Devil in Velvet
| title_orig    = 
| translator    = 
| image         = TheDevilInVelvet.jpg
| border        = yes
| caption       = First edition (US)
| author        = [[John Dickson Carr]]
| cover_artist  = 
| country       = [[United Kingdom]]
| language      = [[English language|English]]
| genre         = [[Mystery fiction|Mystery]], [[Detective fiction]], [[Historical novel|Historical fiction]]
| publisher     = [[Hamish Hamilton]] (UK) & [[Harper (publisher)|Harper]] (USA)
| release_date  = [[1951 in literature|1951]]
| media_type    = Print ([[Hardcover|Hardback]] & [[Paperback]])
| pages         = 335 (1st US)
| isbn          = 0-88184-328-8
| isbn_note= (Carroll & Graf paperback edition, 1987)
| oclc= 16415074
| preceded_by   = 
| followed_by   = 
}}

'''''The Devil in Velvet''''', first published in 1951, is a detective story by American writer [[John Dickson Carr]].  This [[novel]] is both a [[mystery novel|mystery]] and a [[Historical fiction|historical novel]], with elements of the [[supernatural]].

==Plot summary==

Cambridge Professor of history Nicholas Fenton, in the England of 1925, makes a bargain with the devil and is sent back in time to [[Restoration (England)|Restoration]] [[London]] in 1675 to solve a murder that is about to take place, in the body of Sir Nick Fenton.  Fenton soon finds himself in love with the intended victim, Sir Nick's wife Lydia, and resolves to alter the course of history by preventing her murder.  Fenton's mastery of 20th century swordsmanship makes him a fearsome antagonist in 1675, so much so that he becomes known as "the devil in velvet".  Also involved in the action is a woman who has also sold her soul to the devil and travelled back in time, and Fenton finds himself torn between the two women.  He must not only solve the approaching murder before it happens, but come to terms with Sir Nick's romantic and political entanglements—and even void his deal with the devil.

==Reception==
[[Anthony Boucher|Boucher]] and [[J. Francis McComas|McComas]] lauded ''The Devil In Velvet'' as an "unbelievably perfect fusion of time travel and diabolism with historical romance and pure detection," listing it among the best imaginative novels of 1951.<ref>"Recommended Reading," ''[[F&SF]]'', April 1952, p.96</ref>

==1952 television adaptation==
{{Infobox television episode
| series         = Studio One
| image          = <!-- bare filename only. Wikilinking, "File:", and pixel size not required. -->
| image_size     = <!-- raw number. "px" not required. -->
| image_alt      =
| caption        = 
| season         = 4
| series_no      = 
| episode        = 17
| director       = Paul Nickell
| writer         = [[Sumner Locke Elliott]]
| story          = 
| teleplay       = 
| based_on       = 
| narrator       = 
| presenter      = 
| music          = 
| photographer   = 
| editor         = 
| production     = 
| airdate        = {{Start date|1952|01|07}}
| length         = 60 mins
| guests         = 
| prev           = 
| next           = 
| season_article = 
| episode_list   =  
}}
The novel was adapted for television in 1952 as an episode of ''Studio One''.

The adaptation was done by [[Sumner Locke Elliott]] and the cast included [[Whit Bissell]] and [[Phyllis Kirk]].

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb title|qid=Q51619377|id=tt0712449|title=1952 television adaptation}}
{{John Dickson Carr}}
{{Sumner Locke Elliott}}
{{Faust navbox}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Devil in Velvet, The}}
[[Category:1951 American novels]]
[[Category:Novels by John Dickson Carr]]
[[Category:Fiction set in 1675]]
[[Category:Fiction set in 1925]]
[[Category:Novels set in the 17th century]]
[[Category:Novels set in the 1920s]]
[[Category:Novels set in London]]
[[Category:Novels about time travel]]
[[Category:1952 television plays]]
[[Category:Works by Sumner Locke Elliott]]


{{1950s-mystery-novel-stub}}
{{1950s-specf-novel-stub}}