A very different mystery for Ellery Queen this time. In the equivalent of the British “Country House”-style murder, Ellery and his dad are trapped in a house with a bunch of rather odd characters on top of a mountain while a forest fire blazes around the base. Obviously someone, Dr Xavier, the head of the house, is murdered but for the first time for Ellery Queen there is a finite set of suspects – so can Dannay and Lee (aka Ellery Queen the author) pull off a piece of literary legerdemain without resorting to the tried and tested “person that you’ve overlooked” trick that has been almost a constant in the first six books.
Added by: Socks | Karma: 29.40 | Black Hole | 26 January 2012
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The American Gun Mystery
The American Gun Mystery (1933) is among the earliest Ellery Queen stories. The murder of Buck Horne, an immensely popular star of early western silent films, occurs in full view of 20,000 rodeo fans in the Colosseum, New York's newest and greatest sports arena. Buck is leading forty cowboys around the arena in full gallop with guns held high firing blanks into the air when he falls from his horse and is trampled. His death is no accident; a small caliber bullet had entered his heart. As guests of the stadium's owner, Ellery and his father Inspector Queen had box office seats almost directly above where Buck Horne died.
The Egyptian Cross Mystery is a good introduction to Ellery Queen. In this fifth novel the young Ellery Queen can still be insufferable on occasion, although the presence of his college professor, Dr. Yardley, checks his impulse to exhibit his erudition. Ellery remains baffled by the bizarre murders as does the reader. A final clue hidden among detail suddenly provides Ellery, and the particularly observant reader, the key to the mystery. Stay alert for the final clue, despite deliberate distractions and misdirection.
