Showing results by author "Ellery Queen" in All Categories

John Lovering Benedict had more than most men - more money, more mansions, more cars, but most of all more women, including three ex-wives with little in common but their extraordinary physiques. For Ellery Queen the question was which one of them had bashed in Benedict's skull with a hunk of iron statuary? The clues were many…but puzzling. All had been planted at the scene of the crime, but by whom, and for what purpose? And who was the last woman in John Benedict's life?

Someone is threatening to kill the King, and Ellery must take on the task of saving his hated life. Virtual prisoners, Ellery and his father are whisked away to an island "somewhere in the Atlantic." In a frightening atmosphere of industrial slavery and brute militarism, Ellery comes to grips with a baffling murderer who calmly announces the exact moment of the assassination. The trouble is, Ellery is with the confessed murderer at the time of the crime - so how could he have possibly done it?

What is the connection of "Fowl Relief" and an English golf-playing king? Does the nickname of Jimmy Douglas' great-great-grandfather have any significance? Tie these answers with the other clues and the mystery of the purple bird is solved, but not until Djuna, the brilliant young sleuth, and his pal Jimmy go through an ordeal that almost takes their lives. The boys tangle with an antique dealer and a tiger-skin diary - just to name a few of the events - in their struggle to solve the mystery.

When those two enthusiastic fishermen, Djuna and his friend, Tommy, are offered a chance to spend the summer at fish-filled Silver Lake as the guests of Miss Annie Ellery, they are overjoyed. But great as the fishing proves to be, there is more in store: Silver Lake holds a mystery, and the boys find themselves swept up in a series of exciting and dangerous adventures, including an abandoned icehouse and two fires, as they help to solve it.

The banners waved, the crowd cheered, the reporters rushed toward the candidate as he made his way to the speaker's platform. And then a shot rang out. The candidate clutched at his chest, screamed, and fell dead. It was a pretty kettle of fish for Tim Corrigan, the crime solver with the eye patch and the stainless-steel nervous system. The suspects included the candidate's voluptuous widow, his handsome bodyguard, and a breathtaking young thing with every reason to want the candidate dead.

Old Slater O'Shea, the golden goose, was ruler of a peculiar roost. A gaggle of free-loading O'Sheas were lazing around the mansion, letting Slater foot the bills, while they waited for him to die and leave them his money. But Uncle Slater was in fine health, and someone got tired of waiting. When Slater went upstairs for a little nip before his nap, his bottle of bourbon was labeled "Rest in Peace".

Disc jockey Tutter King has it made. Every time he spins a platter on King's Session, gold comes out: TV earnings, returns on his secret holdings in recording companies - the old payola that some bright young men think only their rightful due. Tutter is a gay young man-around-town who has the world dancing to his tune. He is also involved in some hanky-panky with his pretty blond assistant, Lola Arkwright.

The Syndicate - led by gangster Larry Cutter - is trying to take over Iroquois. They want the town, mayor, and police chief in their pocket. So they kill chief Andy Saxon and one of his top men. Then they move into clean up. But they hadn't reckoned on the chief's son, Lieutenant Ted Saxon.

There is an epidemic of death in the town. Lila Connor, neighborhood flirt and sex goddess, lay dead in her home, victim of a nill-placed letter opener. Larry Connor, successful accountant and distraught husband, lay dead in his office, slain by the giant Mickey Finn. And at Shady Acres, Nancy Howell is crazy wondering who killed Lila and Larry. Is a killer even now hidden in Shady Acres, waiting for a chance to slay again?

All police sergeant Burt March wanted was a chance to recover from a recent brush with the Grim Reaper. Sun, fun, and a willing broad - that was all he needed. But the broad had along a sugar daddy with his own private squad of goons with guns. And when the fun began, Burt found himself the gunmen's number one target.

The four of them had only two things in common - their name and a love for the ladies. John Boce was a no-account accountant who lusted after food, drink, cars, and women. John Thompson was a secretive librarian who liked his books and his women well-stacked. John Viviano was a fashion photographer with a great feel for a body - any body! And John Pilgrim was a poetic bum who had the girls hanging on his every stanza. All of them wanted the same woman, but which one wanted her enough to kill?

Police captain Bartholdi sometimes indulged himself in a harmless fantasy. His thoughts, he would imagine, were irresponsible imps that wriggled out of his head and scampered around with an abandon that was often embarrassing. A woman had been kidnapped. The woman was dead. Bartholdi was convinced that a murderer was at that moment having a grim laugh at his expense. He knew who the murderer was. He would have bet his pension and his sacred soul that he knew.

Where is Harlan James? He is the indicted, bail-jumping leader of Banbury's militant Black Hearts who has gone underground… but whose rage, still heard on tape, is edging the city toward interracial terror. Harlan James calls for violence - for black protests, demonstrations, drastic political action against the city's white leaders. But did he also call for - or commit - murder?

Den døde har jakken omvendt på, bukserne vender den forkerte vej, det samme gør skjorten og vesten, værelset er endevendt. Ellery Queen har aldrig set noget lignende, og ingen synes at vide, hvem den døde er. Kun at vedkommende få timer tidligere henvendte sig til forlægger Donald Kirk. Kirk er leder af Mandarin Press, det førende forlag for udenlandsk litteratur, og desuden passioneret frimærkesamler: For ham og andre i toppen af virksomheden findes der ganske enkelt ikke noget smukkere end et sjældent frimærke.

Previously part of a collection, this rare Ellery Queen mystery is available as a standalone audiobook for the first time. In Wedding Anniversary, Ellery returns to Wrightsville just in time to witness the poisoning of his kindly host, the jeweler Ernst Bauenfel. To solve the puzzle of Ernst's death, Ellery must carefully analyze the dying man's last words.

The Tragedy of Errors is the lengthy and detailed plot outline for the final but never published Ellery Queen novel, containing all the hallmarks of the greatest Queen mysteries - the dying message, the succession of false solutions before the astonishing truth is revealed, and scrupulous fair play to the listener. And the theme is one that Queen had been developing for many years: the manipulation of events in a world going mad by people who aspire to the power of gods.

Gulliver Queen, nephew of the famous detective, Ellery Queen, doesn't want to be a detective. But when Gully and his new friend, Fisty Jones, investigate the strange underwater noises in the Hudson River, they suddenly find themselves deep in a mystery that Gully can't resist tackling. The menacing tattooed man, the weird one-eyed figure in the abandoned building, the strange but merry Magnus Merlin, magician extraordinaire - all add up to an exciting tale of danger and suspense on and under New York's waterfront.

"Katal!" The black bird repeated the two syllables again and again. "Katal! Katal!" As Gulliver Queen seeks out the meaning of the strange word, he is drawn into the world of international diplomacy - and dangerous espionage! As he follows the trail of clues, Gully acquires two friends from India who aid him in the search for a missing embassy guard.

Angel was a voluptuous child-woman, bouncing in and out of every bed in town, until she landed in the wrong one and found death was her lover. Now the town that had played voyeur to her indiscretions pounces upon Angel's husband, Jim, branding him cuckold and killer and screaming for blood. But what can Jim do when even the DA, last in a parade of Angel's lovers, is out to pin the murder on him? He has to find the one who played Angel false or let an avenging Angel cheat him again. Only this time he might pay with his life!

Tom Corrigan, the eye-patched detective with the knack for murderous situations, plunges into the wildest, farthest-out caper of his career. His assignment leads him to a splendid, but terrified, harem of veiled beauties, a millionaire sultan with a roving eye, and a gang of turbaned mystery men with a lust for violence. Corrigan's job: protect a priceless ruby as red as the color of murder.