  ueens Full
(1965)
 Foster Benedict, aging matinee idol, was doing
the lead in the Wrightsville production of The Death of Don Juan. He didn't like playing
the sticks, and he was sabotaging the performance, turning it into a farce... It was "murder, murder most foul...." |
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| "Should have an avid audience. Contains 3 fine meaty puzzle-novelettes in best Queen tradition." -- Anthony Boucher, The New York Times | |
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| Above left to right: dust and hardcover for Random House; hardcover for Book Club Edition Random House; dust cover for Gollancz (1966). (Click on the covers to see the differences) * | |
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Three Queen novelets ... The Death of Don Juan "On stage and in life, he was Don Juan, the Great Lover. But was this the clue to the knife in his back?" This Wrightsville novelette with another dying clue, is probably the best of the bunch. It certainly caught the imagination of most artists asked to provide a cover for this collection. Anthony Boucher claimed "The Death of Don Juan" to be "a prime specimen of the true whodunit, complete with baffling clues and faultless amateur detection". Police Chief Anselm Newby has replaced old reliable Chief Dakin! |
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| Above: "Don Juan, the Great Lover, would never again break a female heart!" illustration by Sanford Kossin (Argosy 5/62) for "The Death of Don Juan". | |
| The Wrightsville Heirs "Young Amy Upham inherited a million dollars - but there was a death warrant in the will" Another visit to Wrightsville. Amy Upham, orphan companion to wealthy Bella Livingston, is the creator of an atmosphere of fear produced by the visit of Bella's stepchildren, Samuel Jr. Everett and Olivia ... for the old lady hasn't long to live and Herbert Wentworth, family lawyer, has indicated a new will in Amy's favor. Then Bella is murdered - and Ellery Queen is summoned to find the answer. Amy is terrified knowing that a killer is loose, and that she may be the next victim of a ruthless and clever schemers. She clings to Ellery for protection ... |
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| Above: "There was no love lost between Mrs. Livingston and her three stepchildren. But murder? - that was different. Or so they said." Illustration detail for the first part of "The Wrightsville Heirs" as published in Better Living, Jan 1956. | |
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The Case against Carroll This story is having Ellery in doubt again but providing a clear surprising ending. Unusual since the story is told from Ellery's point of view (and partly from the suspect's). Better than many would suggest! Though names, details and clues are very different this story seems to be the main outline for the TV plot of Ellery Queen's "The Adventure of the Wary Witness". The Queen story evokes Hitchcockian circumstances when Carroll is caught by partner Hunt while borrowing some money. The latter, of course, dies and Carroll is the main suspect. Ellery is called in to clear Carroll of the murder. When it turns out that Carroll was also attracted to Hunt's wife things don't get any easier for Ellery. Just wondering if the following provided inspiration. In 1936 the film The Case Against Mrs. Ames featured a debutante Madeleine Carroll (by 1938 she was world's highest paid actress.) The film has a similar storyline where one Matt Logan, officer of the O.M., falls in love with the beautiful Carroll. Problem is she is a suspect in the murder of her husband. |
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and a pair of Queen short shorts E = murder "The dead scientist's fist clutched a crumpled ball of paper. The single letter scrawled on it held the clue- but what did it mean?" "E Equals Murder" involves a top-secret Pentagon project; a shapely young wife - or rather, widow; and a clue that would mean nothing to anyone but the infallible Ellery. Here is a Queen's puzzler to the king's taste." (Clifton Fadiman) |
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Diamonds in Paradise A cross dressed man steals a diamond from a Broadway singer at The Paradise Gardens, and falls to his death while trying to escape. Delivered as if it was the punch line to a joke, he reveals the place where he hid the diamond with his last words: “Diamonds in Paradise.” |
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 Other articles on this book (1) Reading Ellery Queen - Diamonds in Paradise Jon Mathewson (2) Reading Ellery Queen - The Wrightville Heirs Jon Mathewson (3) Reading Ellery Queen - The Case against Carroll Jon Mathewson (4) Reading Ellery Queen - The Death of Don Juan Jon Mathewson (5) Reading Ellery Queen - E=Murder Jon Mathewson (6) The Coincidence of the Two Events on a Night with a Full Moon Ho-Ling (July 22. 2011) |
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