Showing results by author "Ellery Queen" in All Categories

Madman or murderer? That was the question, and it was Police Inspector Omar Collins who had come up with the answer. All he had to go on was: the victim - Earl Genneman, wealthy president of Genneman Labs; the scene - right in the middle of a busy state park; the murder weapon - a shotgun that was still missing; the witnesses - Myron Retwig, Red Kershaw, Bob Vega, and Buck James, all friends or employees of the deceased; the motive - unknown; the suspects - everyone!

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.

John Vallancourt, the cool, calm diplomat, is worried stiff. A dear friend is dead and his daughter Nancy is missing. John fears the worst – and the worst is Nancy's sweetheart Keith Rollins. Keith is the prime suspect in the case and he is running scared, dragging Nancy into danger with him. If Keith is a murderer, John is certain of one thing: He has to catch Keith before the cops do, or he might find himself with one very dead daughter!

The nice, mild man named Edward Tollman had a problem. His lovely wife was missing, and he wanted her back--fast. So he went to a fellow whose specialty was solving problems like that--a very private detective called Barney Burgess. Burgess' methods were not pleasant, but they got results. Burgess was used to sordid scenes and secrets.

Previously part of a collection, this rare Ellery Queen mystery is available as a standalone audiobook for the first time. In "The Three Students", Ellery is challenged to solve an imaginary riddle devised by three members of the Puzzle Club. He must decide which of the titular trio (handily named Adams, Barnes, and Carver) stole a valuable ring from a university president's desk.

Previously part of a collection, this rare Ellery Queen mystery is available as a standalone audiobook for the first time.

Previously part of a collection, this rare Ellery Queen mystery is available as a standalone audiobook for the first time. In "The Odd Man", Ellery is challenged to solve an imaginary riddle devised by three members of the Puzzle Club. With very little information to go on, he must correctly answer to his confreres which of their three imagined suspects is a secret criminal.

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.

In "Uncle from Australia", a typical fun-and-games short story, Ellery interprets the dying message of an uncle from down under and must determine which of his greedy relatives skewered him for an inheritance.

Who killed Cox, the robber? Was it Ruth Tully, who visited Crandall Cox on the night of his death and who might have decided to quench a torrid past with a spray of bullets? What about Sandra Jean, the knock-'em-dead beauty who knew more than she was telling about the sudden demise of blackmailer Cox? Or had some past scandal driven lawyer Ollie Hurst and his wife, Norma, to claim the blackmailer's life? Dave Tully didn't know who the killer was, but if he didn't find out fast, the price of failure could be death....

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.

Some men retire on a hundred grand...or buy their wives mink coats with days of the week sewn in the lining...or fly to Rio for a good cup of coffee - but not Jim Morgan. Jim had a hundred thousand all right - neatly packed in stacks of 50s - only someone had made an expensive mistake. A mistake that put him on the run for his money - as well as his life.

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.

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?

"Let's face it, Alex: you were the KGB's top assassin, and they paid you off. Just as we might. A cushy lieutenant-colonelcy in Tokyo, riding pour le sport , a yacht, your pick of Eurasian dolls... Like? We can do you better in the USA, Alex--come on over, and bring your secrets with you." That was FACE's pitch to the would-be defector, and it got results. Witness one hell of a nice courier slashed and dumped in a Tokyo alley.

Joe Maddox was one of moviedom's most successful producers. But could he produce $200,000 in time to save his wife, his scriptwriter, and his leading lady? They didn't know. All three were held at gunpoint in a deserted California beach house, but they'd find out one way or another....

The horribly crushed body that crashed onto the Manhattan pavement has at least two names, several passports, and an address book full of important friends - among them, a millionaire roué; his exotic, deadly mistress; and his coolly beautiful wife - all of whom seem to have forgotten him very abruptly when he became a corpse. No one is talking, so it is up to Captain Corrigan, the man with the eye patch and a way with crime, to solve a violent puzzle of lust, greed, high espionage - and the worst kind of murder.

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.

Free passes to the circus seemed pretty exiting to Djuna and his friend, Tommy Williams, and things promised to be even more exiting when they met their old friends, Socker and Cannonball, at the entrance gate, but they were only the start of a hair-raising experience. The boys soon learned that the newspaper reporter and the state trooper were trying to uncover a pack of tricksters who were cheating the circus audiences.

This is the wonderful adventure story of Djuna, a young boy who uses his eyes, his head, and his little Scottie dog, Champ, who uses his nose to sniff out clues. There is also Mr. Scissors, the traveling knife grinder, who is driving though the country in a wonderful caravan with his young granddaughter, Joan. There are also two wicked men who are cruel to Mr. Scissors; a reporter named Socker Furlong; and Miss Annie Ellery, who plays a surprising part at the end.