Product Description
An unknown dead man is found in the office of a prosperous publisher.His clothes are on backward, and all of the furniture in the room has been reversed.Ellery Queen continues to uncover "backward" clues--leading him to the identity of this puzzling victim. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Intellectual puzzle
Ellery Queen is both author and protagonist of this novel.It is one of a series which started in 1929 with "The Roman Hat Mystery" and as with the(superior in every way)Holmes and Watson tales the story is narrated by an admiring friend ,not the actual protagonist.The book -like all others in the series from this era -is scrupulously fair and shares a feature common to them all ,namely a "challenge to the reader"section which declares the reader is in possession of all the facts and clues required to solve the mystery.It then challenges her/him to do so.

This is a typical Queen tale from the 1930's .A man is murdered while waiting to see a wealthy New York publisher and collector named Donald Kirk,an old friend of Ellery's.The circumstances are bizarre to say the least-the waiting room furniture has been turned back to front ,the door is locked from the inside and the sole clue to the actions of the murdered man is the remains of a Chinese orange (in the UK a tangerine)in the waste bin.The victim's name is not known .There are no clues on his person to identify him and no-one has seen him in the vicinity of the crime .A range of potential suspects are questioned and statements takenprobing means ,motive and opportunity,all in the time honoured tradition of the genre.Ellery is aided in the investigation by his father Richard ,a policeman.
The focus of the book is not an character but deduction and detection.Ellery is essentially an intellectual loner , a walking cerebellum .What we get is a locked room mystery with a solution both ingenious and plausible .Stylistically the prose is unremarkable and the characterisation functional if somewhat perfunctory.It does mercifully lack the facetiousness and intellectualshowing off of the contemporaneous S S Van Dine books also set in New York society .

This is an ideal book and series for those who favour the traditional whodunnit and howdidhedoit crime novel and if that is your bag then please mentally add another star to my rating.I admire its intellectual rigour but favour the more hardboiled style of crime novel

This is one for those who enjoy and are good at puzzles of all kinds

Overrated as a locked room
Wildly overrated (#9 in a MWA poll of best locked-room mysteries). Even an average Carr locked room is more satisfying. Content is a bit thin; it would have made a better short story.

I highly recommend this book to all mystery fans!
When a man is found murdered, his clothes turned around, in a room where the furniture is turned around, Ellery Queen begins his investigation. But, what is the significance of everything being turned around? This is a most deep and confusing mystery, and more than one person is not telling the truth. How will Ellery solve this murder? Read this book to find out!

This is my second Ellery Queen book, and I must confess that I find the stories quite stimulating. I found the story to be quite gripping and characters to be wholly believable. I liked the illustration of the crime scene at the beginning of the book, and the way that the clues were laid out. I really enjoyed this book, and highly recommend it to all mystery fans!

Fascinating Mystery, But Difficult Solution
In a private waiting room in the prestigious Hotel Chancellor in New York City we encounter a dead man, a victim of a bizarre murder. The man's identity is unknown, even the labels from his clothing has been removed. The victim was completely undressed and then re-dressed in his clothes, but backwards. The furniture, paintings, lamps, and other items in the room has been inverted or reversed. The peeling and seeds of a tangerine (then known as a Chinese Orange) are found in a fruit bowl.

The full title of this Ellery Queen Mystery (April, 1934) is The Chinese Orange Mystery, A Problem in Deduction. I made little progress in solving this mystery. I repeat a hint offered by an earlier reviewer that might benefit the modern reader: a century ago men often used removable stiff collars that could be washed and starched separately, even discarded and replaced, allowing longer use of the dress shirt itself.

The Chinese Orange Mystery makes good reading, but like a good John Dickson Carr mystery of the same period, the solution may be beyond most mortals. But with the hint above, you might unravel a few more threads than I did. Due to the difficulty level, I recommend that the a reader new to Ellery Queen not begin with this particular mystery, but defer it until you are more familiar with his deductive skills.

In recent months I have read and reviewed several Ellery Queen classic mysteries from the 1930s. Ellery Queen today is unfamiliar to many contemporary readers, but I expect that these remarkable deductive mysteries will again become as popular as they were in the 1930s through the 1960s. It may not be easy to locate one of the earlier (1930s) Ellery Queen mysteries, but I assure you that the effort will be rewarded.

An all time mystery classic
This is one of my favorite all time mystery stories by Ellery Queen or any other author.. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Condition not as offered, even thoufh minimally acceptable.
Excellent period mystery [early 1930s].Poor overall condition of book -- small type, yellowed pages, poor paper quality, plenty signs of use --even though complete. Next time I'll go with new or excellent.

A Gem - Superbly Crafted - An Ellery Queen Classic
The Ellery Queen stories will remain among the most remarkable American classic mysteries ever written. And this superbly constructed story, The Greek Coffin Mystery, is among the best of Ellery Queen.

Ellery Queen first appeared in June, 1929 in The Roman Hat Mystery, followed by The French Powder Mystery (1931), and The Dutch Shoe Mystery (1932). The plot in the fourth story, The Greek Coffin Mystery (1932), actually pre-dates The Roman Hat Mystery and reveals a younger, less-experienced Ellery Queen. We readers see an overly confident Ellery Queen stumble in his deductions and are led through not one, but a several flawed solutions.

Not only is this "younger and cockier" Ellery Queen misled and chastised, but it will be a rare reader indeed that does not likewise become ensnared in faulty deductions and erroneous conclusions. Ellery Queen regains any lost prestige in his final, remarkable deductions that lead unerringly to the actual solution.

The New York City setting is an old, drooping brownstone at 11 East Fifty-Fourth Street. Adjacent to the Georg Khalkis residence is one of the oldest private cemeteries in the city. Georg Khalkis had died, apparently of heart failure. His burial is in an old brick-lined subterranean crypt.

I am hesitant to say anything more about the plot itself for fear that I might unwittingly say too much. Just be prepared to be surprised.

The reader acquainted with Ellery may notice that his penchant for quoting literature (and thereby exercising his ivy league education) is more marked in The Greek Coffin Mystery than in his later stories. We encounter literary and philosophical observations in English, French, German and Latin. Ellery is even able to roughly translate a note in modern Greek from his knowledge of the classical Greek language. Who but Ellery Queen would quote Byron, Goethe, Terence, La Fontaine, Chaucer, Rousseau, and Schopenhauer while solving a muder?

Like Nero Wolfe, another famous master of deduction, Ellery also enjoys an occasional vocabulary excess, treating the reader to expressions like`eremitic in its furnishings', `caparisoning his cousin',`greatest animus', and `the charming amanuensis'.

The Greek Coffin Mystery is classic Ellery Queen. The plot is intriguing, the characters are memorable, and Ellery Queen's exercise in deduction is simply dazzling. The Greek Coffin Mystery is no longer in print, but used copies, especially in paperback, are still available. Make the effort to find a copy. This is definitely a five star Ellery Queen masterpiece.

The most complex detective story I have ever read
I have read al lot of detective stories, but I have never found one with a more complex plot than this one. This is not like an Elizabeth George detective or something like that. This book focuses on the mystery. Even more special: the reader gets all the clues the detective finds (not like Sherlock Holmes, who keeps everything to himself), so you can find a solution yourself,........ but than you have to be brilliant!!
Read it!

superb
This is one of the first Ellery Queen's books that I read.Before I used to read books by 'Agatha Christie'.Being introduced to EQ character and his method of deduction for the first time had me hungry for more.As withthe other reviews regarding this book I agree with them totally.The grandfinale is mind boggleling.

Quite possibly one of the greatest mysteries ever written
Not even Agatha Christie in her prime could construct a detective story plot of this complexity, with so many delicious twists and turns.Ellery Queen investigates the murder of a man who was found mysteriously buried inanother man's coffin.There are many suspects, and as the story progressesthe plot just gets more and more complex (for most mysteries it's thereverse).

What's notable about THE GREEK COFFIN MYSTERY is the number ofsolutions.There are no less than four solutions to the mystery, but onlyone of them--the last one--is the true one.The final solution comes as agenuine shock--when I found out who the murderer was, I was momentarilytempted to throw down the book in disbelief.But Ellery Queen's carefuldeductive processes show that only (blank) could possibly have committedthe crimes.This is an absolute tour de force, a must-read for mysteryreaders like myself who have, until this point, lived under the illusionthat only English writers can construct ingenious plots.Ellery Queen hasmore than proven that the quality can be an American one as well. ... Read more

Product Description
Red & gilt leatherette cover, gilt page edges, red ribbon bookmark. ... Read more

Product Description
Red and gilt cover, gilt page edges, red ribbon book mark. ... Read more

Product Description
Mystery Anthology ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great Mysteries
Ellery Queen has gathered a bunch of great short mysteries to be enjoyed when you have a spare minute.A must have for any collector of Ellery Queen or any one that likes a quick mystery.
... Read more

Product Description
Ellery Queen, perhaps as famous as any fictional detective after Sherlock Holmes, was created by cousins Frederic Dannay and Manfred Lee over lunch one day in 1929. This led to more than 40 novels, a film series, a long and convoluted run on radio, and various runs on TV. For an initial $350 fee, Dannay and Lee would write one mystery per week, allowing both the guest armchair detective and radio listeners the opportunity to solve the mystery themselves, before the famous sleuth did.

This new publication includes a detailed account covering the lives of the creators, the how and why they moved llery Queen into radio, and a detailed history of the series during its long run on the airwaves (1939-48). Included in the chapters are reminiscences taken from interviews and correspondence with the creators themselves; with mystery writer and critic Anthony Boucher, who collaborated on more than 70 of the later radio adventures of the master detective; and with three of the actors who played Ellery over the years.

Includes an introduction by Larry Dobkin, who played Ellery Queen for a short time on the radio! Includes a detailed broadcast log with a chart showing various time slots, networks, sponsors, and competition. Brief biographies of cast and production crew. Capsule biographies of more than 350 personalities who appeared on the program as guest armchair detectives. A week-by-week log giving principal actors, announcer, director, composer-conductor, sponsor, script writer(s), plot synopsis, and much more. Appendices covering subjects like the early episodes of The Shadow that Dannay and Lee wrote without credit in order to learn the craft of radio writing, and other Ellery Queen incarnations on the radio. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

"Ellery Queen on Radio ... Sound of Detection ... Nevins & Grams (2002)"
OTR Publishing presents "THE SOUND OF DETECTION: ELLERY QUEEN'S ADVENTURES IN RADIO" (Paperback), by Francis "Mike" Nevins & Martin Grams Jr. --- My good friend and fellow St. Louisian Francis "Mike" Nevins is probably the foremost scholarly writer on Ellery Queen, plus another favorite writer of mine Martin Grams on the radio scene make an unstoppable team when it comes to bringing the Ellery Queen to the printed page --- As a youngster growing up radio was still the top entertainment for the masses --- Imagination was the key to the listener and that is something we've lost in todays society --- If you want and enjoy details on our favorite radio shows from the past, check out the entire history of this popular radio mystery, and how the individual episodes influenced mystery novels and mystery writers over the years.

Table of Contents (Title and Page Numbers)
A few Words in Remembrance (by Larry Dobkin) - vii
Preface (by Francis "Mike" Nevins) - ix
The Ellery of the Airwaves (by Francis "Mike" Nevins) - 1
Three Ellery Queen Radio Synopese (by Anthony Boucher) - 61
Ellery in the Shadow's Parlor (by William Nadel) - 81
Ellery Queen Radio Log (by Francis "Mike" Nevins & Martin Grams Jr.) - 84
Appendix A:
Author! Author! (by Francis "Mike" Nevins & Martin Grams Jr.) - 173
Appendix B:
Networks, Time Slots & Sponsors - 176
Appendix C:
Biographies in Brief: The Regulars - 186
Appendix D:
Biographies in Brief: The Guest Armchair Detectives - 196
Index - 243

.INCLUDED IN THIS BOOK:
1.A detailed broadcast log listing each and every 350 plus radio broadcasts, a chart showing various
time slots, networks, sponsors, competition, cast and writer credits, director credits & plot descriptions.
2.Brief biographies of the cast and production crew.Capsule biographies of the 350+ personalities
who appeared on the program as armchair detectives.
3.Appendixes covering subject like the early episodes of "THE SHADOW" that were written by
Dannay and Lee without receiving on-air credit (chapter written by Bill Nadel).
4.Three plot synopsis written by Boucher for the radio program that never got dramatized are reprinted for your enjoyment -- Which is very rare!

Highly recommend this book for all collectors and fans of "Old-Time Radio" and "Ellery Queen" junkies --- Run out and pick up your copy or just click on and purchase from Amazon --- See if you and your friends can solve the Ellery Queen mysteries before our favorite sleuth.

Total Page: 267 Pages ~ OTR Publishing #ISBN- 10: 0970331029 ~ (7/01/2002)

An exemplary account
I wonder if any of the Ellery Queen radio plays will ever be published!Or if any more have been discovered since the publication of this book, which might have been almost twenty years ago.Surely in all that time a few might have been discovered in a crate, trunk, or archive.I would love to havewhole book of them published, as we Ellery Queen fans haven't had anything substantial to chow down on since the publication of the TRAGEDY OF ERRORS outline a few years back.THE SOUND OF DETECTION is such a great book, makes you hungry to hear some of the scripts being acted out by the great character actors of the radio.It's literally haunting.I love the way the actress who played Nikki Porter got married to the producer of the show, Zachary, and then found her parts getting bigger and bigger--a la Irving Thalberg and Norma Shearer.And the cannibalization of Dannay and Lee, always feeding back on the prior products of their mind, is almost painful to read about.

Wonderful Scholarship!
Martin Grams once again demonstrates that he is one of our leading scholars of vintage radio drama.The Sound of Detection is THE total source-book on all-things radio related to Ellery Queen.If you are a mystery fan, an old time radio fan, or just interested in how a literary propety transfers into another medium, this is the book for you. Bravo, Mr. Grams!

VOYAGE TO GREAT DETECTION
The booki is full of information and great reading experience. I give it only 4 stars because of the lack of photos to make this volume even better. BUY IT! ... Read more

Product Description
MysteryLarge Print EditionIts April 1944 and Ellery Queen has been working for the military making films in Hollywood. Driving through Death Valley on his way home, his car breaks down. Stumbling over a rise in the desert, he encounters an odd man who seems to come from an earlier time, and is welcomed into his community as a sort of prophet. Queen must root out a growing corruption while operating within the limits of an alien world and comes to the realization that evil can invade the most guarded of peoples hearts and societies. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

NOT a typical Ellery Queen tale
First, I have a HarperCollins copy of this book in softcover, published in 1994, 5" x 8", 157 pages. The work was originally published in 1964.

While the saga is slated as a "mystery," and murder does in fact ensue, this story just doesn't fall into the arena of Christie, Rinehart, or even previous Ellery Queen. It's more like a "Cadfael" entry.

A contemporary guy is transported back in time (spiritually speaking) when he gets stranded, and drawn into, an isolated religious community in the American southwest. These folks have existed for generations, virtually unknown to the outside world, only sending out one or two members for necessary supplies once in a great while to a small general store which is located in the desert boondocks. Think "The Village," (superb 2004 film).

Our protagonist interacts with these people and finds himself in the position of "investigator," when a murder occurs among the flock. Why does he feel compelled to solve the mystery? Because these pious folks have their own VERY unusual justice system, (which is also a bit rusty from lack of use), and the wrong guy might just be getting tagged for this one.

Folks, this is a very compelling tale, albeit an all-too-short one. In any case, it's a page-turner. Highly recommended. ... Read more