A murder in a crowded Broadway theater presents a full house of suspects--the first in this classic mystery series starring Ellery Queen Despite the dismal Broadway season, Gunplay continues to draw crowds. A gangland spectacle, it's packed to the gills with action, explosions, and gunfire. In fact, Gunplay is so loud that no one notices the killing of Monte Field. In a sold-out theater, Field is found dead partway through the second act, surrounded by empty seats. The police hold the crowd and call for the one man who can untangle this daring murder: Inspector Richard Queen. With the help of his son Ellery, a bibliophile and novelist whose imagination can solve any crime, the Inspector attacks this seemingly impenetrable mystery. Anyone in the theater could have killed the unscrupulous lawyer, and several had the motive. Only Ellery Queen, in his debut novel, can decipher the clue of the dead man's missing top hat.

A stylish puzzle mystery from the author who "took the intellectual game that was the formal detective novel to greater heights than any American writer" ( The Weekly Standard ). The windows of French's department store are one of New York's great attractions. Year-round, their displays show off the finest in fashion, art, and home décor, and tourists and locals alike make a point of stopping to see what's on offer. One afternoon, as the board debates a merger upstairs, a salesgirl begins a demonstration in one of the windows, showing off French's new Murphy bed. A crowd gathers to watch the bed lower from the wall after a single touch of a button. But as the bed opens, people run screaming. Out tumbles a woman--crumpled, bloody, and dead. The victim was Mrs. French, wife of the company president, and finding her killer will turn this esteemed store upside down. Only one detective has the soft touch necessary--debonair intellectual Ellery Queen. As Queen and his police inspector father dig into French's secrets, they find their killer is more serious than any window shopper.

Based on the Sherlock Holmes film: Ellery Queen matches wits with the Baker Street sleuth to unmask Jack the Ripper. Ellery Queen is struggling over his latest book when a friend brings him a mystery. It is a journal, written by a Victorian doctor, of reports on the remarkable adventures of his close friend, a brilliant detective named Sherlock Holmes. Queen's surprise turns to amazement as he turns its pages and discovers the lost story of Sherlock Holmes's greatest case: the pursuit of Jack the Ripper. From the brothels and back alleys of fog-choked Whitechapel to the manor of one of England's greatest families, Holmes and Dr. Watson chase history's most fearsome killer. But it will take the brilliance of Ellery Queen to solve the case once and for all. Based on the Sherlock Holmes film A Study in Terror , this collaboration between two of the world's greatest detectives is one of the most original mystery novels of all time.

About the Author Ellery Queen was a pen name created and shared by two cousins, Frederic Dannay (1905 1982) and Manfred B. Lee (1905 1971), as well as the name of their most famous detective. Born in Brooklyn, they spent forty-two years writing, editing, and anthologizing under the name, gaining a reputation as the foremost American authors of the Golden Age fair play mystery.Although eventually famous on television and radio, Queen s first appearance came in 1928, when the cousins won a mystery-writing contest with the book that would eventually be published as "The Roman Hat Mystery". Their character was an amateur detective who uses his spare time to assist his police inspector uncle in solving baffling crimes. Besides writing the Queen novels, Dannay and Lee cofounded "Ellery Queen s Mystery Magazine", one of the most influential crime publications of all time. Although Dannay outlived his cousin by nine years, he retired Queen upon Lee s death.

Raised in Japan by American expatriates, Karen Leith now lives a reclusive life in New York, known chiefly for her highly regarded novels, of which the latest has won a major American literary award. When she is found on the floor behind her desk, surrounded by blood, it looks like foul play. But the only possible suspect is Leith's future daughter-in-law, Eva, who has recently become engaged. Eva swears by her innocence, even though she was the last to hear Leith alive and the first to find her dead. Eva was waiting outside Leith's office to share the happy news and maintains that no one entered through that door, while the room's other possible exit was locked. The only one who can help her clear her name is mystery writer Ellery Queen, an acquaintance of the victim through New York's literary circles. Queen intends to unravel the locked-room mystery, but with no murder weapon and too many incriminating fingerprints, this case just might be one even he can't solve.

mystery novel actually ghost written by Charles W. Runyon

Mystery, Fictional Novel