Double, Double by Ellery Queen

Double, Double by Ellery Queen, the pseudonym of novelists duo Frederic Dannay and Manfred Bennington Lee, published in 1950 featuring novelist and detective Ellery Queen, was also published with the alternative title The Case of the Seven Murders.

Ellery Queen receives an anonymous letter with two newspaper clippings. The first one nearly two months old reports the death of Luke MacCaby, the Town Hermit, of heart failure. The next clipping reports that John Spencer Hart, President of Wrightsville Dye Works, committed suicide unable to face bankruptcy and prison. One is a heart failure, the other is suicide, neither seemed to be linked nor criminal. But somebody has linked it. These two clippings have been sent to Ellery Queen. How are these deaths related? Three days later Ellery Queen receives another envelope reporting the disappearance of Tom Anderson, the Town Drunk. How are these three incidents related? Rima Anderson, Tom Anderson's daughter approaches Ellery to find out about the disappearance of her father. What will Ellery uncover? When more deaths follow, and Ellery realises that somebody is killing off people in tune with a famous children's rhyme. There are various versions of the rhyme available, what version is the killer using? Will Ellery stop further deaths? Everything is not as appears, the town hermit whom everybody thought was penniless was a rich man, the President of Dye Works whom everybody thought was a rich man was in fact poor, who else is leading a double life?

I spotted the killer quite early, just a little thing threw me off, just as Ellery Queen novelists duo expected. But I was back again on the same track because there is really no where else to go. I like the chapter in the end where Ellery explains everything. I wish all crime novels had this kind of explanation. I know, in real life it is not possible to provide explanations for everything. That's why, I read fiction, I can work out most of the things, but give me the final chapter with all the explanations some I have worked out, making me feel clever and some I hadn't worked out, making me feel the writer is more clever, after all the book is world they created. Oh yes! This book made me feel clever, being able to see beyond the double smokescreen, but I hadn't worked out everything, making me respect and look for other work by Ellery Queen.

I borrowed an ebook from Openlibrary

The Tragedy of Z- A Drury Lane Mystery by Ellery Queen

I picked this book for the London place name theme I am doing for the Vintage Mystery Reading Challenge hosted by Bev. This book does not take place in London but in New York but has a London place name in its title.

The story is narrated by Patience Thumm, daugther of ex-Inpsector Thumm of New York Police. Elihu Clay, a businessman, requests the Thumms to investigate his partner Dr. Ira Fawcett, brother of Senator Joel Fawcett for fraud. Patience and Thumm stay at Elihu Clay's place trying to investigate the Fawcetts. They end up investigating a murder-murder of Senator Fawcett. Senator Fawcett is found murdered in his home. Who murdered him and why? Aaron Dow newly released prisoner from County jail is suspected. Though Patience logically proves(?) that Dow could not have committed the murder, nobody listens to her and Dow is arrested for the murder. Drury Lane is a famous retired Shakespearean actor who also investigates cases. Drury doesn't actively get involved in the case until the end.

Thumms go to investigate something, when their investigation is stopped for some reason, why don't they come back home? How long will they stay in somebody's house doing nothing? Don't they have anything else to do? And what happened to their initial investigation?

Patience is very observant, logical and is good at deductive reasoning and proves her skills early on. It has all the elements of a great detective story, mysterious past, spies, mysterious stranger leaving the premises, footprint in the ash etc. There are some codes to solve. But you cannot solve the code. You need to wait for Drury to do it. I lost interest somewhere on the way. I hardly ever abandon a book and not losing interest is never the reason. So I burrowed away to dig up a diamond in the end.

The finale is interesting, everything is summed up nicely, Drury Lane sets up an electrifying scene, explains the whole thing in a logical way eliminating suspects and finally revealing the murderer. If not for anything, the climax alone makes this book worth reading. I did not guess the killer.

I do wish Patience Thumm had more to do. Despite her intelligence, observation skills and deductive reasoning, she just solves the minor things, leaving the major things for Drury Lane. There are some bits of humour but very very little, after all it is the Tragedy of Z.

The book was orginally published in 1933 under the pseudonym of Barnaby Ross. I borrowed it from the Open Library.

My post for Crime Fiction Alphabet letter T.

The Scarlet Letters by Ellery Queen

It is ordered that Miss Batcheller for her adultery shall be branded with the Letter A.
- Unknown, Records of Maine Province (1651)

It was around this law that Nathaniel Hawthorne wove the story of The Scarlet Letter

No, I am not going to write about Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. This is about The Scarlet Letters by Ellery Queen published in 1953.

Dirk and Martha Lawrence are considered one of the happiest couples in New York. Of late, there seems a shadow over their happiness. There are times when Dirk lost his temper in public over no reason and Martha looked like a "dull pigeon". Martha is Nikki 's friend and Nikki, Ellery's Girl Friday. Did I say written by Ellery Queen featuring Ellery Queen the Mystery writer and amateur detective?

Dirk is also a Crime Fiction writer only of the darker sort. With his failing career, Dirk's moods become darker. He is convinced that Martha is having an affair. Martha is a nice girl, not the kind of girl you would expect to do something like that. Martha approaches Ellery to help her in anyway possible.

A good secretary can save a writer's career! I am not saying this, Ellery is! Ellery decides to lend Nikki not only to save his writing career but keep him sane and save Martha. Nikki notes that Martha is indeed seeing somebody. She gets Letters written in Scarlet with the day, time and .....a letter of the alphabet every week. ( like our crime fiction alphabet)

Thursday, 4 P.M., A

Will Ellery find out what code they are using? What is Martha doing? Why not divorce Dirk? Knowing Dirk, how can she meet somebody on the sly, hoping to get away with it. How long will Ellery and Nikki play the guardians? Can they make Martha see reason before Dirk becomes murderous?

This is the second Ellery Queen book I am reading. The first one I read was The Tragedy of Z, a Drury Lane mystery, it was disappointing except for the final denouement. This book had me glued to the screen(ereader), despite the murder not taking place until the end. I was wondering what was Martha up to? More than that, how long can  somebody interfere in other's lives? What are Nikki and Ellery up to? There was a sense of something going to happen. You kind of know what is going to happen. There is an interesting mystery at the end that Ellery solves. I can't say much without spoiling it to you. Some of it is probably a bit far fetched nevertheless an enjoyable mystery.

I borrowed the book from Open library.

My post for Crime Fiction Alphabet S and Colour coded challenge.