QED, Queen's Experiments in Detection: Stories

Ellery Queen

Jul 2015 · Open Road Media

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The legendary detective investigates the death of a chrysanthemum king, as well as fourteen other mysteries in this short story collection.

When Godfrey Mumford retired to focus on his chrysanthemums, he was worth a little over $5 million. A decade later, his family gathered for his birthday, he delivers shocking news: Thanks to poor investments on behalf of his financial manager, every penny is gone. The house is mortgaged, the stocks are sold—the only valuable item remaining is a priceless chrysanthemum pendant that once belonged to the emperor of Japan. It is Mumford’s prized possession, and it will be his doom. Soon after Mumford is paralyzed by a stroke, he is found murdered. The bizarre death catches the eye of world-famous detective Ellery Queen, who will unravel the mystery of this novella, Mum’s the Word, with the same elegance that he brings to each of the stories in this marvelous collection.
 

Autoren-Profil

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 was later 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.