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    Mystery Publishers

    • Academy Chicago Publishers
      An imprint of the Chicago Review Press. Features a number of interesting authors, most long out of print, plus some other odds and ends, including some horror stories by Conan Doyle.
    • Crippen & Landru
      Crippen & Landru publish mystery short story collections. Of particular interest is what they call "Lost Classics," a series of anthologies of mostly uncollected stories by authors who might be enjoyed by a new generation of readers.
    • Dean Street Press
      This small British publisher has a great many classic crime books in its much broader catalog. They are bringing back many Golden Age classics by authors who deserve another chance at a new audience.
    • Felony & Mayhem
      This publisher specializes in classic mysteries, broadly defined, including newer mysteries that adhere to classic standards. They have just overhauled their website to make it much more informative and user-friendly.
    • Locked Room International
      A small press, specializing in very good English-language translations of (so far) mostly-French authors of locked room and impossible crime stories. They publish in Print-On-Demand and electronic editions.
    • Merion Press
      The Merion Press is an independent publisher of out-of-print works that were originally published over 75 years ago, but are enduring even today.
    • MysteriousPress.com
      The brainchild of editor/anthologist/author/bookstore-owner Otto Penzler, the Mysterious Press has recently returned to life and now works with Open Road Media as an electronic book publisher. It is already republishing the work of a lot of classic authors, with more books on the way.
    • Oconee Spirit Press
      A small, independent publisher committed to publishing "lively fiction, and provocative non-fiction." Most of their list covers early works by established authors writing traditional mysteries, such as Carolyn Hart and Margaret Maron.
    • Oleander Press
      This small eclectic British publisher has begun publishing a series of classic British mystery novels, primarily from the Golden Age. The series is grouped into a section of their catalogue named "London Bound," as the books are set in London.
    • Ostara Publishing
      "Ostara Publishing re-issues titles that have unjustifiably become unavailable either through the ravages of time or the forces of publishing economics. We specialise in Crime and Thriller fiction titles and our range goes from the1920s through to the 21st century. We publish thematically and currently have six series available. All our titles are published in a 'trade paperback' format and printed to order."
    • Poisoned Pen Press
      Based in Scottsdale, Arizona, the Poisoned Pen Press publishes a fairly wide variety of mysteries. Some are reprints; many are new, by newer authors. Their website has a great deal of information about their books and authors.

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    « "Death and the Chaste Apprentice" | Main | Missing in Action? »

    September 15, 2008

    "The Roman Hat Mystery"

    A few years ago, the Mystery Guild book club published a book called "Queen's Ransom," featuring three quite good and quite representative novels by Ellery Queen. As far as I can tell, the volume is the only collection of Queen novels still available in print.

    Still, if you're a Mystery Guild member, or interested in becoming one, I'd suggest you check out the book because it includes the very first Ellery Queen novel: The Roman Hat Mystery. First published in 1928, it introduced Ellery Queen - the detective character and the author - to the world, along with his father, Inspector Richard Queen, and some of the other regulars who inhabit the Queen novels.

    It's a good, solid mystery - a man is murdered in a Broadway theater. He is fully dressed in evening clothes, but his top hat is missing. Is that significant? Ellery Queen says it is - and he's right. It's an impossible crime situation and also a thoroughly fair puzzle, complete with a formal challenge to the reader to come up with the solution before Ellery explains it.

    It's a fine introduction to one of America's greatest Golden Age authors.

    Posted at 11:43 AM in Locked Rooms/Impossible Crimes |

    Tags: book reviews, classic mysteries, detective stories, Ellery Queen, fiction, Mystery Guild

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    Disclosure: Amazon Associates

    • As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
      That means that if you order anything from Amazon through a link from my site I get a small commission. As a result, I'd consider it a favor if you would consider making your purchases through my links. As always, though, if you have a local mystery book store, I encourage you to use them as your first choice. For anything else...thank you.

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