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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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    « Looking Back: Pluck o' the Irish | Main | "A Hearse on May-Day" »

    March 18, 2013

    Comments

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    Margot Kinberg

    Les - Oh, I do like the mystery in this one. It may not count completely as 'an impossible crime,' but it's certainly a knotty little problem isn't it. I have to confess I like Ellery Queen's character a bit more in the later mysteries, where he has a slightly more human side if I can put it that way. That said though, this one shows his detective skills for sure.

    Les Blatt

    He's certainly more chastened and less over-sure of himself in the later books, Margot, particularly the Wrightsville books. In the early stories, he can be almost as unbearable as Philo Vance. You sort of want to take him aside and shout "LOSE THE PINCE-NEZ GLASSES, KID"...

    Sergio (Tipping My Fedora)

    This is the one that I read when I was 13 and became a life-long Ellery Queen addict. Admittedly there isn't enough there beyond the wonderful and bizarre central situation, but it is a very memorable one!

    Les Blatt

    I agree, Sergio - as another critic noted in the GAD Wiki, the story does tend to sag a bit in the middle. But the bizarre situation - and the explanation for it all - carries the book easily.

    George kelley

    I was a huge Ellery Queen reader when I was teenager. I loved the Challenge to the Reader feature (although I rarely figured out Whodunit). It's sad that most of the Ellery Queen classics are out-of-print.

    Les Blatt

    I've always preferred the first Ellery Queen novels, George, which is why I'm so pleased that the Mysterious Press and Open Road Media have brought most of them back in e-book format.

    Yvette

    Thanks for this, Les. I'm definitely going to get my hands on this one. Wow. It sounds like just my kind of mystery. I love a good puzzle.

    Les Blatt

    The early EQ books relied more heavily on the puzzle aspects of the story than they did on character, Yvette. I enjoyed the formal "challenge to the reader" as well, where the authors said, in essence, "we've given you every clue, so you should be able to figure out what really happened." I never could, but I enjoyed trying!

    The comments to this entry are closed.

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