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bev_reads_mysteries's review against another edition
4.0
The French Powder Mystery (1930) by Ellery Queen has a quite startling beginning. A crowd is gathered on the sidewalk outside of French's Department Store (a very Macy's-like place) eager to watch the daily demonstration of the latest in modern furnishings. The store employee steps into the model living room and bedroom and noon, precisely, begins showing the spectators the amenities of the suite. The focal point is the Murphy bed, hidden in the wall until the demonstrator pushes an ivory button and out pops a most modern bed complete with satin sheets...and the crumpled body of woman.
It isn't long before the woman is identified as the wife of Cyrus French, owner of the store, and French's head of security wastes no time getting hold of the police. Inspector Richard Queen is called to the case and arrives with his son Ellery in tow. The police, including the inspector, tend to focus on the obvious clues, but Ellery's eyes are scanning everything and taking in all the minor details. Books on a desk, a glass-topped table, a setting for a card game, cigarette stubs in an ashtray, the dead woman's lipstick, the display of shoes in a closet and seemingly innocuous phrases in various witnesses' statements all catch his attention and add to the solution.
There are several suspects for the Queens to sift through--employees of the store, Winifred French's first husband, or perhaps even her missing daughter. Motives abound as well--the dead woman had headstrong ways and when she decided to interfere there was little to stop her. Perhaps she interfered just one too many times or perhaps she set her foot down on toes that had been trodden on more than enough? There are also hints that all is not as it should be at French's and maybe Mrs. French stumbled upon the secrets hidden underneath the oh-so-correct surface of the most proper department store. Leave it Ellery to sort through the clues and see through the lies and half-truths told by the suspects in order to hand his father the culprit on a silver platter (from French's kitchenware department, perhaps?).
An intricately plotted mystery with clues galore. I thoroughly enjoy the older Queen novels with cast of characters at the beginning, a few maps to help the reader get their bearings, and the challenge break where the reader is told they have all the information necessary to spot the culprit. I had my suspicions of the villain of the piece, but I can't say that I picked up (or understood) all of the clues Ellery displays at the end. A nicely done bit of sleight-of-hand on the part of Ellery Queen (Dannay & Lee).
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
It isn't long before the woman is identified as the wife of Cyrus French, owner of the store, and French's head of security wastes no time getting hold of the police. Inspector Richard Queen is called to the case and arrives with his son Ellery in tow. The police, including the inspector, tend to focus on the obvious clues, but Ellery's eyes are scanning everything and taking in all the minor details. Books on a desk, a glass-topped table, a setting for a card game, cigarette stubs in an ashtray, the dead woman's lipstick, the display of shoes in a closet and seemingly innocuous phrases in various witnesses' statements all catch his attention and add to the solution.
There are several suspects for the Queens to sift through--employees of the store, Winifred French's first husband, or perhaps even her missing daughter. Motives abound as well--the dead woman had headstrong ways and when she decided to interfere there was little to stop her. Perhaps she interfered just one too many times or perhaps she set her foot down on toes that had been trodden on more than enough? There are also hints that all is not as it should be at French's and maybe Mrs. French stumbled upon the secrets hidden underneath the oh-so-correct surface of the most proper department store. Leave it Ellery to sort through the clues and see through the lies and half-truths told by the suspects in order to hand his father the culprit on a silver platter (from French's kitchenware department, perhaps?).
An intricately plotted mystery with clues galore. I thoroughly enjoy the older Queen novels with cast of characters at the beginning, a few maps to help the reader get their bearings, and the challenge break where the reader is told they have all the information necessary to spot the culprit. I had my suspicions of the villain of the piece, but I can't say that I picked up (or understood) all of the clues Ellery displays at the end. A nicely done bit of sleight-of-hand on the part of Ellery Queen (Dannay & Lee).
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
robinwalter's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.0
Ellery Queen's "The French Powder Mystery" is really TWO mysteries: 1. How did Richard Queen rise to his rank when he needed his son to do ALL his thinking for him and spell out said thinking out loud & 2. how did he resist the urge to murder his insufferably superior son?
nichola's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
So the whole situation with the books felt so insane to me that I struggled to buy into this narrative. Also why am I defensive of Rodger? Like his son is fine but the old man really needs some more credit.
Content Warnings
Minor: Racism
There is a character that is used as a racial stereotype which is gross.luffy79's review against another edition
4.0
The title is misleading. There are two different powders present on the crime scene, but the case cannot be summed up in this title. I like this book. In the past perhaps it would have earned a perfect five stars. Just a friction in the reading experience which denied this fine book a perfect score. The story ends right where the identity of the murderer is revealed. The end is abrupt, so that one gasps. But I like it.
This is the second Ellery Queen book of my reading. The first, "The Roman Hat Mystery" was inferior to this one. The murderer for both books aren't colorfully and audaciously painted. Unlike other great mystery writers, the two writers of this book don't take pains in depicting characters that may be guilty. That's not how they operate. The paucity of detail for the murderer in hindsight reminds me of lesser, downright cozy mysteries. But make no mistake; this story is crafted in a masterful hand.
In the timeline of this work of fiction, the unveiling of the criminal takes 60 hours, counting from the murder itself. Due to this, there aren't any bloated side stories to take care of. There's no fat in the telling. Curiously, no evidence was available for nailing the culprit. That does occur sometimes, but in my naivety I thought the logical process in knowing the criminal would be proof itself even in court. But in all appearances that was not true. I'm happy having read this book and look forward to more from Ellery Queen.
This is the second Ellery Queen book of my reading. The first, "The Roman Hat Mystery" was inferior to this one. The murderer for both books aren't colorfully and audaciously painted. Unlike other great mystery writers, the two writers of this book don't take pains in depicting characters that may be guilty. That's not how they operate. The paucity of detail for the murderer in hindsight reminds me of lesser, downright cozy mysteries. But make no mistake; this story is crafted in a masterful hand.
In the timeline of this work of fiction, the unveiling of the criminal takes 60 hours, counting from the murder itself. Due to this, there aren't any bloated side stories to take care of. There's no fat in the telling. Curiously, no evidence was available for nailing the culprit. That does occur sometimes, but in my naivety I thought the logical process in knowing the criminal would be proof itself even in court. But in all appearances that was not true. I'm happy having read this book and look forward to more from Ellery Queen.
carolsnotebook's review against another edition
2.0
I like how the story opens, with the body being found in one of those large department store windows. We've got suspects galore, from family to the Board of Directors, and plenty of clues, both planted and actual. It's fair, I'll give it that. We have all the information, even though I didn't make the connections before the grand revelation, even when Queen steps out of the story and directly encourages the reader to make his/her guess.
But-
The French Powder Mystery is not quite what I'm looking for in a good story. The clues and solution are almost too complex. Ellery, the amateur, is quite obviously in charge of the investigation and almost make his father, the actual detective, seem old and incompetent. And I'm not quite sure what's up with their houseboy, cook, butler, Djuna, who occasionally sits on the floor like a monkey and may have Gypsy blood. Just seems racist and makes me a little uncomfortable. Also, I didn't buy the whole reason behind the crime, even though I liked how all the clues worked together, it still didn't feel real. Maybe that's in part because I'm looking at it from 2013 and not 1930.
But-
The French Powder Mystery is not quite what I'm looking for in a good story. The clues and solution are almost too complex. Ellery, the amateur, is quite obviously in charge of the investigation and almost make his father, the actual detective, seem old and incompetent. And I'm not quite sure what's up with their houseboy, cook, butler, Djuna, who occasionally sits on the floor like a monkey and may have Gypsy blood. Just seems racist and makes me a little uncomfortable. Also, I didn't buy the whole reason behind the crime, even though I liked how all the clues worked together, it still didn't feel real. Maybe that's in part because I'm looking at it from 2013 and not 1930.
ndms's review against another edition
4.0
This was fun!!! Definitely some questionable rhetoric of the time lmao but c’est la vie
krupahebbar's review against another edition
5.0
The political correctness corresponds, of course, to the era in which these books were written. But putting that aside, the mystery aspect is gripping and the opportunity to solve the crime yourself sets these books apart.
lachesisreads's review
4.0
A woman drops dead from a folded bed on display in a large store... and Ellery Queen saves the day (and the reputation of the blundering police).
This book started so-so for me. In some way, these mysterys have aged less well than others from the golden age of crime fiction. The "cool, hardboiled police slang" sounds rather quaint and sometimes even a little ridiculous to a modern ear, and the racial attitudes of the day that occasionally surface are jarring today.
But at about the halfway-mark it started picking up pace and I got invested in the story, and was completely engrossed by the time the big dénouement came around. The strong finish made this a 4 star, rather than a 3 star, book for me. I will definitely go on with the series now.
A very nice touch is that in all Ellery Queen mysteries (well, all I've read so far) there comes a point before the big revelation scene where the reader is addressed: The reader now has all the clues and hints in their hands, knows everything that the detectives know and could, theoretically, solve the crime without reading further.
There are no mysterious last clues produced in triumph as by slight of hand that the reader hadn't known about before, as it was often done in other mysteries.
All in all a very enjoyable read! I would definitely recommend this, particularly to readers who enjoy Christie, Chandler, Marsh or even Conan Doyle.
And, last but not least, this book was my entry for "A Classic Crime Story" for the Back to the Classics Challenge 2018.
This book started so-so for me. In some way, these mysterys have aged less well than others from the golden age of crime fiction. The "cool, hardboiled police slang" sounds rather quaint and sometimes even a little ridiculous to a modern ear, and the racial attitudes of the day that occasionally surface are jarring today.
But at about the halfway-mark it started picking up pace and I got invested in the story, and was completely engrossed by the time the big dénouement came around. The strong finish made this a 4 star, rather than a 3 star, book for me. I will definitely go on with the series now.
A very nice touch is that in all Ellery Queen mysteries (well, all I've read so far) there comes a point before the big revelation scene where the reader is addressed: The reader now has all the clues and hints in their hands, knows everything that the detectives know and could, theoretically, solve the crime without reading further.
There are no mysterious last clues produced in triumph as by slight of hand that the reader hadn't known about before, as it was often done in other mysteries.
All in all a very enjoyable read! I would definitely recommend this, particularly to readers who enjoy Christie, Chandler, Marsh or even Conan Doyle.
And, last but not least, this book was my entry for "A Classic Crime Story" for the Back to the Classics Challenge 2018.
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