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bookish_arcadia's review against another edition
2.0
I am a huge fan of traditional mysteries, where the puzzle is more important than the actual crime. Add in an eccentric and preferably amateur detective and I’m usually hooked. Not so here. This was my first Ellery Queen story but it could well be the last. I found the writing style infuriating, in prose and dialogue there was an abundance of broken sentences and far too many ellipsis as though neither the characters nor the writer(s) were capable to finishing a thought or a sentence.
The story itself is irritatingly gimmicky. All of the theatrical complications were frankly ridiculous and I found them less entertaining than infuriating. It may be considered one of the best locked-room mysteries but I almost put it down with only a few pages of exposition to go, simply because I couldn’t bring myself to care. The balance between complication and convincing puzzle is simply off. It wasn’t difficult to work out who the murderer was but the how and the why were horribly contrived. The constant references to the old, tired ideas of the exotic, esoteric East were deeply trying.
Ellery’s irascible Police Inspector father was a welcome foil to all the showboating and folderol (and I normally like this feature on my mysteries!) and his men offered most of the more believable deductions. At one point he bemoans his son’s unlikely theorising, declaring
I can’t help but agree. I did however enjoy the interactions between father and son.
The story itself is irritatingly gimmicky. All of the theatrical complications were frankly ridiculous and I found them less entertaining than infuriating. It may be considered one of the best locked-room mysteries but I almost put it down with only a few pages of exposition to go, simply because I couldn’t bring myself to care. The balance between complication and convincing puzzle is simply off. It wasn’t difficult to work out who the murderer was but the how and the why were horribly contrived. The constant references to the old, tired ideas of the exotic, esoteric East were deeply trying.
Ellery’s irascible Police Inspector father was a welcome foil to all the showboating and folderol (and I normally like this feature on my mysteries!) and his men offered most of the more believable deductions. At one point he bemoans his son’s unlikely theorising, declaring
“I give up. Go the whole hog. Go puzzlin’ your brains about Chinese oranges and Mexican tamales and alligator pears and Spanish onions and English muffins, for all I care! All I say is—can’t a man eat an orange without some crackpot like you reading a mystery into it?”
I can’t help but agree. I did however enjoy the interactions between father and son.
pussreboots's review
4.0
Over the summer while Sean was taking his swim lessons I read through three Ellery Queen mysteries: The Penthouse Mystery, The Chinese Orange Mystery and The Dutch Shoe Mystery.
Both The Penthouse Mystery and The Chinese Orange Mystery cover the clashes and misunderstandings between American and Chinese cultures. Although the overall set up of The Chinese Orange Mystery (1934) is more challenging than The Penthouse Mystery (1941), Ellery Queen is far more ignorant of Chinese culture than he is in the later novel.
The set up is this: a John Doe is found murdered in a private office in the Hotel Chancellor. His clothing has been removed and put on backwards and all the furnishings in the room have been turned around too. How can inspector Richard Queen with the help of his son, Ellery, solve the murder if they don't know his identity?
What bothered me most was the implication early on in the novel that the backwardness of the crime scene was a message to imply the backwardness of Chinese culture. Ellery Queen is usually more worldly than this. Thankfully though he does realize the error of his ways. Although the dead man is tied to China, the reason behind his murder is far more interesting than what Ellery Queen first implies.
Both The Penthouse Mystery and The Chinese Orange Mystery cover the clashes and misunderstandings between American and Chinese cultures. Although the overall set up of The Chinese Orange Mystery (1934) is more challenging than The Penthouse Mystery (1941), Ellery Queen is far more ignorant of Chinese culture than he is in the later novel.
The set up is this: a John Doe is found murdered in a private office in the Hotel Chancellor. His clothing has been removed and put on backwards and all the furnishings in the room have been turned around too. How can inspector Richard Queen with the help of his son, Ellery, solve the murder if they don't know his identity?
What bothered me most was the implication early on in the novel that the backwardness of the crime scene was a message to imply the backwardness of Chinese culture. Ellery Queen is usually more worldly than this. Thankfully though he does realize the error of his ways. Although the dead man is tied to China, the reason behind his murder is far more interesting than what Ellery Queen first implies.
emileod4974's review
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.5
missjenniferlowe's review
4.0
Prior to reading this, I had only read one volume of the Ellery Queen short stories. Although I enjoyed those immensely, I wasn't sure if a full-length mystery would be just as good. Sadly, writing mysteries as short stories and full-length mystery novels require different sets of talents.
Ellery Queen did not disappoint, however. In this, his 8th full-length mystery, re-printed recently in an e-book version by Mysterious Press and Open Road Media, Ellery investigates the death of an unknown man found in mysterious circumstances in the office of Donald Kirk, an acquaintance of Ellery's. When the corpse is discovered, the clothes on the body are on backwards - and all of the furniture in the room has also been turned around so it, too, is backwards! Ellery knows that this must be a significant clue, but what it signifies will take him the whole book to figure out.
One aspect of the book that I particularly enjoyed was the challenge to the reader. Once Ellery has solved the crime, but before the big reveal, he issues a challenge to the readers to solve it themselves, stating that all of the clues have been laid before them fairly. This reminded me a bit of the Encyclopedia Brown books, which I enjoyed immensely as a child. I hadn't figured it out, as it happens, but I enjoyed reading the book so much that I did not care.
I sincerely enjoyed reading this Ellery Queen novel and am quite pleased that Open Road has published 13 other Ellery Queen titles as well. They are available directly from Open Road or via Amazon.
Ellery Queen did not disappoint, however. In this, his 8th full-length mystery, re-printed recently in an e-book version by Mysterious Press and Open Road Media, Ellery investigates the death of an unknown man found in mysterious circumstances in the office of Donald Kirk, an acquaintance of Ellery's. When the corpse is discovered, the clothes on the body are on backwards - and all of the furniture in the room has also been turned around so it, too, is backwards! Ellery knows that this must be a significant clue, but what it signifies will take him the whole book to figure out.
One aspect of the book that I particularly enjoyed was the challenge to the reader. Once Ellery has solved the crime, but before the big reveal, he issues a challenge to the readers to solve it themselves, stating that all of the clues have been laid before them fairly. This reminded me a bit of the Encyclopedia Brown books, which I enjoyed immensely as a child. I hadn't figured it out, as it happens, but I enjoyed reading the book so much that I did not care.
I sincerely enjoyed reading this Ellery Queen novel and am quite pleased that Open Road has published 13 other Ellery Queen titles as well. They are available directly from Open Road or via Amazon.
cindyann62's review
3.0
Audio
I earned my stripes on Agatha Christie in 3rd grade so I'm a bit partial to an old fashioned mystery. And because I watched Ellery Queen on television, I can picture Mr. Hutton with his long flapping coat and odd step solving the crime. This reminded me why Mrs. AC will always be my fav but I've wasted
better time on worse books!
I earned my stripes on Agatha Christie in 3rd grade so I'm a bit partial to an old fashioned mystery. And because I watched Ellery Queen on television, I can picture Mr. Hutton with his long flapping coat and odd step solving the crime. This reminded me why Mrs. AC will always be my fav but I've wasted
better time on worse books!
dashausfrau's review
2.0
As a book in the contemporary market, it really rates a 2, but it was probably well received back in the day. It reminds me of 30's films like "Murder on a Honeymoon"-- actually I think Edward Gleason would have played Inspector Queen. In many of those films I'm convinced that the script writers invented weird slang on the spot to make their "noir" investigators sound tough. That's how the dialogue in this novel sounded too. Queen the elder throws around many "damns" along with "cripes" & other language for solid shock value. I found it more irritating that the author likes describing cleavage in detail. I would say that the author came up with the crime scene first, & then came up with a reason for a criminal to turn everything in a room & the dead man's clothes backward. In fact, the criminal in question had so much moving & dressing of a dead man & other cleverness to work out that I think it would have taken him hours. In a business environment, there's no way he would have had the leisure to create this funhouse at all.
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