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A review by carolsnotebook
The French Powder Mystery by Ellery Queen
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.