The Adventures of Ellery Queen

As TomCat also mentions in his recent worshipping post, the more Carr you read the more you appreciate him and that's certainly what happened to me in the last months. I don't really prefer either him or Queen as an author anymore and I've gotten attuned to the duo of Merrivale and Masters, but as a detective figure I still enjoy Ellery a lot; in contrast to certain other readers it seems. Maybe I was primed by arrogant, eccentric detectives in Japanese novels already even without reading anything with Philo Vance in it. Anyway, I was kind of reluctant to pick up The Egyptian Cross Mystery due to the prevalent opinion it would have been more suitable for a short story frame, which is comparable to how I felt about The Dutch Shoe Mystery. So I decided to finally read the first of Queen's short story collections instead and here are my own two cents about the stories.

The Gold Solution + Deadline

Alexander and Norma Gold are asked to help prove their friend Pearl's niece's fiance innocent after he was found bent over his employer's dying body with the bloody knife in his hands. The victim is Roger Talbott, one of America's most famous Architects, and the crime scene is his studio floor atop his brownstone mansion, which was as securely guarded as a fortress by various devices. With the date of the trial getting closer, Alexander is forced to solve this puzzle quickly, which isn't exactly the most appropriate activity while recovering from a heart attack...

Alexander and Norma are invited by billionaire Max Baron to join him and his family during a performance of the Boguslav Ballet. Baron suspects someone "reading his mind", or simply put the leakage of information, and the request for Alexander to solve that issue is the original purpose for the invitation, However Alec and Norma are soon hired for something entirely different, when Viktor Boguslav is stabbed in the theatre box adjoining the Barons and the Golds, only parted by a curtain and with Baron's son Jeffrey as Boguslav's assistant sleeping right behind his employer in the cloakroom in front of a locked door! The Golds have a mere deadline of less than three days to prove someone else than Jeffrey could do it.

謎解きはディナーのあとで 「ドラマ版」

Any avid dorama viewer will already have seen this by now and surprisingly I also regret not watching this right away, as it's actually better than I expected. Nazotoki wa Dinner no ato de is an adaptation of two novels of the same name written by humor mystery author Higashigawa Tokuya and while there's a lot of comedy in it (apparently even more so in the TV version), it also entertains with solid mysteries.

The Siamese Twin Mystery

Ellery and his father wind up in a forest fire and have to refuge in the Xaviers' mansion. While being hospitable there is a strange tension among the inhabitants and the reason for the other guests' stay only becomes apparent after Dr. John Xavier is found murdered in his study, his right hand grapping a six of spades torn in half.

青い密室 名探偵・星影竜三全集 (2)

Short story collection of 8 works by Ayukawa Tetsuya and compiling all his short stories featuring the detective character Hoshikage Ryuuzou together with the first volume 赤い密室.

孤島パズル

Invited by their club's first female member Arima Maria, Egami and Arisu go on holiday on her uncle's solitary island resort. Her grandfather, from whom her uncle inherited the island, loved puzzles and also created one before his death, which lets you find his heritage in the form of diamonds once you solve it. While the students ponder on the meaning of the numerous Moai statues scattered over the whole island, 2 guests are found murdered in a locked room and the 2-way radio, the only way to inform the mainland, has been smashed up...

月光ゲーム Yの悲劇'88

The members from Eito University's Mystery Club decide to go camping during their summer holidays and meet other students with the same idea on their way. Unfortunately the volcano next to the camping area suddenly starts to erupt after 200 years and due to landslides the students become unable to leave the mountain. The tragic situation gets even more ominous when people start to vanish or are found murdered...

『アリス・ミラー城』殺人事件

Various detectives are gathered on Erikajima to investigate Alice Mirror Castle and find the Alice Mirror. A chess board with 10 white figures makes the detectives aware of their situation being strikingly similar to a certain literary masterpiece and the further development unfortunately supports their hunches...