Amateur Detectives Mystery

Let Ellery Queen clue you in on his special brand of high tension, brain-teasing mystery! This collection consists of novelettes and short stories from Queen's many escapades.

"Le fatiche di Hercule" - Un bel giorno Hercule Poirot scopre che un eroe della mitologia classica ha avuto non solo l'impertinenza di portare il suo stesso nome, ma anche l'ardire di compiere imprese che un professore universitario sembra giudicare superiori a quelle compiute da lui. Ma chi è questo mitico Ercole, se non un omone tutto muscoli, privo di eleganza e buone maniere? E come è possibile paragonare le imprese di Poirot, frutto dell'impeccabile funzionamento delle sue "cellule grigie", alle fatiche di Ercole?

Crescent Place was once a peaceful country green surrounded by five tasteful suburban houses and populated by polite, responsible citizens. But as the city enveloped it, the residents built a gate to keep the world out. With each passing year, the subdivision grew stranger and stranger - until it began to look like a time capsule of the 1890s.

Elizabeth Bell runs a quiet household, with no family and no more than the usual number of servants. She passes her time thinking about crime and working on her biography of a relative. When a young cousin comes to stay, life in the house becomes uncharacteristically lively. First, cousin Judy burns a hole in Miss Bell's desk. Next, they spy a burglar on the staircase - a shadowy figure who vanishes without a trace. And finally, Sarah, the nurse, takes the dogs for a walk and never returns.

He's no Tony Soprano. Still, local crime boss Giustino "Tino" Fabrizio is one shady character that Tara would love to see behind bars. He operates a security business - or so he claims on his tax forms - but his clients don't feel so secure when it's time to pay up. Problem is, no one can get close enough to nail this wiseguy for extortion. No one, that is, except Tara. Going undercover, Tara lands a waitress job at Benedetta's Bistro - which is owned and operated by Tino's wife.

When newlyweds Agnes and Andrew Kinghof are present for the discovery of an over-ripe corpse in the air-raid shelter of their apartment building, the two set out to put their amateur detective skills to work. The dead man's sister is nearly frightened to death by the appearance of a grinning pig's head outside her window, and she claims to be threatened by someone calling himself 'The Pig'. The newlyweds deduce that it must be someone who lives in the same apartment building.

England in den 40er Jahren. Beim Oxforder Opernensemble steht die erste Aufführung von Wagners Meistersingern nach dem 2. Weltkrieg auf dem Plan. Eine der Hauptrollen übernimmt der überaus begabte, aber ebenso unbeliebte Sänger Edwin Shorthouse. Jedenfalls, bis man ihn nach einer Probe erhängt in seiner Garderobe findet. Selbstmord? Wohl kaum. Schon bald danach kommt es zu einem zweiten Mord. Der Tote war ein junger Chorsänger und aufstrebender Opernkomponist. Oxford Professor und Amateurdetektiv Gervase Fen ist ratlos und steht vor einem Rätsel.

Genealogist Lucy Lancaster is just about to tuck into a plate of tacos at her favorite Austin joint, Big Flaco’s, when she gets an unexpected visit from her former - and least favorite - coworker. Camilla Braithwaite hasn’t gotten much friendlier since the last time Lucy saw her, but that doesn't stop her from asking a favor. In her hand is a newspaper feature on an ancestor, a Civil War corporal - and a liar, according to the article. Charles Braithwaite is depicted as a phony and a deserter, and Camilla wants Lucy’s help clearing his name.

"La scarica di adrenalina adesso era una locomotiva in corsa nelle sue vene. Nel profondo di sé, Renée Ballard sapeva che era per via di momenti come questo che non avrebbe mai mollato, qualsiasi cosa dicessero di lei, in qualsiasi turno la obbligassero a lavorare." La polizia di Los Angeles non è stata gentile con Renée Ballard: ex reporter di nera, è entrata in polizia stufa di scrivere di crimini, e impaziente di risolverne qualcuno, e in poco tempo è diventata detective alla Omicidi. Ma poi qualcosa è andato storto.

Ihr Name ist Tuesday - und sie nimmt unerbittliche Rache an Vergewaltigern und Gangstern. Wie eine Naturgewalt schlägt sie aus dem Verborgenen zu, nur um sofort wieder zu verschwinden. Für die Menschen in London wird Tuesday bald zur Heldin, doch die Polizei fahndet nach ihr. Detective Inspector Loss wird mit dem Fall betraut - ein ausgebrannter Kommissar, der noch immer unter dem unaufgeklärten Mord an seiner Tochter vor drei Jahren leidet.

Lola Ramsay, an American in a quaint British village, finds her quiet life turned upside down when a local man vanishes, along with a rug. Joining forces with Sassy, her cheeky Frenchie with a nose for clues, she wades through local drama and potential dog-napping incidents, each mystery drawing her further from the truth.

A group of vigilantes are carrying out a campaign of harassment against the homeless, hounding them both verbally and physically to get them off the streets. Jimmy Mullen is approached by his friend Gadge, who wants to confront the people behind it, but Jimmy has finally got his life back on track. He's working at a hostel for 18- to 25-year-olds, and he's reluctant to get involved in anything dodgy.

There has never been a woman as beautiful as top model Delora Deanne. But Delora Deanne doesn’t really exist. Unknown to the panting public, Delora is a composite of many women. Her face is played by Gertrude Bragg. Torso and legs by Eula Stolz. Hands, Eva Lou Strauss. Brains, Hazel Swackhammer. But now, Delora is coming apart. Hazel Swackhammer receives the first in what is to be a series of beautifully wrapped presents. Inside, she is surprised to find a pair of pale lavender gloves...containing the hands of Delora Deanne.

Resourceful Bingo Riggs and his partner, Handsome Kusak, are in the sucker-bait business, snapping candid pics of tourists off Central Park. Their fly-by-night enterprise can be irresistible to souvenir lovers, but with one camera in a pawnshop and their developing room in the bathtub of a two-room dump near Hell’s Kitchen, their venture is wretchedly underexposed - until they stumble upon an insurance fraud scheme between the allegedly dead eccentric Mr. S. S. Pigeon and his business partner and beneficiary.

Radio star Nelle Brown is known coast-to-coast for her sweet and sultry voice. But her press agent and manager, Jake Justus, is familiar with another side of the darling of the airwaves: her crackpot marriage to a penniless tycoon, disastrous string of lovers, and propensity for flying into spectacular fits of rage. Now, it appears she’s being burned by an ex-flame who’s holding her scandalous love letters for ransom. The missives could ruin Nelle’s career, but so could the scoundrel’s murder.

Jonathan Knox was an auctioneer of somewhat dubious repute with a photographic memory. So when a frightened woman offered him a discount on eleven of the rarest stamps in existence, worth something like $500,000, he became suspicious. He figured also that if the stamps had been stolen he might net a pretty reward by returning them to their rightful owner. But he couldn't find a single collector willing to admit to owning them. And when the girl who had originally offered them was murdered, Knox knew that he'd be the next one canceled unless he could find the person who would pay.

The last thing 11-year-old Robin wants to hear is that his mother and her new husband are extending their honeymoon indefinitely. The members of the school gang are insisting that he complete a dare before they let him join the group. They want Robin to kidnap Mrs. Nordling’s prize-winning cat when no one is home. Getting into the Nordling’s house is easy, and Robin manages to find the cat and put him in his bag. As Robin is leaving, however, he stumbles upon a terrifying scene - Mr. Nordling leaving the master bedroom with blood all over his body.

Marc et Manon sont de nouveau réunis ; Manon reprend doucement des forces après son enlèvement et sa séquestration à La Vayssière, mais le mystère continue de planer sur le petit village aveyronnais qui les abrite. Monsieur Thomas est en prison, Célestin interrogé par les gendarmes. Qui a bien pu assassiner Tatoué ? Privés du meilleur d'entre eux, les joueurs de quilles de huit ont perdu leur entrain. Quant à Marc, inquiet pour Manon, il préfère rester auprès d'elle.

Manon a disparu. Que lui est-il arrivé ? L'a-t-on enlevée ou tuée ? Sa voiture de location a été retrouvée vide à deux kilomètres du village. Abandonnée sur une route en cul-de-sac. Les gendarmes enquêtent, mais personne ne sait ce qui s'est passé. Marc se lance à son tour dans des recherches. Son flair d'ancien journaliste va-t-il lui permettre de la retrouver rapidement ? Entre le Puech-bas et la Vayssière, entre Paris et l'Aveyron, il reconstruit le fil de ce qu'il s'est réellement passé.

La cinquantaine passée, Marc vient de quitter son job de journaliste. Il est un peu désœuvré dans son appartement parisien quand son ancienne collègue, la jeune Manon, vient le solliciter pour tenter d'élucider un meurtre vieux de dix ans qui s'est produit dans un petit village de l'Aveyron. Marc quitte alors Paris sans regret pour découvrir un autre univers qui tourne essentiellement autour d'un sport inconnu pour lui : les quilles de huit. Il apprend à connaître les figures locales.