A murder in a crowded theater leaves a pack of suspects, but only one clue. Despite the dismal Broadway season, Gunplay continues to draw crowds. A gangland spectacle, it's packed to the gills with action, explosions, and gunfire. In fact, Gunplay is so loud that no one notices the killing of Monte Field. In a sold-out theater, Field is found dead partway through the second act, surrounded by empty seats. The police hold the crowd and call for the one man who can untangle this daring murder: Inspector Richard Queen. With ...
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A murder in a crowded theater leaves a pack of suspects, but only one clue. Despite the dismal Broadway season, Gunplay continues to draw crowds. A gangland spectacle, it's packed to the gills with action, explosions, and gunfire. In fact, Gunplay is so loud that no one notices the killing of Monte Field. In a sold-out theater, Field is found dead partway through the second act, surrounded by empty seats. The police hold the crowd and call for the one man who can untangle this daring murder: Inspector Richard Queen. With the help of his son Ellery, a bibliophile and novelist whose imagination can solve any crime, the Inspector attacks this seemingly impenetrable mystery. Anyone in the theater could have killed the unscrupulous lawyer, and several had the motive. Only Ellery Queen, in his debut novel, can decipher the clue of the dead man's missing top hat.
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This is one of the best whodunit puzzles written by Ellery Queen (a pen name) during the so called "Golden Age" of the detective novel. Although the writing is brisk and the characters interesting, this story is all about the puzzle the detective (and the reader) has to solve while dealing with red herrings, multiple suspects, and other distractions on the way to the truth. This puzzle and the Spanish Cape Mystery are the two Ellery Queen cases I would recommend to new readers. It's a bit ironic that this type of murder mystery has never totally gone out of fashion, and if one looks at so many of what are called "Cozy Mysteries" in the online book lists, they resemble the popular mysteries of the 1930's, 40's and 50's which featured gifted amateur detectives or small town settings with Detective Inspector Smart and Detective Sergeant Plod on the case.
NJJim
Aug 23, 2007
Excellent Mystery Story
Very well written, good plot and character developmnent, and the story kept me engrossed such that I could not wait to turn each page to continue the mystery. Not until the very end of the mystery, when you put all the clues together, can you figure out who committed the crimes.
