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Ellery Queen Detective #Short Stories 5
Queen's Bureau of Investigation
The Letters Racket--A is for Alfred, who left his poor wife ripe for a blackmailer late in her life. B is for Brothers, three of that name, who skewered one morning the fourth Brother's dame. On through the files of Q.B.I., from Bacon to Kidnap to a Poisoner's try. The victims are many, the killers are, too, and only Ellery Queen can find out who's who!* BLACKMAIL DEPT. -- Money Talks (This Week, 4/2/50 as "The Sound of Blackmail" reprinted in EQMM 08/52)* FIX DEPT. -- A Matter of Seconds (This Week, 8/9/53 reprinted in EQMM 01/57)* IMPOSSIBLE CRIME DEPT. -- The Three Widows (This Week, 1/29/50 as "Murder Without Clues"; reprinted in EQMM, 2/53,)* RARE BOOK DEPT. -- "My Queer Dean!" (This Week, 3/8/53, reprinted in EQMM, 11/56)* MURDER DEPT. -- Driver's Seat (This Week, 3/25/51 as "Lady, You're Dead")* PARK PATROL DEPT. -- A Lump of Sugar (This Week, 7/9/50 as"The Mystery of the 3 Dawn Riders" reprinted in EQMM, 2/53 and in EQMM, 03/69 as "Murder in the Park")* OPEN FILE DEPT. -- Cold Money (This Week, 30/03/52 and EQMM, 01/56)* EMBEZZLEMENT DEPT. -- The Myna Birds (as "The Myna Bird Mystery"in This Week, 12/28/52 reprinted in EQMM, 9/56 as "Cut, Cut, Cut!" )* SUICIDE DEPT. -- A Question of Honor (This Week, 9/13/53 reprinted in EQMM 05/58)* HOLDUP DEPT. -- The Robber of Wrightsville (in Today's Family, 2/53 as "The Accused" and in EQMM, 12/54)* SWINDLE DEPT. -- Double Your Money (This Week, 9/29/51 as "The Vanishing Wizard" reprinted in EQMM, 9/55)* BURIED TREASURE DEPT. -- Miser's Gold (This Week, 6/18/50 as "Love Hunts a Hidden Treasure"; The Sunday Herald 07/16/50 as "Love Hunts a Hidden Treasure"; reprinted in EQMM, 4/54; as "Death of a Pawnbroker" EQMM 11/71)* MAGIC DEPT. -- Snowball in July (This Week, 8/31/52 as "The Phantom Train" reprinted in EQMM 07/56)* FALSE CLAIMANT DEPT. -- The Witch of Times Square (This Week, 11/5/50 reprinted in EQMM, 5/53)* RACKET DEPT. -- The Gamblers' Club (This Week, 1/7/51 reprinted in EQMM, 3/55)* DYING MESSAGE DEPT. -- GI Story (EQMM, 8/54)* NARCOTICS DEPT. -- The Black Ledger (This Week, 01/05/52 as "The Mysterious Black Ledger"- in Woman's Day, 03/31/52 and reprinted in EQMM 12/55)* KIDNAPPING DEPT. -- Child Missing! (This Week, 7/7/51 as "Kidnaped!", reprinted in EQMM, 6/58)All short stories,except were noted, are 1949 to 1954. All are copyright to the United Newspaper Magazine Corporation and were apparently published in This Week.
140 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1954
61 people are currently reading
165 people want to read
About the author
Ellery Queen
1,787 books486 followersaka Barnaby Ross.
(Pseudonym of Frederic Dannay and Manfred Bennington Lee)
"Ellery Queen" was a pen name created and shared by two cousins, Frederic Dannay (1905-1982) and Manfred B. Lee (1905-1971), as well as the name of their most famous detective. Born in Brooklyn, they spent forty two years writing, editing, and anthologizing under the name, gaining a reputation as the foremost American authors of the Golden Age "fair play" mystery.
Although eventually famous on television and radio, Queen's first appearance came in 1928 when the cousins won a mystery-writing contest with the book that would eventually be published as The Roman Hat Mystery. Their character was an amateur detective who used his spare time to assist his police inspector father in solving baffling crimes. Besides writing the Queen novels, Dannay and Lee cofounded Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, one of the most influential crime publications of all time. Although Dannay outlived his cousin by nine years, he retired Queen upon Lee's death.
Several of the later "Ellery Queen" books were written by other authors, including Jack Vance, Avram Davidson, and Theodore Sturgeon.
(Pseudonym of Frederic Dannay and Manfred Bennington Lee)
"Ellery Queen" was a pen name created and shared by two cousins, Frederic Dannay (1905-1982) and Manfred B. Lee (1905-1971), as well as the name of their most famous detective. Born in Brooklyn, they spent forty two years writing, editing, and anthologizing under the name, gaining a reputation as the foremost American authors of the Golden Age "fair play" mystery.
Although eventually famous on television and radio, Queen's first appearance came in 1928 when the cousins won a mystery-writing contest with the book that would eventually be published as The Roman Hat Mystery. Their character was an amateur detective who used his spare time to assist his police inspector father in solving baffling crimes. Besides writing the Queen novels, Dannay and Lee cofounded Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, one of the most influential crime publications of all time. Although Dannay outlived his cousin by nine years, he retired Queen upon Lee's death.
Several of the later "Ellery Queen" books were written by other authors, including Jack Vance, Avram Davidson, and Theodore Sturgeon.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
April 14, 2023
Quick and Good.
This is a fantastic collection of short stories about Ellery Queen investigating cases.
The book is cleverly written and is told as though the crimes being investigated are famous mysteries that are solved by Ellery Queen.
Each story ends on a suspenseful solving of the episode.
Ellery Queen is a mastermind of the mystery.
Five fantastic stars. 💫💫💫💫💫
This is a fantastic collection of short stories about Ellery Queen investigating cases.
The book is cleverly written and is told as though the crimes being investigated are famous mysteries that are solved by Ellery Queen.
Each story ends on a suspenseful solving of the episode.
Ellery Queen is a mastermind of the mystery.
Five fantastic stars. 💫💫💫💫💫
March 25, 2022
3,5 stars
My first, very pleasant and entertaining meeting with sleuth Ellery Queen.
Which makes me wonder why he passed under my reading radar until now. Maybe because he was not that well known in Hungary. I mean, I kind of remember having read the name sometimes, somewhere, but that was about it. I did some digging and only 3 of his books seems to have made it to translation into Hungarian in the 1970s, so maybe that's why.
Anyhoo, this collection of very short mysteries did whet my appetite to try out some of his full novels and quite a few are included in my Audible membership, so here we go.
I am determined to meet him some more.
My first, very pleasant and entertaining meeting with sleuth Ellery Queen.
Which makes me wonder why he passed under my reading radar until now. Maybe because he was not that well known in Hungary. I mean, I kind of remember having read the name sometimes, somewhere, but that was about it. I did some digging and only 3 of his books seems to have made it to translation into Hungarian in the 1970s, so maybe that's why.
Anyhoo, this collection of very short mysteries did whet my appetite to try out some of his full novels and quite a few are included in my Audible membership, so here we go.
I am determined to meet him some more.
July 5, 2018
I liked the first half of this anthology more than the 2nd half. The first stories were in the vein of Two-Minute Mysteries (though Ellery Queen wrote theirs more than a decade before before Donald Sobol's book). What I mean are, they're very short stories with limited characters, and you have to guess who done whatever from maybe 3 suspects. Some small clue is hidden in the story that solves the whole thing. They're great little puzzles and very enjoyable. If the whole book was filled with them, I'd have easily given it 5 stars.
Toward the middle of the collection are some longer stories. The plotting isn't as tight. They seemed to me to drag on. The end of the book goes back to short shorts, but they also aren't as well put together. In a few cases, the reader needed to be told more to make the puzzle fair.
But, if you can get this book cheap at a used book sale or borrow it from the library, it's worth reading the first half, at least.
Toward the middle of the collection are some longer stories. The plotting isn't as tight. They seemed to me to drag on. The end of the book goes back to short shorts, but they also aren't as well put together. In a few cases, the reader needed to be told more to make the puzzle fair.
But, if you can get this book cheap at a used book sale or borrow it from the library, it's worth reading the first half, at least.
November 28, 2021
There's nothing like a good fair play mystery, and these stories are excellent examples of why Ellery Queen is among the best.
December 17, 2021
My first encounter with Ellery Queen, though I suspect not my last. No real description, per se - it’s a collection of mysteries that are incredibly fair play and feel like grown-up Encyclopedia Brown. That’s a plus, rather than a minus in my book.
I wanted a rewarding pile of distractions during a busy season at work and these delivered on exactly the level I was looking for - some old school diversions from the semi-hardboiled school of detective. Queen knows his way around a turn of phrase and half the fun is chewing through some hilariously clever imagery and descriptions while you try to suss out the clues.
Now, as with any collection, not all stories are created equal and the churn of decades means that some fair play solutions hang on knowledge a generation or more removed from the source simply no longer possesses. Nothing as awful as one very lame Encyclopedia Brown I remember where Sally solves a case because men can’t possibly know about petticoats (that one manages to insult both genders at once, quite the feat), but close.
Also, fair play doesn’t always equal clever either. Some of these solutions hinge on the most obvious answer being, well, the actual answer. I got clipped on a couple of those because I was looking for the twist - lesson learned. And that story about the ledger has, I have to say, an incredibly dumb solution.
Still, this is a perfect book for distracted reading where you only have ten or fifteen minutes to read a few pages and don’t want a big ongoing narrative. Outside of the side characters the only stories with any link involve Ellery’s amusing attempts to go on vacation to a town ending in crime twice.
If you like to play along with the detective as a crime goes on and you want to have just as much chance of solving it yourself, this is definitely worth a look. Recommended.
I wanted a rewarding pile of distractions during a busy season at work and these delivered on exactly the level I was looking for - some old school diversions from the semi-hardboiled school of detective. Queen knows his way around a turn of phrase and half the fun is chewing through some hilariously clever imagery and descriptions while you try to suss out the clues.
Now, as with any collection, not all stories are created equal and the churn of decades means that some fair play solutions hang on knowledge a generation or more removed from the source simply no longer possesses. Nothing as awful as one very lame Encyclopedia Brown I remember where Sally solves a case because men can’t possibly know about petticoats (that one manages to insult both genders at once, quite the feat), but close.
Also, fair play doesn’t always equal clever either. Some of these solutions hinge on the most obvious answer being, well, the actual answer. I got clipped on a couple of those because I was looking for the twist - lesson learned. And that story about the ledger has, I have to say, an incredibly dumb solution.
Still, this is a perfect book for distracted reading where you only have ten or fifteen minutes to read a few pages and don’t want a big ongoing narrative. Outside of the side characters the only stories with any link involve Ellery’s amusing attempts to go on vacation to a town ending in crime twice.
If you like to play along with the detective as a crime goes on and you want to have just as much chance of solving it yourself, this is definitely worth a look. Recommended.
January 10, 2016
A fun collection of short stories featuring Ellery Queen. They're organized by "departments" - Rare Book Department, Impossible Crime Department, Swindle Department, etc. Not all the cases involve murders. For example, "Money Talks" (Blackmail Department) involves a young opera singer and her mother who are being blackmailed by someone familiar with the mother's past. "A Matter of Seconds" (Fix Department) is about a boxer who is kidnapped and held for ransom right before an important bout. Many cases involve three suspects and EQ must figure out which one did it. In several cases, the other suspects are also involved, but did not commit the actual murder ("Driver's Seat" - Murder Department, "The Myna Birds" - Embezzlement Department). My personal favorite is "The Robber of Wrightsville" (Holdup Department), where EQ has to clear a young man accused of robbing his own stepfather. The solution is very clever. It's one of those cases where you think, "Of course! Why didn't I see that?"
I also listened to the audio version of this book while I read. It was very faithful to the book except for the ending of "Miser's Gold" (Buried Treasure Department). I don't know why they changed that. However, the narrator did a good job overall, though I wasn't that crazy about some of his female voices. I would give the audio version of the book four stars. Unfortunately, it is not listed on Goodreads and I don't have a link. The book can be found on Audible.
I also listened to the audio version of this book while I read. It was very faithful to the book except for the ending of "Miser's Gold" (Buried Treasure Department). I don't know why they changed that. However, the narrator did a good job overall, though I wasn't that crazy about some of his female voices. I would give the audio version of the book four stars. Unfortunately, it is not listed on Goodreads and I don't have a link. The book can be found on Audible.
September 4, 2020
I'd never read any of Ellery Queen's stories before so I thought I should. This collection of shorts was OK. There's a kind of a one-two punch approach of set up and solution with not much in between which leaves the stories a little flat. Not sure I would return to his short stories but I will try one of his novels.
April 7, 2020
This was like Encyclopedia Brown for grownups. I liked this one a lot.
November 26, 2025
“Agência de Investigações” / “QBI: Queen’s Bureau of Investigation” (1958) Ellery Queen
💼 Este livro reúne vários contos associados a cada departamento de investigações. É como se nos dessem um dossiê com todos os casos mais miranbolantes, por exemplo casos de fraudes, magia, jogo, roubo, raptos, etc …
💼 Eu sou suspeita em falar dos lidos de Ellery, mas este livro brilhou com a capacidade excelente de criar narrativas curtas e cheias de mistério, humor e dedução!
💼 A ideia de criar departamentos em vez de compilar simplesmente os contos foi, sem dúvida, certeira! Temos contos para vários gostos detetivescos… desde uns muito simples até outros que beiram o impossível ou, até mesmo, de outro mundo!
💼 Certamente que recomendo este livro a alguém que está à vontade com mistérios, para um ótimo serão de tarde de leituras e deduções a cada conto/departamento folheado.
💼 Este livro reúne vários contos associados a cada departamento de investigações. É como se nos dessem um dossiê com todos os casos mais miranbolantes, por exemplo casos de fraudes, magia, jogo, roubo, raptos, etc …
💼 Eu sou suspeita em falar dos lidos de Ellery, mas este livro brilhou com a capacidade excelente de criar narrativas curtas e cheias de mistério, humor e dedução!
💼 A ideia de criar departamentos em vez de compilar simplesmente os contos foi, sem dúvida, certeira! Temos contos para vários gostos detetivescos… desde uns muito simples até outros que beiram o impossível ou, até mesmo, de outro mundo!
💼 Certamente que recomendo este livro a alguém que está à vontade com mistérios, para um ótimo serão de tarde de leituras e deduções a cada conto/departamento folheado.
January 22, 2024
Very clever puzzles in this anthology. I enjoy the diversity of the Ellery Queen stories, which are a potpouri of varying types of mysteries. There are eighteen stories in the collection, and they're all enjoyable Among my favorites are:
The Three Widows. A murder case with an impossible method.
GI Story. A man leaves a dying message clue, but to whom does it point?
The RObber of Wrightsville. I love the Wrightsville stories as the small town is very delightful. This one had a particularly great solution.
Double Your Money. A swindle case with a nice twist.
Child Missing. A kidnapping case with a clever solution.
All of the stories are very good and lots of fun. For those seeking a light but brain-teasing read. God bless you all.
The Three Widows. A murder case with an impossible method.
GI Story. A man leaves a dying message clue, but to whom does it point?
The RObber of Wrightsville. I love the Wrightsville stories as the small town is very delightful. This one had a particularly great solution.
Double Your Money. A swindle case with a nice twist.
Child Missing. A kidnapping case with a clever solution.
All of the stories are very good and lots of fun. For those seeking a light but brain-teasing read. God bless you all.
July 31, 2023
An enjoyable collection of short stories. I found that there were certain plots (like in QED) that I've also seen rehashed, or at least that are similar, to plot points in some of the Ellery Queen novels. Why are all wealthy old people misers who everyone thinks is poor? Why is it always siblings or sibling-in-laws who must have killed their elderly parent to inherit money? I'm not saying these things don't happen, but c'mon Ellery, shake it up a little.
July 15, 2023
A classic
If you’re an EQ fan it doesn’t get a lot better than this! Sure, the sophisticated mystery reader of today might find a bit too much suspension of disbelief required. Also, characters a bit one faceted and dialogue right out of a 50s movie. But hey, this book is a classic and therefore a right treat for the connoisseur.
If you’re an EQ fan it doesn’t get a lot better than this! Sure, the sophisticated mystery reader of today might find a bit too much suspension of disbelief required. Also, characters a bit one faceted and dialogue right out of a 50s movie. But hey, this book is a classic and therefore a right treat for the connoisseur.
January 5, 2020
This is a book of short stories, all mysteries.
At first I was disappointed that the book was not one long story, but as I read through it, I enjoyed it more and more. I became more familiar with the characters. Very good stories. Good puzzles.
At first I was disappointed that the book was not one long story, but as I read through it, I enjoyed it more and more. I became more familiar with the characters. Very good stories. Good puzzles.
March 6, 2023
easy reading short stories
I enjoy short stories and I don’t like violence and suspense so Ellery Queen is perfect for me. No, the stories aren’t wonderful but for some easy, short, relaxed reading they are perfect.
I enjoy short stories and I don’t like violence and suspense so Ellery Queen is perfect for me. No, the stories aren’t wonderful but for some easy, short, relaxed reading they are perfect.
December 5, 2023
Excellent
This was my first time reading anything by Ellery Queen and I definitely enjoyed it. It is a collection of short stories, and they all held my attention and moved right along. I can't wait to read more!!
This was my first time reading anything by Ellery Queen and I definitely enjoyed it. It is a collection of short stories, and they all held my attention and moved right along. I can't wait to read more!!
July 17, 2019
Very good short stories
August 19, 2021
Not my favorite Queen short stories.
February 18, 2023
A collection of very short stories
July 22, 2023
Super-short stories, very quick reads, easier to keep track of all the characters
September 10, 2023
Great collection of short stories. Not too tricky to work out the solutions to the mysteries but enjoyable nonetheless.
February 26, 2025
Some clever stuff detectiving. 2.5
April 28, 2025
Delightful short mysteries starring Ellery Queen and his policeman father.
June 7, 2025
There's a character in this book named Jeep Jorking.
February 9, 2012
A collection of eighteen stories, the hardcover published in January, 1955. My copy is a fourth printing paperback from March, 1965.
Most of them short, only a hundred and forty-eight pages of text, they are typical tales of this sort, relying on paying attention to words, actions, and figuring the guilty party or uncovering the secret.
MISER'S GOLD finds Ellery looking for the location a dead man, who passed before he could say, hid his treasure: four hundred ten thousand dollar bills.
THE THREE WIDOWS are just that, two sisters and their stepmother living in the same house. The will leaves a stipend to the sisters as long as the stepmother is alive. Someone is trying to poison her.
THE ROBBER OF WRIGHTSVILLE has Ellery once more in his favorite town to find a thief.
THE BLACK LEDGER has Ellery playing courier with a list of names that will help convict a drug kingpin. Grabbed, he has to outsmart them so the list can get through.
The other stories involve murder, blackmail, and assorted other crimes. I like these mind game tales and always try my luck at solving them with Ellery, though I rarely succeed.
Most of them short, only a hundred and forty-eight pages of text, they are typical tales of this sort, relying on paying attention to words, actions, and figuring the guilty party or uncovering the secret.
MISER'S GOLD finds Ellery looking for the location a dead man, who passed before he could say, hid his treasure: four hundred ten thousand dollar bills.
THE THREE WIDOWS are just that, two sisters and their stepmother living in the same house. The will leaves a stipend to the sisters as long as the stepmother is alive. Someone is trying to poison her.
THE ROBBER OF WRIGHTSVILLE has Ellery once more in his favorite town to find a thief.
THE BLACK LEDGER has Ellery playing courier with a list of names that will help convict a drug kingpin. Grabbed, he has to outsmart them so the list can get through.
The other stories involve murder, blackmail, and assorted other crimes. I like these mind game tales and always try my luck at solving them with Ellery, though I rarely succeed.
October 28, 2019
This is a collection of 18 short stories involving Ellery Queen and crime. Compact stories of blackmail, kidnapping, murder, embezzlement and more.
In the embezzlement case, Ellery finds himself working with a policeman from England who is well-versed in Shakespeare. The case involves some indiscreet letters written by a young lady of a highly placed family. She is due to marry into another high ranking family. If the letters become public or known to her intended's family, all sort of scandal will happen and the wedding wuld be cancelled.
Of course it isn't a simple matter to ask the man they were written to to hand them over. It seems they were stolen from him.
The British policeman is found dead in his room and it is determined to be suicide. Or is it? Ellery thinks not.
These short stories were entertaining and complete mini-mysteries. Nice!
In the embezzlement case, Ellery finds himself working with a policeman from England who is well-versed in Shakespeare. The case involves some indiscreet letters written by a young lady of a highly placed family. She is due to marry into another high ranking family. If the letters become public or known to her intended's family, all sort of scandal will happen and the wedding wuld be cancelled.
Of course it isn't a simple matter to ask the man they were written to to hand them over. It seems they were stolen from him.
The British policeman is found dead in his room and it is determined to be suicide. Or is it? Ellery thinks not.
These short stories were entertaining and complete mini-mysteries. Nice!
Want to read
May 16, 2025Read so far:
Money talks (aka The sound of blackmail)--
A matter of seconds --2
The three widows --
*My queer Dean! --
*Driver's seat (aka Lady, you're dead)--
A lump of sugar (aka The mystery of the three dawn riders, aka Murder in the park)--
*Cold money --
The Myna birds (aka Cut, cut, cut)--
A question of honor --
*The robber of Wrightsville (aka The accused)--
*Double your money (aka The vanishing wizard)--
Miser's gold (aka Death of a pawnbroker, aka Love hunts a hidden treasure)--2
Snowball in July (aka Phantom train)--2
The witch of Times Square --3
The Gambler's Club --2
*GI story --
The black ledger --
*Child missing! (aka Kidnapped!)--
Money talks (aka The sound of blackmail)--
A matter of seconds --2
The three widows --
*My queer Dean! --
*Driver's seat (aka Lady, you're dead)--
A lump of sugar (aka The mystery of the three dawn riders, aka Murder in the park)--
*Cold money --
The Myna birds (aka Cut, cut, cut)--
A question of honor --
*The robber of Wrightsville (aka The accused)--
*Double your money (aka The vanishing wizard)--
Miser's gold (aka Death of a pawnbroker, aka Love hunts a hidden treasure)--2
Snowball in July (aka Phantom train)--2
The witch of Times Square --3
The Gambler's Club --2
*GI story --
The black ledger --
*Child missing! (aka Kidnapped!)--
October 17, 2012
A 1955 collection of EQ’s short stories, titled Queen’s Bureau of Investigation. The only one I came close to solving was the first one and it was over before I realized I wasn’t reading a full-length novel. Very enjoyable quick read – and it fulfilled two of my reading challenges – the ‘Q’ title in A-Z Reading Challenge and the ‘1955’ in Read the First Years of your Life Challenge.
Read this if: you enjoy short mysteries such as those found in Ellery Queen or Alfred Hitchcock magazine; or want short, intelligent challenges. 3 stars
Read this if: you enjoy short mysteries such as those found in Ellery Queen or Alfred Hitchcock magazine; or want short, intelligent challenges. 3 stars
June 24, 2014
I found this book at an antique store, and I had no idea how much I would love these quirky detective stories. The fact that the author(s) of these tales is/was not widely known makes them more intriguing and fun. Though some moments were obviously outdated, I still enjoyed every moment. The main character is like a 50s Sherlock Holmes with a light twist of Poe fantasy and intrigue (minus the creepiness that Poe likes to inject). I highly recommend this to anyone looking for some detailed, funny, light detective/mystery reading!
August 8, 2013
He is in our summer housework just read it. Or maybe re-read it; I honestly don't know if I've read it before. Reason: as big a fan of Queen I am, these stories are not very good. Extremely short (18 stories in 144 pages), the stories are essentially very simple whodunit puzzles. No character development, of course, given the lengths, same for milieu, and the puzzles themselves aren't very good. So not a good representation of what Ellery Queen is capable of.
December 1, 2014
I'm a Queen fan, but these are examples of one of my least favorite type of story. Way to short, with no character development. Really, most of these are little more than puzzles to figure out. The best are the Wrightsville tales, which are a little longer. My dog ate the corner of this little paperback, so I guess that's her opinion of it as well.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews