A murder in a crowded Broadway theater presents a full house of suspects—the first in this classic mystery series starring Ellery Queen! 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.

A fashion designer’s murder draws legendary sleuth Ellery Queen into a New York society family’s tangled web of secrets. Ever since New York was Nieuw Amsterdam, the McKells have been building their fortune. Combining Scottish thrift with American know-how, they built an empire that, by the 1930s, stretched across the globe. No one in the family found more success than Ashton McKell, an entrepreneur who counts his wealth in the hundreds of millions, who smokes twenty cigars a day, and whose only problem is his son Dane, an adventurous soul who shocks his father by giving up business for the disgraceful pursuit of writing. Despite their differences, Dane loves his father. He is shocked when he learns the old man is having an affair—and thunderstruck when Ashton is accused of murder. When his father’s mistress is found dead, Dane will do anything to free Ashton. And no detective is more suited to this puzzling case of blackmail, lust, and greed than the singular Ellery Queen.

A gang of young sleuths and a trusty terrier put their noses to a bank robbers’ trail Ellery Queen’s young apprentice, Djuna, is preparing for an afternoon of fishing when a stranger leans out of his car window and asks for directions to Canada. A few minutes later, Djuna watches as the man’s friends come running out of the local bank and into the getaway car, guns blazing, before taking off for the Canadian border. It is a mystery that could baffle even Djuna’s famous boss, but with the help of a ferocious black Scottie named Champ and a few crime-solving friends, he will find the culprits. It will be the greatest adventure of his life. Ellery Queen is one of the world’s finest detectives, but his adventures are nothing compared to the Ellery Queen Jr. Mystery Stories. Join Queen’s apprentice, Djuna, and his trusty Scottie, Champ, on adventures filled with danger, suspense, and thrills. The Black Dog Mystery is the first book in the Ellery Queen Jr. Mystery Stories, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

In eleven stories, the brilliant sleuth tangles with a book thief, an assassin who targets acrobats, and more . . . For Ellery Queen, there is no puzzle that reason cannot solve. In his time, he has faced down killers, thugs, and thieves, protected only by the might of his brain—and the odd bit of timely intervention by his father, a burly New York police inspector. But when a university professor asks Queen to teach a class, the detective finds there are people whom reason cannot touch: college students. Queen’s adventure on campus is only the first of this incomparable collection of short mysteries. In these pages, he tangles with a violent book thief, an assassin who targets acrobats, and New York’s only cleanly shaven bearded lady. Criminals everywhere fear him, whether they work in mansions or back alleys. No mystery is too difficult for the man with the golden brain.

An ordinary office worker finds a whole lot of money—and winds up running for his life—in this twist-filled thriller by a mystery master. Jim Morgan can’t afford the briefcase. His wife’s spending has strangled him with debt, and he’s down to his last $20. But the briefcase in the leather shop calls to him. It looks like something an executive would own. It smells like success. When he buys it, he feels a confidence he hasn’t felt in years. He tells off the office bully. He talks his way into a raise. The briefcase has made him a new man—and soon, it will be his downfall. Stopping on his way home for a cocktail, Morgan sets the briefcase on the barroom floor. When he picks it up, it’s filled with cash. He’s walked off with $100,000 in stolen money. And getting rid of it will turn his life upside down—or end it.

AN ELLERY QUEEN MYSTERY. When Ellery Queen first meets the award-winning novelist Karen Leith, it is at a party held to celebrate her most recent prize in literature. The next time he hears of her, she is dead - murdered, so the police suspect, by the daughter of her fiance, the eminent cancer researcher Dr. John MacClure. With no other suspects and only circumstantial evidence at hand, master detective Ellery Queen delves into the reclusive writer's past to uncover the startling method and motive of an intricate crime.