The Chinese Orange Mystery by Ellery Queen

Ellery Queen is once again involved in a mystery and this one is a real puzzler. He has been invited to dine with Kirk, whose Partner collects valuable stamps and jewels.  A plump, middle-aged man shows up, who refuses to state his business, and is put into the Office sitting area. By the time Kirk's Secretary, Mr. Osborne, remembers he is there...it is too late. He is dead. The room has had all the furniture turned the wrong way and all his clothes have been put on backwards. Two African spears have been inserted between the body and behind the head, giving the appearance of horns and of a trussed-up offering.

This Mystery is considered to be one of the best of the series. It was written in 1934 and it has all the elegant sophistication of William Powell in the Thin Man Series. Wealthy people live in Hotels with Secretaries and dress for dinner. The elderly Father is looked after by a private nurse and even though the Depression is on- it does not touch wealthy collectors of stamps. The writing flows like a well- filled cocktail and the who "dunnit" aspect is intriguing and led me to read these pages till four in the morning. The Chinese Orange  Mystery was voted the eighth best locked- room mystery of all time by seventeen well known Detective Writers and Reviewers.

This particular Novel is also cited in reference works referring to the locked- room puzzle. It is intriguing and keeps your mind working furiously to solve it. What more could a Reader ask for than a top of the line puzzler? I know you will like it.The ending alone is a minor miracle. This is another in the golden mystery time frame that I highly recommend.

My thanks to Netgalley and Penzler Publishers

Blurb:

A topsy-turvy crime scene sends a detective on a puzzling quest for the truth.

The offices of foreign literature publisher and renowned stamp collector Donald Kirk are often host to strange activities, but the most recent occurrence­―the murder of an unknown caller, found dead in an empty waiting room―is unlike any that has come before. Nobody, it seems, entered or exited the room, and yet the crime scene clearly has been manipulated, leaving everything in the room turned backwards and upside down. Stuck through the back of the corpse’s shirt are two long spears―and a tangerine is missing from the fruit bowl. Enter amateur sleuth Ellery Queen, who arrives just in time to witness the discovery of the body, only to be immediately drawn into a complex case in which no clue is too minor or too glaring to warrant careful consideration.

Reprinted for the first time in over thirty years, The Chinese Orange Mystery is revered to this day for its challenging conceit and inventive solution. The book is a “fair-play” mystery in which readers have all the clues needed to solve the crime. In 1981, the novel was selected as one of the top ten locked room mysteries of all time by a panel of mystery-world luminaries that included Julian Symons, Edward D. Hoch, Howard Haycraft, and Otto Penzler.

Death in the Stocks by Georgette Heyer

Georgette Heyer, famous for her Regencies, also added to her stock some delectable mysteries set in the Golden Era. The writing is crisp with snappy dialogue and eccentric characters. I found myself laughing more than once. Part of the charm of this Era is coming across sophisticated people-very reminiscent of The Thin Man Movies. This book is of course set in pre-war partying of the thirties with dinner parties and lots of drinking.

The Verekers, Tony and Kenneth are brother and sister. Along with Murgatroyd, their maid, they live in artistic quarters and rub along. Arnold, the older brother, is murdered and discovered in the Stocks near a Village, where he has a little hideaway for Women. It could almost be a bad joke but it isn't. Inspector Hannasyde is assigned to the case and focuses on the Verekers and their friends. The mixture of secretiveness and naivete mixed with a second murder adds to the mix. I didn't try to figure out who the Murderer was I just enjoyed the Story for its mixture of fun and buildup.

If you enjoy Mysteries from the 1930's and 1940's add this one to your collection. I am a big fan of that period and I really enjoyed this Story with all its froth and cunning characters. I plan on continuing with the series and I am giving it five stars.

Blurb:
A Moonlit Night, a Sleeping Village, and an Unaccountable Murder...
In the dead of the night, a man in an evening dress is found murdered, locked in the stocks on the village green. Unfortunately for Superintendent Hannasyde, the deceased is Andrew Vereker, a man hated by nearly everyone, especially his odd and unhelpful family members. The Verekers are as eccentric as they are corrupt, and it will take all Hannasyde's skill at detection to determine who's telling the truth, and who is pointing him in the wrong direction. The question is: who in this family is clever enough to get away with murder?
"Miss Heyer's characters act and speak with an ease and conviction that is refreshing as it is rare in the ordinary mystery novel."-Times Literary Supplement

Traitor's Purse by Margery Allingham

There is something so delightful about a really good Margery Allingham Mystery. She is one of the best at complicated plots and so very English. This story was published in 1941 and has complex characters, murder and enemy agents. It also has more of Amanda and romance if you are familiar with the Allingham Series.

Albert Campion wakes up in a Hospital with total amnesia. The thing that is driving him is his mission. It is terribly important and very secret. During this time he has to "act normal" even among his dearest which includes Amanda and Lugg, his Servant.  The problem is he can't remember anything, including the mission. He is afraid that he has killed a policeman and that the force is after him. Albert escapes from the hospital and ends up riding with Amanda and a guest- who will soon be murdered. Amanda and he are staying at a Place called the Institute he found out.  She has been following him...but how does it all tie in? Why the murder?

The texture of the first half of the book, at least, has Albert Campion sick and working in the dark. But it is a finely-drawn wording that has him discovering his friends and enemies in a new light. Allingham, is a master at leading you through a mosaic of word patterns holding it tense and fine in parts. She also has the ability to make you feel that you are at a golden time of the mystery and privy to the well-educated class of Great Britain. I always feel I have read a Master when I finish. If you enjoy Sayers and Christie then you should enjoy Allingham and in the words of Amanda,"Be gone across the raging tide"


Blurb:
Celebrated amateur detective Albert Campion awakes in hospital, accused of attacking a police officer and suffering from acute amnesia. All he can remember is that he was on a mission of vital importance to His Majesty’s government before his accident. On the run from the police and unable to recognize even his faithful servant or his beloved fiancée, Campion struggles desperately to put the pieces together—while World War II rages and the very fate of England is at stake.

Published in 1941, Traitor’s Purse is “a wartime masterpiece” (The Guardian).

“Uncommonly exciting stuff, replete with Allingham’s skill in story-building and the plausible characters that make her as much a fine novelist as a mystery writer.” —The New Republic

“Margery Allingham stands out like a shining light. And she has another quality, not usually associated with crime stories, elegance.” —Agatha Christie