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The murder case falls into the hands of
Inspector Richard Queen of the Homicide Squad and his mystery-writing son Ellery. A set of onyx bookends in the private apartments on the top of the store reveal not only bloodstains but grains of fingerprint powder and an unusual assortment of books. Also, an
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At the finale of the novel, Ellery Queen performs an extended piece of deduction by creating a list of conditions that the murderer must meet (involving, among other things, the possession of keys). He clears all suspects except one, whose identity is revealed in the last line of the novel.
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who is demonstrating the features of a suite of ultra-modern furniture. When she pushes a button to reveal the folding bed, the bludgeoned corpse of the wife of the owner of the store tumbles to the floor.
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fully cognizant of all the facts pertinent to the discovery of the criminal; and that a sufficiently diligent study of what has gone before should educe a clear understanding of what is to come."
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ashtray full of half-smoked cigarettes is an important clue. The suspects include the wealthy victim's family and friends, some employees of the store, and possible members of a drug ring.
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234:, which were very popular at the time. This novel was the second in a long series of novels featuring Ellery Queen, the first nine containing a nationality in the title.
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The novel, and the other "nationality" mysteries, had the unusual feature of a "Challenge to the Reader" just before the ending is revealed—the novel breaks the
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The introduction to this novel contained some details which are now not considered part of the Ellery Queen
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The story begins with a model in the ground-floor store window of French's
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format were probably suggested by the novels featuring detective
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266:the American detective story."
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59:Ellery Queen
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246:fourth wall
228:Philo Vance
578:Categories
301:Novels by
185:mysteries
82:Publisher
76:Whodunnit
62:mysteries
90:Gollancz
47:Language
550:Cop Out
134:7761808
50:English
564:(1971)
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128:OCLC
103:1930
230:by
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