The American Gun Mystery

An Ellery Queen Mystery

The American Gun Mystery
Otto Penzler, Ellery Queen
RRP:
NZ$ 29.99
Our Price:
NZ$ 25.49
Paperback
h203 x 135mm - 317pg
12 Oct 2021 US
International import eta 10-30 days
9781613162521
Out Of Stock
Currently no stock in-store, stock is sourced to your order
When a washed up Hollywood cowboy-turned-circus rodeo actor is shot dead in the midst of his performance at a New York sports-palace, in front of thousands of onlookers, it seems obvious that someone would have seen the perpetrator of the crime-or at the very least, recovered the gun. But when the ensuing investigation fails to turn up any evidence, even after the newsreels made in the moment are reviewed, the net of suspicion widens across the troupe of performers and the circus staff. Who among them is cunning enough to have constructed such a baffling murder scene? Unluckily for the murderer, genius sleuth Ellery Queen is among the thousands that witnessed the crime, and he won' t be satisfied until he cuts through the confusion to discover the truth of the execution. By the time he uncovers all the necessary clues and delivers his patented "Challenge to the Reader", Queen (and his most careful readers) will be able to expose both the killer and the hiding place of the weapon-the titular American Gun that fired the fatal bullet. Reissued for the first time in over thirty years, The American Gun Mystery is among the most beloved of the early Ellery Queen novels, renowned to this day as exemplary works of the American Golden Age mystery. The central puzzle is a "fair play" story in which the reader has all the necessary clues needed to solve the crime.
"A humdinger. " -- The New York Times
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 the greatest puzzle-mysteries of their time, gaining the duo a reputation as the foremost American authors of the Golden Age "fair play" mystery. Eventually famous on television and radio, Queen' s first appearance came in 1929 when the cousins won a mystery-writing contest with the book that would eventually be published as The Roman Hat Mystery. Besides co-writing the Queen novels, Dannay founded 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 the fictional Queen upon Lee' s death. Otto Penzler, the creator of American Mystery Classics, is also the founder of the Mysterious Press (1975); Mysterious Press. com (2011), an electronic-book publishing company; and New York City' s Mysterious Bookshop (1979). He has won a Raven, the Ellery Queen Award, two Edgars (for the Encyclopedia of Mystery and Detection, 1977, and The Lineup, 2010), and lifetime achievement awards from Noircon and The Strand Magazine. He has edited more than 70 anthologies and written extensively about mystery fiction.
Status: Active
ISBN-13: 9781613162521
Published: 12 Oct 2021
Published In: United States
Imprint: Penzler Publishers
Publisher: Penzler Publishers
Format: Paperback
Height: 203mm
Width: 135mm
Spine: 25mm
Weight: 368g
Pages: 317

In stock - for items in stock we aim to dispatch the next business day. For delivery in NZ allow 2-5 business days, with rural taking a wee bit longer.

Locally sourced in NZ - stock comes from a NZ supplier with an approximate delivery of 7-15 business days.

International Imports - stock is imported into NZ, depending on air or sea shipping option from the international supplier stock can take 10-30 working days to arrive into NZ. 

Pre-order Titles - delivery will vary depending on where the title is published, if local stock is available in NZ then 5-7 business days, for international imports it can be 10-30 business days. In all cases we will access the quickest supply option.

Delivery Packaging - we ship all items in cardboard sleeves or by box with either packing paper or corn starch chips. (We avoid using plastics bubble bags)

Tracking - Orders are delivered by track and trace courier and are fully insured, tracking information will be sent by email once dispatched.

View our full Order & Delivery information