Chinese Orange Mystery

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating Mystery, But Difficult Solution
Review: In a private waiting room in the prestigious Hotel Chancellor in New York City we encounter a dead man, a victim of a bizarre murder. The man's identity is unknown, even the labels from his clothing has been removed. The victim was completely undressed and then re-dressed in his clothes, but backwards. The furniture, paintings, lamps, and other items in the room has been inverted or reversed. The peeling and seeds of a tangerine (then known as a Chinese Orange) are found in a fruit bowl.

The full title of this Ellery Queen Mystery (April, 1934) is The Chinese Orange Mystery, A Problem in Deduction. I made little progress toward resolving the mystery. I repeat a hint offered by an earlier reviewer, a hint that might benefit the modern reader: a century ago men often used removable stiff collars that could be washed and starched separately, even discarded and replaced, allowing longer use of the dress shirt itself.

The Chinese Orange Mystery makes good reading, but like a good John Dickson Carr mystery of the same period, the solution may be beyond most mortals. But with the hint above, you might unravel a few more threads than I did. Due to the difficulty level, I recommend that the a reader new to Ellery Queen not begin with this particular mystery, but defer it until you are more familiar with his deductive skills.

In recent months I have read and reviewed several Ellery Queen classic mysteries from the 1930s. Ellery Queen today is unfamiliar to many contemporary readers, but I expect that these remarkable deductive mysteries will again become as popular as they were in the 1930s through the 1960s. It may not be easy to locate one of the earlier (1930s) Ellery Queen mysteries, but I assure you that the effort will be rewarded.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding mystery that has sadly been overlooked.
Review: It's unfortunate that too many people think that the only worthwhile mystery books from the 1930's are by British writers. Frederick Dannay and Manfred Lee wrote many outstanding mysteries under the name "Ellery Queen". Many of Queen's books are puzzles and one of the best is The Chinese Orange Mystery: an unknown man is found murdered in a hotel with all his clothes and the furniture reversed. The only clue I can fairly give is that in the 1930's, men wore *removable* collars as opposed to fixed collars today. Here's hoping this book gets reprinted soon!

Rating:
Summary: An all time mystery classic
Review: This is one of my favorite all time mystery stories by Ellery Queen or any other author..