Ellery Queen Novels by Plot Trivia Quiz

Answer: Cat of Many Tails

During a heat wave one summer, Ellery's father Inspector Richard Queen is tasked with finding The Cat, a vicious serial killer whose victims are strangled with a cord - blue for men and pink for women. One by one the Cat claims new victims every week or so until all of New York City is in a panic.

When Ellery joins in the investigation he discovers that perhaps the victims are not as random as they seem.

Answer: Calamity Town

Ellery temporarily moves away from New York City to the quiet town of Wrightsville to focus on his new novel. Instead, he finds himself distracted by a murder. The Wrights are descendants of the town's founder, but they are not spared tragedy. Nora Wright finally marries Jim, her fiancé who ran out on her three years prior to the events of the novel. Ellery discovers incriminating letters that indicate that Jim is planning on poisoning Nora.

However, it is Jim's sister who dies, not Nora.

Answer: Double, Double

Ellery receives anonymous letters in the mail of newspaper articles about the mysterious deaths of several Wrightsville citizens, though none appear to be murder. Ellery is intrigued, but reluctant to return to Wrightsville, since the cases there had a severe emotional impact on him.

However, he changes his mind when the daughter of one of the victims arrives seeking his help. Ellery is helpless to prevent several more deaths in Wrightsville, until he discovers the deaths follow the pattern "Rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief, doctor, lawyer, merchant, chief." Ellery discovers the pattern between the thief and doctor deaths and correctly identifies who the doctor and lawyer will be, but they refuse his help and fall victim as well.

Answer: American Gun Mystery

The Queens and Djuna attend the Wild West Extravaganza and witness the shooting and trampling death of the show's main star, Buck Horne, but the murder seems impossible to pull off in front of the 20,000 spectators. Moreover, the gun used to shoot Horne is missing, and every person (and the stadium itself) was searched thoroughly.

Answer: The King is Dead

The Queens discover one morning that they are essentially being kidnapped from their home to protect a munitions mogul, King Bendingo, who has been receiving death threats. The Queens find Bendingo's private island unusual and suspicious. They also quickly discover that the younger brother Judah has been writing the threatening letters, and is placed under guard. Ellery is baffled when he sees Judah try to shoot his brother with an unloaded gun and through two reinforced walls.

The gun does not fire but the King is shot anyway, though he lives.

The Queens' confusion grows when the office King was shot in and all of the people (including the Queens) are searched and no gun turns up and there was no way for anyone to get it out of the room.

Answer: Siamese Twin Mystery

After traveling through parts unknown, the Queens find themselves narrowly escaping a mountain fire and trapped on the peak at the house of an eccentric scientist, Dr. Xavier. During the first night there, the Queens become frightened by a monster they see in the hallway.

The monster turns out to be a pair of conjoined twins whom the scientist hopes to separate. But when Dr. Xavier is murdered in the middle of the night, all hopes of separation are dashed.

Answer: Dutch Shoe Mystery

When the millionairess is murdered, it baffles the Queens. Surely an elderly woman who was probably near death and undergoing a risky surgery was an unlikely murder victim. Moreover, the timing of the murder and the circumstances around it leave only a brief moment for it to have been committed. Ellery is forced to find the killer be making sense of bizarre and trivial clues such as stuffing in a shoe and the placing of a filing cabinet.

Answer: French Powder Mystery

Mrs. French is the second wife of the owner of French's Department Store. She tumbles dead out of the trundle bed display during a presentation. She clearly was killed during the night, but the Queens discover that it was nearly impossible for her to have been in the department store that late at night without being seen.

Moreover, Ellery discovers that Mrs. French and her missing daughter stumbled upon a drug ring shortly before their misfortune.

Answer: Spanish Cape Mystery

In this novel, Ellery investigates the kidnapping of young heiress Rosa Godfrey and her uncle David, who is clearly mistaken for the scoundrel John Marco. David is beaten by the kidnappers and vanishes, while Rosa is free by the next morning. However, during their kidnapping, John Marco is found murdered and naked. Ellery tries to deduce who could have possibly killed John Marco without being seen by any of the many people in the vicinity.

After a bit, Ellery determines that the solution to that question lies in the victim's clothing, or lack thereof.

Answer: Roman Hat Mystery

"The Roman Hat Mystery" was the subject of the first Ellery Queen novel (though not chronologically so, as "The Greek Coffin Mystery" takes place before this one despite being published after it). Blackmailer Monte Field is found murdered in his seat during a performance at the Roman Theater.

His top hat is missing, which confuses the Queens, as it does not seem possible for anyone to have taken it out of the theater and the hat is not found inside said theater. More baffling is the fact that the victim was sitting alone and no one appears to have gone near him.