Why So Dead?
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In this classic mystery from the Grand Master Edgar Award-winner, PI Chuck Baer and cop Tim Corrigan chase an assassin to recover a million-dollar ruby. Chuck Baer is a brilliant private detective, but he'll never be called graceful. Hired by the all-powerful sultan of Morojaca to provide security for a banquet, this bearlike PI requires backup with class, and there is no tough guy in New York quite as classy as Tim Corrigan. A one-eyed cop with a sense of style, Corrigan is happy to tag along to the event. Once there, he finds himself guarding not only the crown jewels, but also the cream of the sultan's harem. Sometimes, a cop's life isn't so bad. The sultan is opening gifts from well-wishers when an explosion rocks the ballroom, blowing the monarch to smithereens. When the smoke clears and the sultanas stop screaming, it becomes clear that the killer has made off with the Akhoond—a million-dollar ruby as red as the blood that stains the floor. Corrigan is about to embark on the wildest chase of his career. . . . Praise for Ellery Queen: "Ellery Queen clearly is, after Poe, the most important American in mystery fiction." —Otto Penzler, editor of The Best American Mystery Stories "A new Ellery Queen book has always been something to look forward to for many years now." —Agatha Christie "Ellery Queen is the American detective story." —Anthony Boucher, author of Nine Times Nine
Ellery Queen
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, editing, and anthologizing under the name, gaining a reputation as the foremost American authors of the Golden Age “fair play” mystery. Although eventually famous on television and radio, Queen’s first appearance came in 1928, when the cousins won a mystery-writing contest with the book that would eventually be published as The Roman Hat Mystery. Their character was an amateur detective who uses his spare time to assist his police inspector uncle in solving baffling crimes. Besides writing the Queen novels, Dannay and Lee cofounded 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 Queen upon Lee’s death.
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