THE BIZARRE MURDERS

New York: J.B. Lippincott Co.. Hardcover. Very Good. A collection of three early Ellery Queen mysteries, selected by a book club editor for the extraordinary circumstances of the murders or the investigation. "The Siamese Twin Mystery" (1933) sees Ellery and his father, Richard Queen, investigating the murder of a doctor while on their vacation, on a mountain top, and surrounded by a forest fire. "The Chinese Orange Mystery" (1934) features an unknown murder victim found with all his clothes on backward in a publisher's office where all the furniture is arranged backwards as well. "The Spanish Cape Mystery" (1935) is described by Queen himself, once again on holiday, as the "problem of the undressed man," which followed the "kidnapping of the wrong man, " a collosal error by Captain Kidd. All three of these early books feature the "challenge to the reader" where Queen invites the reader to solve the crime. There is no copyright date for this bookclub edition but copyright renewals of the first two in 1960 and 1961 but not yet the third would indicate an early 1960s publishing date for this volume, a First Edition Thus with no evidence of additional printings. About 5 3/4 x 8 1/2 inches, 510 pages in black paper-covered boards with white lettering on spine. Boards show light bumping at corners and spine ends with a slight crease down the spine. A small address sticker from a previous owner is in the upper corner of the inside front cover. Hinges are intact, binding firm. The yellow-stained top edge of text is slightly soiled, o/w text is complete, clean and unmarked. Not ex-library. Overall, no tears, no dogeared pages or other significant flaws. Sorry, no dustjacket. A decent reading copy of a rather scarce Queen collectable.