BOOK REVIEW: The Chinese Orange Mystery, by Ellery Queen

The Chinese Orange Mystery, by Ellery Queen

(Published by MysteriousPress/Open Road on February 5, 2013)

Review first appeared on Cozy Little Book Journal on March 27, 2013

View on Amazon.com

Let me just start by saying that I've long been conflicted about ebooks. I do own an ebook reader and I love that it allows me to read some books sooner than I would otherwise (like with advanced digital copies) but when it comes down to it, I'll always prefer a print copy of any book. I can't think of a single exception. However, I do have to admit that there is a very big advantage to ebooks that I hadn't considered before. Specifically, when classic books that I may have forgotten about are put out by ebook publishers like Open Road Integrated Media, it gives me an excuse to rediscover them all over again.

Enter Ellery Queen.



For those of you who may not know, Ellery Queen is da bomb (do people still say 'da bomb'? No? Whatever, it's still true). Ellery Queen is the name of a detective character from the 1930's and '40's and also the pseudonym of the author (or actually two authors, see below for more). The idea is that Queen himself was writing about his own adventures, though very few of them were written in the first person. 

Ellery Queen mysteries were best known for being "fair play" mysteries, meaning that all of the clues the reader would need to solve the crime were presented in the story. There were no endings with the detective saying things like, "Unbeknownst to all of you, the killer left a clue that only I saw." At least not unless the reader saw it too. The novels apparently even have a "Challenge to the Reader" section in which Ellery Queen (the "author") tells the reader that they should have enough clues to solve the crime the way Ellery Queen (the detective) is about to. It's very satisfying for fans of hard boiled detective fiction.

Having said that, this particular story feels like it's a bit longer than it needs to be and the "answer," like the mystery itself, is endlessly convoluted. Plus there's a fair sprinkling of 1930's racism to deal with (sweeping characterizations of the "Oriental race" and loathsome phrases like "that's mighty white of you" for instance). I think it would have worked much better as a short story, quite frankly.


Still, The Chinese Orange Mystery was enough to make me want to check out other classic mystery titles now available as ebooks. I think Open Road Media also has some Dorothy L. Sayers in their collection as well. I wonder if they have any G.K. Chesterton or Wilkie Collins...?
Open Road Integrated Media has not only produced a number of classic Ellery Queen stories as ebooks, they've made a brief documentary video introducing Daniel Nathan (alias Frederic Dannay) and Manford (Emanuel) Lepofsky (alias Manfred Bennington Lee), the two New York cousins who wrote together as Ellery Queen. Nathan and Lee (Man! Even their real names were aliases!) wrote together for over 40 years, creating the novels, short stories and mystery magazine that bore their fictional character's name. (As a child, I had a subscription to Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine and I LOVVVVVVED it!)

You can watch the video below:

Video: Meet Ellery Queen (OpenRoadMedia)

And just as a personal favour to twelve-year-old me, check out Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. It's soooo good (that was twelve-year-old me talking).

Disclaimer: I received a digital galley of this book free from the publisher from NetGalley. I was not obliged to write a favourable review, or even any review at all. The opinions expressed are strictly my own.

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