The Greek Coffin Mystery
1932 • 288 pages

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15

After the death of an elderly Greek man who is an internationally famous art dealer and collector, his attorney discovers that his will is missing and notifies the district attorney. When Inspector Richard Queen of the New York Police Force's Homicide Squad and his amateur detective son Ellery are called in, Ellery narrows down the possible location of the will to a single location: the dead man's coffin. When it is exhumed, however, it contains no will but the surprising addition of a strangled ex-convict.
Ellery performs an extended piece of deduction in public early on in the novel that concerns a number of used teacups, and is proved wrong. Stung by this embarrassing error, he keeps his deductions to himself for the remainder of the case. Subsequent clues involve color-blindness, a shred of the burned will, two copies of a Leonardo da Vinci painting differing only in skin tone, a thousand-dollar bill, a dead art dealer whose office door was either open or closed and, most importantly, an infinitesimal typing error.
Ellery and his father lay a trap, unmasking the murderer— whose guilt will probably have been entirely unsuspected by most readers.


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Series

Series

19 primary books

#4 in Ellery Queen Detective

Ellery Queen Detective is a 19-book series with 19 released primary works first released in 1929 with contributions by Ellery Queen and 艾勒里·昆恩.

#1
The Roman Hat Mystery
#2
The French Powder Mystery
#3
The Dutch Shoe Mystery
#4
The Greek Coffin Mystery
#5
The Egyptian cross mystery: A problem in deduction

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July 24, 2023