Talk Back

[edting]

34. A Room to Die in by Ellery Queen

I remember the Watchmen graphic novel series from the 1980s – do you? There was one issue that had a subplot with kid reading a comic book. The main story breaks away every now and then and you get to see what’s in the comic book. In it, a man is stranded on a desert island, has to escape by making raft out of dead bodies, and hangs on as sharks start eating his “raft.” If you stop and think about it, the entire subplot is unnecessary, but I’m glad it was there.

I am that kid reading that comic book every time I crack open a new Ellery Queen mystery. This has become the happiest part of my day. Especially when I discover such a finely-crafted mystery like A Room to Die in. Although it’s one of the last works (1965) it’s a throwback to the earliest works. The structure is formal, and features that old standby, the Locked Room Mystery. A man is found inside a small locked room in his house, shot dead, with the pistol lying on the ground. The room had been locked from the inside and there is no way anyone could have gotten into or out of the room. The solution is daggone brilliant.

Ghost written by Jack Vance.