The American Gun Mystery by Ellery Queen

The rodeo had come to New York City and had brought murder along with it. Wild Bill Grant was now head of the world's greatest rodeo. Starring in this rodeo was Buck Horne. Buck had been the star of silent movies about the wild west, but now Buck was 60 and his career was on the decline. He hoped to make a comeback with his starring role in the rodeo. He had brought his daughter, Kit, who was a hard riding and fast shooting star of the movies. Wild Bill had a son, Curly Grant, who was also in the show and was in love with Kit Horne.

Ellery Queen and his father Inspector Queen were at the opening performance of the rodeo in the Colosseum. They were in a box with Tony Mars who was a promoter of sports events such as this rodeo and also boxing matches. Also there was Mara Gay, a movie star, and her husband Julian Hunter who owned night clubs.

Then the entertainment began with Wild Bill Grant riding into the center of the Colosseum to announce the beginning of the show. He was followed by Buck Horne riding in followed by 40 men and women riders who were all shooting off their revolvers. Then Buck collapsed in the saddle, died, and fell off of his horse into the dirt. The riders following him could not stop, and their horses ran over his body. Ellery and Inspector ran down to take a look at the body. Examination of the body showed that Buck had been shot. The police soon arrived, and prevented any of the twenty thousand people in the Colosseum from leaving.The murder weapon could not be found even though twenty thousand people and all the members of the show were searched.

The search for the murder weapon as well as the search for the murderer kept Ellery Queen and his father very busy. The search would branch out into the investigation of gambling and the prize fight which was held in the Colosseum after the murder. I found the solution of the crime interesting but a bit improbable. The modern (for the time) technologies used in the solution of the crime such as the microscopic examination of bullets, and the use of a film of the shooting provided added interest to hunt for the murderer.

This book was published in 1933, and was the sixth in the Ellery Queen series which were written by Frederick Dannay and Manfred Lee. It was the fourth in the series which would become the Dell Mapbacks, but the first edition had no map on the back. It was later reissued with a map on the back.

The Greene Murder Case by S. S. Van Dine

"The house is polluted -- and all of the inmates are rotting with it, disintegrating in spirit and mind and character". This is the opinion which amateur detective Philo Vance held of the occupants of the Greene mansion. District Attorney Markham had asked Philo Vance to assist in  investigating the shooting at the mansion. In the night, someone had entered the bedroom of Julia Greene, and had shot her dead. Then this person had crossed the hall, into the bedroom of her sister Ada Greene and had seriously wounded her with a shot to the back. She was still alive. If this was a burglary, then it failed because nothing was taken.

The other occupants of the house were, indeed, an strange group. The mother of the family, Mrs. Tobias Greene was bed ridden, cranky, and endlessly demanding attention. John Greene, the oldest son was the one who had persuaded Markham to look into the case. The younger son, Rex was a sickly bookish boy who spent most of time in his room with his science experiments. Sibella, the middle daughter, was outspoken and highly resentful of Ada, the youngest daughter, and wished that Ada would leave. Ada, who had been adopted,  seemed to the only one who paid any attention to their mother. They were doomed to stay together in this house due to the terms of their father's will which said that they must remain in the house for 25 years after his death or forfeit receiving any of their inheritance. Visiting frequently was Doctor Von Blom, the family physician, who supposedly was treating Mrs. Tobias Greene, but he seemed to paying a lot of attention to Sibella. Sproot, the butler seemed to very diligent, and Gertrude Manheim, the cook, had been with the family for twenty years. More murders would occur, and the family was being rapidly diminished.

Philo Vance is a very sophisticated and remarkably well educated gentleman, 34 years old. He maintains a very rational outlook while trying to solved the mystery of the deaths in the Greene family. This book, which was published in 1927, is literate and the reader is warned to keep a dictionary handy because there are some unusual words in it. Indeed, this book has footnotes making it a rather academic work. Vance's final method of analysis is so detailed that it puts modern mystery writers to shame.

S. S. Van Dine is the pseudonym of Willard Huntington Wright. Wright was an author of literary articles and an art critic. Confined to bed by an illness, Wright read hundreds of detective stories, wrote an article about detective fiction, and then turned his hand to writing detective fiction. 
  
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Murder After Hours by Agatha Christie

It was intended to be a pleasant weekend gathering at the Hollow. That was before it became the scene of a murder. Sir Henry and Lady Angkatell had, of course, invited Midge Hardcastle, and Henrietta Savernake who was such a talented sculptor.  John Cristow and his wife Gerda were coming. John was an exceptional doctor, but Gerda was a bit slow and didn't really seem to fit in with the others. Edward Angkatell was coming; he was the heir to the Angkatell estate and a bachelor. On Saturday evening, Veronica Cray, a movie actress, who was renting a nearby cottage, dropped in to borrow some matches, and to say hello to her former lover, John Cristow.  On Sunday, they were going to have lunch with the Belgium detective who was renting the cottage nearby for the summer.

On Sunday morning, John Cristow was found dying from a gun shot wound by the edge of the pool, and his wife Gerda was standing over him with a revolver in her hand. Hercule Poirot, who had come for lunch, arrived in time to see this scene, and, of course, took an immediate interest in the happenings. The police, of course, were called in and investigations showed that the gun that Gerda was holding was not the gun which was used to murder John. Everyone who was there was questioned and an extensive search for the murder weapon was conducted. Poirot finally determined who was the killer in a rather surprising conclusion. This book was published in 1946 under the original title of the Hollow.

What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw! by Agatha Christie

Elspeth McGillicuddy had completed a day of Christmas shopping and was returning home on what was to be a very eventful train ride. On the ride, her train was passed by another train, and when Mrs. McGillicuddy looked out the window she saw what was happening in a compartment on the passing train. A woman whose face was contorted was being strangled by a man who had his back to Mrs. McGillicuddy. Mrs. McGillicuddy told the ticket collector about what happened, and he assumed that this elderly woman was just imagining things. Later she told the station master and sent a letter to the police; both of them paid no attention.

She then told her good friend, Jane Marple, who did believe Mrs. McGillicuddy, and who took action to find the body. Assuming that the woman's body had been thrown from the train, Miss Marple found a place on the train line where it was most likely to have landed. Since Miss Marple was getting a bit too old to carry out investigations her self, she hired the very efficient and intelligent Lucy Eyelesbarrow, an Oxford educated house keeper, to seek employment in the home of the Crackenthorpes which was located near the site where Miss Marple suspected the body would be located. Lucy was carry to out her employment part of the day, and search for the body in the remaining time.

Lucy was successful in her mission to find the body of the woman. Now it became essential to find out who she was as well as who killed her. Miss Marple, of course, succeeds at this even though she is at a distance from the scene of the crime as well as at a distance from all of the suspects.

This book was published in 1957. In 1961, a movie was made of this book. It starred Margaret Rutherford. In 1987, BBC made a version of the book starring Joan Hickson as Miss Marple. In 2004, ITV did another version of this book starring Geraldine McEwan in the role of Miss Marple.