{"product_id":"the-french-powder-mystery-9781497697645","title":"The French Powder Mystery","description":"\u003cb\u003eA stylish puzzle mystery from the author who \"took the intellectual game that was the formal detective novel to greater heights than any American writer\" (\u003ci\u003eThe Weekly Standard\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003c\/b\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eClassic Golden Age Detective Mystery\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\nThe windows of French's department store are one of New York's great attractions. Year-round, their displays show off the finest in fashion, art, and home décor, and tourists and locals alike make a point of stopping to see what's on offer. One afternoon, as the board debates a merger upstairs, a salesgirl begins a demonstration in one of the windows, showing off French's new Murphy bed. A crowd gathers to watch the bed lower from the wall after a single touch of a button. But as the bed opens, people run screaming. Out tumbles a woman--crumpled, bloody, and dead.\n\n\u003ch2\u003eEllery Queen's Signature Investigation\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\nThe victim was Mrs. French, wife of the company president, and finding her killer will turn this esteemed store upside down. Only one detective has the soft touch necessary--debonair intellectual Ellery Queen. As Queen and his police inspector father dig into French's secrets, they find their killer is more serious than any window shopper.\n\nThis fair play mystery exemplifies the Golden Age of detective fiction, where readers receive all the clues needed to solve the case alongside the detective. Set against the backdrop of 1930s New York, the novel combines locked room mystery elements with sophisticated plotting.\n\n\u003ch2\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\nEllery Queen was a pen name created and shared by two cousins, Frederic Dannay (1905-1982) and Manfred B. Lee (1905-1971), as well as the name of their most famous detective. Born in Brooklyn, they spent forty-two years writing, editing, and anthologizing under the name, gaining a reputation as the foremost American authors of the Golden Age \"fair play\" mystery. Although eventually famous on television and radio, Queen's first appearance came in 1928, when the cousins won a mystery-writing contest with the book that was later published as \u003ci\u003eThe Roman Hat Mystery\u003c\/i\u003e. Their character was an amateur detective who uses his spare time to assist his police inspector uncle in solving baffling crimes. Besides writing the Queen novels, Dannay and Lee cofounded \u003ci\u003eEllery Queen's Mystery Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e, one of the most influential crime publications of all time. Although Dannay outlived his cousin by nine years, he retired Queen upon Lee's death.","brand":"Open Road Integrated Media LLC","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50681018777874,"sku":"9781497697645","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_a44006f3-9589-40d7-8bfc-609145e43c76.jpg?v=1733947602","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-french-powder-mystery-9781497697645","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}