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Martha Lawrence came to Ellery Queen claiming that her husband's jealousy was putting her in danger. But did the man have grounds for his rage? When unsigned letters begin to arrive, Ellery is dragged all over New York in search of the truth.Tags
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Member Reviews
Enjoyable Ellery Queen mystery. Set in the '40s, post-World War II. Remarkably, it is not noticeably dated, with the exception of a couple mentions of a "Jap house servant."
(ETA: "not dated" in in social sense. It is, of course, dated with references to typewriters, phones that are fastened to the wall, etc.!)
Ellery and his secretary Nikki Porter (who apparently have a closer relationship than I remembered) are worried about a young married couple they are friendly with. Unreasonable jealousy seems to be driving the brooding young author to cruelty against his mousy little wife. Nikki and Ellery undertake guardianship duties over the wife to keep her safe. But questionable activities, mysterious letters typed in red, and guns that show more appear and disappear lead them (and the reader) deeper and deeper into approaching disaster.
I seriously did not see the final answers coming, and I enjoyed the byplay between the characters as I always have. A good one. Recommended. show less
(ETA: "not dated" in in social sense. It is, of course, dated with references to typewriters, phones that are fastened to the wall, etc.!)
Ellery and his secretary Nikki Porter (who apparently have a closer relationship than I remembered) are worried about a young married couple they are friendly with. Unreasonable jealousy seems to be driving the brooding young author to cruelty against his mousy little wife. Nikki and Ellery undertake guardianship duties over the wife to keep her safe. But questionable activities, mysterious letters typed in red, and guns that show more appear and disappear lead them (and the reader) deeper and deeper into approaching disaster.
I seriously did not see the final answers coming, and I enjoyed the byplay between the characters as I always have. A good one. Recommended. show less
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Author Information
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
Prisma detectives (66)
Work Relationships
Is contained in
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Scarlet Letters
- Original publication date
- 1953
- People/Characters
- Ellery Queen
- Important places
- New York, New York, USA; Darien, Connecticut, USA
- Epigraph
- It is ordered that Miss Batcheller for her adultery shall be branded with the letter A.
--Unknown, Records of Maine Province (1651)
It was around this law that Nathaniel Hawthorne wove the story of The Sca... (show all)rlet Letter. - First words
- Until the fourth year of their marriage their friends considered Dirk and Marthat Lawrence one of the happiest couples in New York.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)And in a little room adjoining the courtroom a pale woman rose and said with a sigh to the man and the girl beside her, "Please take me home."
- Original language
- English
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 204
- Popularity
- 159,675
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.53)
- Languages
- 5 — Danish, Dutch, English, Italian, Japanese
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 15
- ASINs
- 13
