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jbleyle63's review against another edition
3.0
Decent locked room mystery but I've enjoyed other Ellery Queen novels more, such as The Siamese Twin Mystery. Bravo to Otto Penzler and the American Mystery Mystery Classics series for overall presentation of this edition with informative introduction and good overall presentation.
k_lee_reads_it's review against another edition
4.0
If you are going to read vintage mystery novels, you must read more than Agatha to be well read. Ellery Queen is a good choice.
This is a twist on the locked room mystery in which everything in the room is turned around backward.
Curious. And fun.
This is a twist on the locked room mystery in which everything in the room is turned around backward.
Curious. And fun.
quoththegirl's review against another edition
3.0
I picked this up for a dollar at Brattle Books in Boston, and promptly took it over to Boston Common, plunked down on the grass, and read most of it in one sitting. This was my first Ellery Queen mystery, and it was good fun! No Holmes, but thoroughly entertaining nonetheless. The actual plot doesn't hold up perfectly for modern audiences--many things are obvious to a reader of the 1930s that are not obvious to a reader today--but it didn't hamper my enjoyment by much.
chrisljm's review
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.25
One of those detectives that try to show off how smart they are. Dialogue rambles and gets convoluted.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism
Moderate: Misogyny, Murder, Toxic relationship, Death, Infidelity, Pregnancy, and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Rape
bev_reads_mysteries's review against another edition
4.0
I'll just say it right out--The Chinese Orange Mystery (1944) is the best Ellery Queen novel that I've read yet. I have to take Queen in doses. I grew up with the televised version of Ellery Queen and loved those. On TV Ellery, Inspector Queen, and the policemen at the Inspector's beck and call weren't quite as hard-boiled as they seem to be in the novels. Not that we're talking Raymond Chandler or Dashiell Hammett here--certainly not. Just a bit harder around the edges. I have to be in the right mood for it. Apparently my mood was just right.
Up till now, The Roman Hat Mystery, the first of the Ellery Queen novels, has held pride of place. But this little gem which combines a semi-locked room, a murder of a total unknown, beautiful jewels, rare stamps, and a lunatic old scholar has shoved the Hat firmly aside. Titled The Chinese Orange Mystery, it so easily, as the foreward points out, could have been named The Crime That Was Backwards. From the back of the book: "Turnabout is foul play. There were many odd things about the fat man. No one had seen him enter the luxurious suite and no one knew his name. Somehow all his clothes had been put on him backward, and all the furniture around him reversed. The room in which he was found was locked from the inside, and aside from him, was empty. It was unlike any case Ellery Queen had ever seen--except for two hard facts. The man was dead. And it was Queen's baffling job to find the murderer."
There seem to be absolutely no clues available, only confusion. The man came to visit Donald Kirk--publisher and collector of rare gems and even rarer stamps--but refused to state either his name or his business to Kirk's assistant James Osborne. Put in an anteroom to wait for Kirk's arrival, the man is later discovered dead, clothes on backwards and every item in the room reversed--rug upside down, pictures turned to the wall, and even a fruit bowl dumped and the bowl placed over the fruit. No one in the Kirk household or among his friends claim to have seen the man before and there is nothing on the body to identify him. What did he want? Was he a hopeful author? Did he have a gem or a rare stamp for sale? And why did the murderer take the time for reversal? Answer these questions and you just might beat Ellery to the solution.
I humbly admit that I did not. Not even close. But that doesn't bother me, I rarely figure out the Ellery Queen mysteries. They are such well-constructed puzzles that I just don't get them. All the clues are there--just as Ellery states in the challenge to the reader. It's never a case where the reader can cry "Unfair!" Every bit of evidence is dangled under your unsuspecting nose and all you have to do is recognize it for what it is and you'd be home and dry.
Wonderful period mystery. Lively characters--all well-drawn and with enough secrets and hidden quirks to keep you guessing while you try to puzzle your way to the solution. The motive for the murder wasn't quite as strong as I'd like, although I can see the pyschology behind it. That small quibble gives the book four 1/2 stars out of five, rather than the full five-star rating. I highly recommend this one!
Up till now, The Roman Hat Mystery, the first of the Ellery Queen novels, has held pride of place. But this little gem which combines a semi-locked room, a murder of a total unknown, beautiful jewels, rare stamps, and a lunatic old scholar has shoved the Hat firmly aside. Titled The Chinese Orange Mystery, it so easily, as the foreward points out, could have been named The Crime That Was Backwards. From the back of the book: "Turnabout is foul play. There were many odd things about the fat man. No one had seen him enter the luxurious suite and no one knew his name. Somehow all his clothes had been put on him backward, and all the furniture around him reversed. The room in which he was found was locked from the inside, and aside from him, was empty. It was unlike any case Ellery Queen had ever seen--except for two hard facts. The man was dead. And it was Queen's baffling job to find the murderer."
There seem to be absolutely no clues available, only confusion. The man came to visit Donald Kirk--publisher and collector of rare gems and even rarer stamps--but refused to state either his name or his business to Kirk's assistant James Osborne. Put in an anteroom to wait for Kirk's arrival, the man is later discovered dead, clothes on backwards and every item in the room reversed--rug upside down, pictures turned to the wall, and even a fruit bowl dumped and the bowl placed over the fruit. No one in the Kirk household or among his friends claim to have seen the man before and there is nothing on the body to identify him. What did he want? Was he a hopeful author? Did he have a gem or a rare stamp for sale? And why did the murderer take the time for reversal? Answer these questions and you just might beat Ellery to the solution.
I humbly admit that I did not. Not even close. But that doesn't bother me, I rarely figure out the Ellery Queen mysteries. They are such well-constructed puzzles that I just don't get them. All the clues are there--just as Ellery states in the challenge to the reader. It's never a case where the reader can cry "Unfair!" Every bit of evidence is dangled under your unsuspecting nose and all you have to do is recognize it for what it is and you'd be home and dry.
Wonderful period mystery. Lively characters--all well-drawn and with enough secrets and hidden quirks to keep you guessing while you try to puzzle your way to the solution. The motive for the murder wasn't quite as strong as I'd like, although I can see the pyschology behind it. That small quibble gives the book four 1/2 stars out of five, rather than the full five-star rating. I highly recommend this one!
luffy79's review against another edition
3.0
In Ellery Queen mysteries, God is in the details. I'm always flabbergasted by the stunt whereby the author tells us that, given we were astute enough, we should solve the mystery logically. That trick never gets tired of. This particular story was lacking in form and quality and decisiveness. The appearance of Ellery Queen at Kirk, then at Sewell's place was odd and jarring. That cost the book one or two stars. The mystery itself is not perfect, as the ubiquitous rope is used to seal the locked room mystery. Been there etc. But even not at their best Ellery Queen remains a formidable writer.
ssejig's review against another edition
3.0
Invited to come early to a dinner party, Ellery Queen walks instead into a bizarre crime scene where everything, from the clothes on the victim's back to the book cases in the room, is backward. Not only that, no one involved in the case seems to know who this victim is. It takes some time for Ellery to figure all of this out, as well as why two spears were added to the victims clothes, making it look like he had giant horns.
The solution was a bit convoluted and I'm still not sure I understood, but the character development was interesting and following the action was fun.
The solution was a bit convoluted and I'm still not sure I understood, but the character development was interesting and following the action was fun.
_katiaz_'s review against another edition
3.0
A very interesting book with lovely writing, and with a plot that is unique. The challenge is also an interesting addition to the novel. I would say this is a great detective novel to read for lazy afternoons.
bookish_arcadia's review against another edition
2.0
I am a huge fan of traditional mysteries, where the puzzle is more important than the actual crime. Add in an eccentric and preferably amateur detective and I’m usually hooked. Not so here. This was my first Ellery Queen story but it could well be the last. I found the writing style infuriating, in prose and dialogue there was an abundance of broken sentences and far too many ellipsis as though neither the characters nor the writer(s) were capable to finishing a thought or a sentence.
The story itself is irritatingly gimmicky. All of the theatrical complications were frankly ridiculous and I found them less entertaining than infuriating. It may be considered one of the best locked-room mysteries but I almost put it down with only a few pages of exposition to go, simply because I couldn’t bring myself to care. The balance between complication and convincing puzzle is simply off. It wasn’t difficult to work out who the murderer was but the how and the why were horribly contrived. The constant references to the old, tired ideas of the exotic, esoteric East were deeply trying.
Ellery’s irascible Police Inspector father was a welcome foil to all the showboating and folderol (and I normally like this feature on my mysteries!) and his men offered most of the more believable deductions. At one point he bemoans his son’s unlikely theorising, declaring
I can’t help but agree. I did however enjoy the interactions between father and son.
The story itself is irritatingly gimmicky. All of the theatrical complications were frankly ridiculous and I found them less entertaining than infuriating. It may be considered one of the best locked-room mysteries but I almost put it down with only a few pages of exposition to go, simply because I couldn’t bring myself to care. The balance between complication and convincing puzzle is simply off. It wasn’t difficult to work out who the murderer was but the how and the why were horribly contrived. The constant references to the old, tired ideas of the exotic, esoteric East were deeply trying.
Ellery’s irascible Police Inspector father was a welcome foil to all the showboating and folderol (and I normally like this feature on my mysteries!) and his men offered most of the more believable deductions. At one point he bemoans his son’s unlikely theorising, declaring
“I give up. Go the whole hog. Go puzzlin’ your brains about Chinese oranges and Mexican tamales and alligator pears and Spanish onions and English muffins, for all I care! All I say is—can’t a man eat an orange without some crackpot like you reading a mystery into it?”
I can’t help but agree. I did however enjoy the interactions between father and son.
pussreboots's review
4.0
Over the summer while Sean was taking his swim lessons I read through three Ellery Queen mysteries: The Penthouse Mystery, The Chinese Orange Mystery and The Dutch Shoe Mystery.
Both The Penthouse Mystery and The Chinese Orange Mystery cover the clashes and misunderstandings between American and Chinese cultures. Although the overall set up of The Chinese Orange Mystery (1934) is more challenging than The Penthouse Mystery (1941), Ellery Queen is far more ignorant of Chinese culture than he is in the later novel.
The set up is this: a John Doe is found murdered in a private office in the Hotel Chancellor. His clothing has been removed and put on backwards and all the furnishings in the room have been turned around too. How can inspector Richard Queen with the help of his son, Ellery, solve the murder if they don't know his identity?
What bothered me most was the implication early on in the novel that the backwardness of the crime scene was a message to imply the backwardness of Chinese culture. Ellery Queen is usually more worldly than this. Thankfully though he does realize the error of his ways. Although the dead man is tied to China, the reason behind his murder is far more interesting than what Ellery Queen first implies.
Both The Penthouse Mystery and The Chinese Orange Mystery cover the clashes and misunderstandings between American and Chinese cultures. Although the overall set up of The Chinese Orange Mystery (1934) is more challenging than The Penthouse Mystery (1941), Ellery Queen is far more ignorant of Chinese culture than he is in the later novel.
The set up is this: a John Doe is found murdered in a private office in the Hotel Chancellor. His clothing has been removed and put on backwards and all the furnishings in the room have been turned around too. How can inspector Richard Queen with the help of his son, Ellery, solve the murder if they don't know his identity?
What bothered me most was the implication early on in the novel that the backwardness of the crime scene was a message to imply the backwardness of Chinese culture. Ellery Queen is usually more worldly than this. Thankfully though he does realize the error of his ways. Although the dead man is tied to China, the reason behind his murder is far more interesting than what Ellery Queen first implies.