Customer Reviews

The Door Between

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4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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Eva MacClure is so happy about her engagement to Dr. Richard Scott that she rushed right over to tell her father's fiancé about it. She waits patiently to see her, but when the phone in the room begins ringing incessantly. And when Eva goes in to see what is going on, she is shocked to find that Karen Leith is dead - brutally murdered. There was no way in and out of the room, except passed Eva, who knows that no one went in that way. That leaves only one suspect. Now, it is up to Ellery to get to the bottom of the mystery, and clear Miss MacClure's name!

This is another very good Ellery Queen mystery. It was the first of the books to not have a "Challenge to the Reader," but that is not a great loss, it just makes the book fit in with the normal mystery genre. I found the mystery to be quite well done, with the story keeping me guessing all the way to the end. Indeed, until you get to the very last page, don't think that this mystery has been rung completely dry!

This is a great addition to the Ellery Queen canon, and I highly recommend it!

In this novel Ellery Queen begins to move away from the classic detective story where 'who' and 'how' are everything and 'why' only incidental. Although the murder here is as interesting and as complex as in any previous Queen novel the psychological element is also present although it is not the major theme it would eventually become. The character Ellery Queen begins his break from his previous 'dilettante' phase towards a more likable, well rounded personality. Touched on in this novel is also the theme of the detective wielding life and death power which will come up in later novels.

I read the Kindle version of the book. Very little to complain about, only a OCR mangled word or two. I hope we get more Queen novels from Langtail in ebook format. Highly recommended.

My memories of Ellery Queen are primarily from my childhood in the 70's and the tv series. I looked forward to each episode and therefore wanted to see if I'd enjoy the stories as much in my adulthood. Of course, the weekly episodes were tied up neatly at the conclusion without a lot of subplots. Having said that, I must endorse The Door Between as a an excellently written mystery filled with all the red herrings and twists for which one could hope. However, enjoyable and interesting as it was, it wasn't difficult to put down each night.

I'll tell you up front, this audiobook could have been better with a different reader -- Fairman sort of "grates" on me. Still, he presents the story coherently and the delivery still rates in the top 40% of audiobooks I've listened to (which is MANY!). The story is a good one, not the best that Ellery Queen has to offer, but far from his worst (or should I say "their" worst? .*.) So, to pin it down, this set is worth buying if you can find a deal on it -- mine is an old library copy and the cassettes are well-made, not cheesy like some audiobooks. The mystery is a good one, not awfully ridiculous. I re-listen to this one from time to time.