Calendar of Crime

From the Grand Master Edgar Award–winning author, a collection of short mysteries in which legendary sleuth Ellery Queen must solve one mystery per month. Every new year, the seven remaining alumni of the first graduating class of Eastern University gather in Manhattan to reminisce. Within that group, there is a secret clique—the Inner Circle—forged around a crooked business arrangement, the profits of which will be collected by the last living member. When three of the Inner Circle die within a year, the remaining men fear for their lives. Just before Christmas, one of the survivors comes to the great detective Ellery Queen to beg for help. There are just a few days to save a life—and the university itself. Even if Queen can get to the bottom of the Inner Circle, eleven more puzzles will greet him throughout the year. As the Calendar of Crime flips onward, the detective will find that there is no off-season for murder. Praise for the writing of Ellery Queen: "Ellery Queen clearly is, after Poe, the most important American in mystery fiction." —Otto Penzler, editor of The Best American Mystery Stories "A new Ellery Queen book has always been something to look forward to for many years now." —Agatha Christie "Ellery Queen is the American detective story." —Anthony Boucher, author of Nine Times Nine