Ellery Queen y su padre deben poner todo su ingenio a trabajar para resolver un caso en el que todo parece duplicado: los muertos, los hermanos, las claves, las soluciones y quizá incluso los culpables. Pero no hay nada que se resista a la sagacidad e imaginación de los Queen. Cuando John Xavier aparece asesinado con la mitad de una sota de diamantes en la mano, que parece señalar a uno de los gemelos, los Queen comprenden que hay más cosas que temer, además del fuego que avanza y de los monstruos enjaulados.

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss. ( )

Ellery Queen has been a favorite of mine since I was a kid. I used to watch the series on Sunday evening. Recently, I watched the series again on Amazon Prime.

While I was at a local library book sale, I came across the book, The Siamese Twin Mystery. Looking for a good mystery to read, I bought it. I certainly was not disappointed. Read more ( )

This is one of the earlier mysteries in the Ellery Queen series. It seemed to have more drama, was more drawn out in descriptions and in action.

Ellery and his dad, Inspector Queen, are on the way home from a vacation, driving through a mountain area. They find they have gotten caught in a wild fire and end up taking shelter at a home that is built at the top of a mountain.

The inhabitants are an odd group: Dr. Xavier - the owner, his wife - who appears jealous of one of their guests, Dr. Percival Holmes - assistant to the Dr., Mark Xavier - Dr. Xavier's brother, Mrs. Marie Carreau - the guest Mrs. Xavier is jealous of, Francis and Julian Carreau - sons of Mrs. Carreau, Ann Forrest - Mrs. Carreau's secretary, and a Mr. Smith - who seems to have some sort of connection. There is also the domestic staff. It is quite a cast.

The day after the Queens' arrival, Dr. Xavier is discovered dead in his study. He is clutching a clue - the dying clue. When Inspector Queen calls down the hill to notify the local law, he is told that the fire is getting out of control and there is no idea when someone can make it up the mountain. the Inspector is given authority over the situation.

The various characters seem to have secrets of their own, and there is a strange atmosphere to the house...and it isn't just due to the smoke and increasing heat of the approaching fire. This all plays together to add tension to the story. Will the mystery be solved? Will the fire be extinguished? Will the characters survive. All the while there is the question of who is the murderer and why.

This seem to have a great many more twists and turns, and a few dead ends, that usual. It was not a book to be read quickly due to so much going on. ( )

On their way back to New York from a vacation in Canada, Ellery Queen and his father, Inspector Queen, are trapped on a burning mountain seemingly with no way out. The only way to go is up, where they discover a large house with strange occupants. The owner, Dr. Xavier, reluctantly opens his home to them when he realizes that fire gives him no alternative. Dr. Xavier is murdered during the night, and the investigation gives Ellery and the Inspector something to do while they're trapped by the fire.

Ellery Queen mysteries are usually convoluted, and this one is even more convoluted than most. The dying man leaves a cryptic clue, the murderer leaves complex red herrings, and another unrelated crime complicates matters. All the while the fire keeps creeping closer. It's so poorly plotted that it's laughable. Just ask the friends who listened to most of this with me on a road trip. ( )