A Fine and Private Place
Nino Importuna has a soft face, but when he smiles, it’s terrifying. His Central Park penthouse is lavish, but it was bought with the blood of his enemies. His criminal empire controls mining, electronics, and food—legitimate corporations that he runs with a murderer’s touch. When he catches one of his capos stealing from him, Importuna could either kill the man or send him to ...
Nino Importuna has a soft face, but when he smiles, it’s terrifying. His Central Park penthouse is lavish, but it was bought with the blood of his enemies. His criminal empire controls mining, electronics, and food—legitimate corporations that he runs with a murderer’s touch. When he catches one of his capos stealing from him, Importuna could either kill the man or send him to prison. Instead, he makes a simple demand: He wants the thief’s daughter to be his wife.
On their 5th wedding anniversary, Importuna signs his fortune over to his young bride. Soon after, the 9-fingered mobster is killed by 9 blows to the head and Ellery Queen receives a 9-letter note that holds the key to the homicide. In the legendary detective’s final case, 9 is the magic number.
Ellery Queen is a pseudonym used by two American cousins from Brooklyn-Daniel Nathan, alias Frederic Dannay (1905-1982), and Manford (Emanuel) Lepofsky, alias Manfred Bennington Lee (1905-1971)-to write detective fiction. In a successful series of novels that covered forty-two years, Ellery Queen served as both the authors' name and that of the detective-hero. The cousins also ...
Ellery Queen is a pseudonym used by two American cousins from Brooklyn-Daniel Nathan, alias Frederic Dannay (1905-1982), and Manford (Emanuel) Lepofsky, alias Manfred Bennington Lee (1905-1971)-to write detective fiction. In a successful series of novels that covered forty-two years, Ellery Queen served as both the authors' name and that of the detective-hero. The cousins also cofounded and directed Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, one of the most influential English crime-fiction magazines of the twentieth century. They were given the Grand Master Award for achievements in the field of the mystery story by the Mystery Writers of America in 1961.