Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine Feb 1965

 Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine Feb 1965 by Ellery Queen (ed)

Continuing my journey through EQMMs that I've accumulated over the past ten years and we have another mixed bag. The stories that are good are very good--"My Ladies Tears," "A Stroke of Genius," "The Mysterious Mr. Smith," "Into Thin Air," and "Do Not Choose Death" but the rest are pretty meh. I'm guessing there's a reason I was unfamiliar with the Poe story (despite having what I thought was a volume of all his work) and I have the feeling that I've read the Robert L. Fish Holmes pastiche before and was just as unimpressed then as I am now. And "How to Break out of Sing Sing" and "The Gag of the Century" don't seem to me to be mysteries at all--though I guess we could stretch a point for "Sing Sing" since it does involve crooks. ★★★ for the collection overall.

"The Case for Miss Peacock" by Charlotte Armstrong: A retired librarian who reads a lot of mysteries finds it more difficult to prove her innocence in an armed robbery case that one might expect--but she's not all that upset about it.

"My Ladies Tears" by Christianna Brand: When Don Juan decides to dismiss his mistresses in advance of his impending marriage, he thinks the ladies will be satisfied with tear-drop diamonds as a memento. But at least one of them isn't.... (one shot)

"Fire with Fire" by Richard Lewis: Professor John Garten finds himself in debt to a con man and decides on a unique way to pay off his debt. (one shot)

"Just Meat" by Jack London: Two thieves, a fortune in jewels, and the results when it comes time to divvy up the spoils. They each think they'll get their heart's desire... (one strangled; two poisoned)

"The Adventure of the Big Plunger" by Robert L. Fish: A Sherlock Holmes pastiche featuring Schlock Homes--Schlock's brother Criscroft asks him to investigate the death of Lord Fynch-fframis--who was either pushed out his window or committed suicide. (one fell from height)

"How to Break out of Sing Sing" by Robert Hardin: Loot (a criminal, not a policeman) decides that the best way out of prison is to pretend to get himself reformed. His pals think he's crazy and doesn't have a chance of fooling the shrink.

"A Stroke of Genius" by Victor Canning: Lancelot and Horace pull off a perfectly good robbery. The cops don't suspect them of a thing...until Lancelot takes up painting.

"The Mysterious Mr. Smith" by James M. Ullman: Ted Bennett is hired by a pre-fab home builder to find out why a Mr. Joe Smith is masquerading as one of the company's salesmen. (one fell from height)

"A Tale of the Ragged Mountains" by Edgar Allan Poe: An odd, dream-like story of life, death, and reincarnation. [one shot by arrow]

"The Gag of the Century" by William Bankier: The lengths some guys have to go to in order to get paid for writing gags for Windy Winter....

"Into Thin Air" by Helen McCloy: A bank president has absconded with $380,000 and somehow manages to disappear (with the cash) while in mid-flight aboard a private plane. (one strangled)

"Hit & Run" by Neil M. Clark: When Vic has a couple of  "small ones" and hits someone who rushes out on a bicycle in front of him, he knows better than to stop and help...just look what happened to Jim when he hit that old lady who stumbled out in front of him... (one hit by car)

"Do Not Choose Death" by Charles B. Child: The wife of a famous surgeon is found strangled and the killer has apparently left his fingerprints in lipstick... (one strangled; one hit on head; one shot)

"First Kill" by William Fay: A sensitive story about the first time Office Heidig kills a man in the line of duty. He asks himself, Did he really give the man time to surrender? (one shot)

"The Spinning Wheel" by David Alexander: A pretty playboy gambles on a plan to inherit his older wife's money...only to lose the pot to a more experienced player. (one hit by car; one shot)

First line (1st story): Miss Mary Peacock, wearing her old black coat over her second-best blue dress, and holding her purse very tightly, looked forward to a pleasant afternoon.

Last line (last story): "You and I are going to have a real nice future."