When Ellery Queen and his father encounter a raging forest fire during a
mountain drive, the only direction to go is up -- up a winding dirt road
that leads to an isolated hillside manor, inhabited by a secretive
surgeon and his diverse cast of guests. Trapped by the fire, the Queens
settle into the uneasy atmosphere of their surroundings. Things become
even more tense the following morning when the doctor is discovered
dead, apparently shot down while playing solitaire the night before.
The only clue is a torn six of spades. The suspects include a society
beauty, a suspicious valet, and a pair of conjoined twins. When another
murder follows, the killer inside the house becomes as threatening as
the mortal flames outside its walls. Faced with a complex set of alibis,
motives, and evidence, Ellery Queen must rely on his powers of deduction
and logic to uncover the murderer's identity -- but can he solve this
whodunnit before the fire devours its subjects?
Featuring bizarre circumstances, eerie atmosphere, and a dazzling
solution, The Siamese Twin Mystery is a fair play mystery in which the
reader has all the necessary information needed to solve the puzzle. The
seventh Ellery Queen novel (which can be read in any order), it finds
the legendary sleuth facing one of the most memorable cases of his
career.