The House Without a Key

This magazine features two mystery serials: "The House Without a Key" by Earl Derr Biggers and "The Roman Hat Mystery" by Ellery Queen. Biggers's story, set in Waikiki, opens with Boston spinster Miss Minerva Winterslip arriving at her cousin Dan's Hawaiian estate. Dan, a worldly sixty-three-year-old, has long been estranged from his Puritan brother Amos. Minerva receives word that her relative John Quincy Winterslip is coming from the mainland to escort her home. The narrative promises murder: Dan Winterslip will be stabbed to death, with the killer identified by a wristwatch missing the numeral two. Queen's "Roman Hat Mystery" involves a murder during a Broadway theater performance of "Gunplay," with a missing silk top hat as the crucial clue. Detective Inspector Richard Queen and his son Ellery, a brilliant analyst, investigate. Both stories emphasize mystery, deduction, and romantic atmosphere alongside crime.