The American Gun Mystery Audiobook By Ellery Queen cover art

The American Gun Mystery

The Ellery Queen Mysteries

 Preview

Audible Standard 30-day free trial

Try Standard free
Select 1 audiobook a month from our entire collection of titles.
Yours as long as you’re a member.
Get unlimited access to bingeable podcasts.
Standard auto renews for $8.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The American Gun Mystery

By: Ellery Queen
Narrated by: Dan Butler
Try Standard free

$8.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $21.09

Buy for $21.09

When a Western star is gunned down at a rodeo, Ellery Queen saddles up to solve the mystery.

Buck Horne has roped thousands of cattle, slugged his way out of dozens of saloons, and shot plenty of men dead in the street - but always on the back lot. He's a celluloid cowboy, and his career is nearly kaput. The real box-office draw is his daughter, Kit, a brawling beauty who can out shoot any rascal the studio has to offer. Desperate for a comeback, Buck joins Wild Bill Grant's traveling rodeo for a show in New York, hoping to land one last movie contract. But he has scarcely mounted his horse when he falls to the dirt. It wasn't age that made him slip - it was the bullet in his heart. Watching from the stands are Ellery Queen, debonair sleuth, and his police detective father. They are New Yorkers through and through, but to solve the rodeo killing, the Queens must learn to talk cowboy.

©1960 Ellery Queen (P)2013 AudioGO Amateur Sleuths Mystery Traditional Detectives Heartfelt Western Fiction
Intriguing Mystery • Well-crafted Puzzles • Dramatic Narration • Technical Puzzle • Airtight Puzzles • Consistent Voices

Highly rated for:

All stars
Most relevant
I just discovered these mysteries. What a treat. I am listening to as many as possible. I generally go for mysteries but got sick of the brutality and overbearing suspense. I like to think and not be emotionally burdened. These work for me. I highly recommend. So different but I also love Tanya French.

Love Ellery queen

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Only problems was with this was Challenge to the Listener?No it's reader and the Queens are Irish but so far only here the Inspector has an accent.....

Plot was good writing was crisp

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This mystery has a wonderful beginning. While watching a Wild West show with 20,000 other people, Ellery Queen watches a man get murdered. There are many questions attached to the crime, not the least of which were: who done it and how did they do it? With twenty thousand witnesses—each the potential villain—Queen has his work cut out for him.

As is usually the case, watching Queen go to work and uncover the various facets of the crime was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, the solution was so convoluted and without a solid motive for the crime that I don’t think any jury would have ever convicted. The authors take care of that problem, but honestly, it still detracts from the ultimate satisfaction of the tale.

If you’re an Ellery Queen fan, you will want to read this book. But it’s not a good one to get started on.

Queen Has His Work Cut Out for Him

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Author’s style and vocabulary aggravatingly dated. Never use one adjective when you can find 3 more. Ellery explains his thought process multiple times ad nauseum. Might have been a pretty good read if an editor had gotten rid of all the adjectives and adverbs and found a believable hiding place for the murder weapon - and actually given us a motive. I finished only through sheer determination to fully assess the writing. I’ve read a few other Ellery Queen works which were shorter and, though not better, were improved by brevity. Read for the experience but don’t expect much.

Ellery Queen doesn’t stand up to reputation

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Why in the world was it decided to give inspector Queen an Irish accent? None of the previous collections have had it. Nothing has indicated that he is recently come from Ireland. Very distracting.

Sudden Irish accent for Insp. Queen

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews