Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, November 1948

About this issue

This issue presents a collection of detective and crime stories. Featured stories include Roy Vickers's "The Death Position Enigma," in which Scotland Yard's Detective Inspector Karslake investigates the mysterious position of a murdered man found at his writing table—arm suspended unnaturally above the desk, apparently holding a telephone receiver, his hand clenched in an urgent gesture. The corpse's inexplicable pose contradicts forensic evidence about rigor mortis, suggesting the body was moved after death. Other pieces include Georges Simenon's "Le Chateau de L'Arsenic," Leslie Charteris's Saint adventure "Salt on His Tail," Thomas Walsh's "Getaway Money," and a Shiel-Gawsworth collaboration, "A Case for Deduction." Crime stories feature work by Cornell Woolrich, Joseph Shearing, Fulton Oursler, and Rupert Hughes. Ronald Knox contributes "The Motive," selected by John Dickson Carr. Edward D. Radin profiles Dr. Gettler, a real-life detective. The magazine includes editorial promotion of Mercury Mystery paperbacks and information on accessible recorded editions for the blind.