The King Is Dead

By: Ellery Queen

Narrated by: Mark Peckham

Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

Armed men invade the Queen apartment, led by Abel Bendigo, brother of one of the world's most powerful men. King Bendigo of Bodigen Arms is an industrial monster whose tentacles embrace the planet. Someone is threatening to kill the King, and Ellery must take on the task of saving his hated life. Virtual prisoners, Ellery and his father are whisked away to an island "somewhere in the Atlantic." In a frightening atmosphere of industrial slavery and brute militarism, Ellery comes to grips with a baffling murderer who calmly announces the exact moment of the assassination. The trouble is, Ellery is with the confessed murderer at the time of the crime - so how could he have possibly done it?

©2014 Blackstone Audio, Inc.; 1952 Ellery Queen

Hmmm had to put this one down for a bit.

Not my fave queen book to date, definitely had me setting the book down to enjoy a different title before coming back to it.

Repetition

Dragged out to be a very long way around telling a story. Repetition of facts made it very tiresome.
Storyline is excellent though. Narrator is good as well. Just try to bear thru the telling of it.

Depressing

Such a depressing story

Call me sentimental

I again share that I missed the earlier storyline set in New York

This story rested heavily on psychology which has become
more and more relied on as a panacea for the crime rather than logic which was the earlier plot solutions of earlier books

One of Queen's BEST

This book holds up fantastically over the years as one of the best of the genre, and takes a unique and fascinating twist on the murder mystery format.
For fans of Ellery Queen new and old, this book is not one to miss. Wonderfully performed. You'll be sneaking this book in every spare second you have until it's finished, it's riveting!

At least six stars!

I am not a particularly critical reader and frequently give five star ratings. Then a book like this comes along! The authors wove an intricate plot that kept me deeply involved from the beginning to the surprising end. The reader was just as good as the story. Give this book a try. I’m sure you will agree with me!

Awesome

Wonder book. Exceptional story with a plot that will keep you hanging. I would definitely recommend it.

The King is dead, long live Ellery Queen!

The premise is maddening. A man is told precisely when he will be killed. And he knows who is trying to kill him. So he's in a locked room, with only his wife, and the man who threatened him is two rooms away, with no loaded weapon, watched all the time. Yet, at the exact moment predicted, King Bendigo is shot. No gun is found in the room. I thought the solution was brilliant, and the characters kept me guessing the whole time. Loved the brief return to the world of Wrightsville, which I didn't expect. I much prefer Mark Peckham over other Ellery readers.

Ellery Queen!

I liked the narrator and storyline. It was a surprise ending and that made me smile.

"All the King's men..."

This is an outstanding mystery. At first I thought that the premise was too absurd, but as Ellery begins to fight back and take charge, the story gets more and more interesting. Of course, you ( along with Inspector Queen) don' have a clue where it is going, but I can promise you, the action unwinds in a very unusual way. I was extremely intrigued to find out just "whodunit." I had guessed correctly, but I couldn't have begun to know why all the masquerade. This is a good read and Mark Peckham is as always outstanding in his reading of it. I highly recommend. Enjoy!

Story good. Narrator not so much

I struggled with the narrator but still enjoyed the story. This is the first time I knew who did it but I still was fooled on how it was done.