Calamity town
About this book
Ellery Queen moves into the small town of Wrightsville, somewhere in New England, in order to get some peace and quiet so that he can write a book. As a result of renting a furnished house, he becomes peripherally involved in the story of Jim Haight and Nora Wright. Nora's father is president of the Wrightsville National bank, "oldest family in town", and when the head cashier Jim Haight became engaged to his daughter Nora, he built and furnished a house for them as a wedding present. That was three years ago—the day before the wedding, Jim Haight disappeared, the wedding was called off, and the "jinxed" house became known as "Calamity House". Ellery rents it, just before the return of Jim Haight, and the wedding is soon on again. Ellery finds some evidence that Jim is planning to poison Nora and, after the wedding, she does display some symptoms of arsenic poisoning. But it is Jim's sister Rosemary who dies after drinking a poisoned cocktail. Jim is tried for the murder and it is only after some startling and tragic events that Ellery reveals the identity of the murderer.
Reader Profile
3.9/5 · 8 readers · 284 pages · ≈ 5 h 16 m · Challenging
How long does it take to read Calamity town?
About ≈ 5 h 16 m — 284 pages, assuming roughly 250 words per page at 225 words per minute.
How many pages is Calamity town?
284 pages in its most-read edition.
What genre is Calamity town?
It sits on the Mystery, Fiction shelves.
Has Calamity town been made into a movie or TV show?
Yes — screen adaptations include The Three Undelivered Letters (1979).
Is Calamity town in the public domain?
No — it is still under copyright.
Who wrote Calamity town?
Ellery Queen.