Get Your Free Audiobook

Non-member price: $35.50

After 30 days, Audible is $16.45/mo. Cancel anytime.

Publisher's Summary

Looking for trouble, Ellery Queen descends on a small town.

At the tail end of the long summer of 1940, there is nowhere in the country more charming than Wrightsville. The Depression has abated, and for the first time in years the city is booming. There is hope in Wrightsville, but Ellery Queen has come looking for death.

The mystery author is hoping for fodder for a novel, and he senses the corruption that lurks beneath the apple pie façade. He rents a house owned by the town's first family, whose three daughters star in most of the local gossip. One is fragile, left at the altar three years prior, never to recover. Another is engaged to the city's rising political star, an upright man who's already boring her. And then there's Lola, the divorced, bohemian blacksheep. Together, they make a volatile combination. Once he sees the ugliness in Wrightsville, Queen sits back - waiting for the crime to come to him.
©2014 Ellery Queen (P)2014 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

What listeners say about Calamity Town

Average Customer Ratings

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Audible.com.au reviews

Audible.com reviews

Amazon Reviews
No Reviews are Available
Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Stephen W Osborne
  • Stephen W Osborne
  • 30-04-2017

Atmospheric story, small town murder

The early Queen tales were mostly puzzles. The middle period Queens are very different, focusing on characterization and the psychology of the characters involved. Calamity Town is set in the fictional New England town of Wrightville, and Ellery immerses himself with the Wright family and their troubles. Here he is not the aloof reasoner, but someone who cares deeply about the family, especially young Patricia Wright. There are, it seems, two types of narrators of audio books: the ones who simply read the book, and the ones that perform the book, giving each character life. Waterhouse is definitely the former type, but at least he has a pleasant voice and differentiates the different characters a little.

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Anonymous User
  • Anonymous User
  • 02-10-2020

New location new version of storytelling

Enjoyable & while I was enjoying the newness of the changed environm ent I was able to puzzle out parts of the main puzzle but was left fuzzy on motives. Only at the end did it seem somewhat draw out.

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Suzo
  • Suzo
  • 01-02-2018

Not your usual Ellery Queen

Not the usual smug Queen. This book has an intriguing and convoluted plot, full of emotional highs and lows. Stay with it to the very end.

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Mary B. Wheeler
  • Mary B. Wheeler
  • 10-01-2021

Unusual Ellery Queen

To begin with this reads like a novel. I am used to the " Inspector Queen and his son" type of mystery so this was unexpected. I love these mysteries, but I thoroughly enjoyed this as a change of pace. Ellery is a writer trying to get away to a nice quiet place to write his story. This town is anything but quiet as he soon discovers. He quickly becomes involved with the townspeople, their quirky ways, and of course, the murder. I highly recommend this book. It is a good mystery and the narration is excellent. Enjoy!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Michael Kramer
  • Michael Kramer
  • 01-10-2020

A bit similar to Agatha Christie

This was a good start to Queen’s little block of books set in Wrightsville but contains a solution like his own but has an old Christie solution added. Not bad but too typical

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Jerri
  • Jerri
  • 15-05-2016

Great!

Thought i had it figured out pretty early but too many twist and turns later i was still guessing.

1 person found this helpful

In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible Australia acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.