The Four of Hearts by Ellery Queen (1938)

 

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About the author: Ellery Queen is a crime fiction pseudonym created in 1929 by Frederic Dannay and Manfred Bennington Lee, and later used by other authors under Dannay and Lee's supervision. Dannay and Lee's main fictional character, whom they also named Ellery Queen, is a mystery writer in New York City who helps his police inspector father solve baffling murders. (from Wikipedia - full article). 

Major characters:

John "Jack" Royle, actor

Tyler Royle, his son 

Louderbach, the Royle family servant 

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Blythe Stuart, actor

Bonnie Stuart, her daughter

Tolland Stuart, her father, a mountain hermit

Clotilde, the family French maid 

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Joe DiSangri Allesandro, casino owner
Alan Clark, theatrical agent
Jacques Butcher, a.k.a. Butch, the Boy Wonder, Magna Pictures VP
Lew Bascom, Magna Pictures writer
Sam Vix, Magna Pictures publicity agent

Arthur William Park, a studio extra
Paula Paris, syndicated columnist

Inspector Glücke

Ellery Queen

Locale: California 

Synopsis: Ellery Queen is in Hollywood, on a short term contract to come up with a story for a detective movie for Magna Pictures; aided by writer Lew Bascom.

Magna Pictures has two famous actor families: The Royles (John "Jack" Royle and his son Tyler Royle) and the Stuarts (widow Blythe Stuart and her daughter Bonnie Stuart). Jack and Blythe have been feuding for years, and likewise their children. The studio comes up with the idea of a real-life biographical picture featuring the stars playing themselves. Surprisingly, they agree, and contracts are signed. Then, a surprise: Jack and Blythe suddenly patch things up and announce their engagement.

A quick wedding takes place on the airport tarmac, where Tyler's private plane waits to fly them to their honeymoon on remote Reed Island, owned by Jacques "Butch" Butcher, VP of Magna. After the ceremony, an unknown person dressed up in a pilot's flying togs overpowers Tyler and - impersonating Tyler - gets into the plane and flies off with Jack and Blythe. 

The plane does not arrive at Reed Island. A large search eventually finds it on a mountain plateau. Authorities arrive to find Jack and Blythe dead inside from poison, but no sign of the pilot. Bonnie becomes distraught and is taken to the nearby mountain retreat of millionaire hermit Tolland Stuart, her grandfather. She is treated by Tolland's personal physician, Doc Junius.

No one seems to have a motive as no one benefits by their deaths, but Ellery finds a possible clue: Blythe had been receiving a series of anonymous playing cards in the mail, bearing the insignia of the Horseshoe Club, a casino owned by Joe DiSangli Allesandro.

Review:

A key plot element centers around the remailing service business - so a bit of explanation is called for. This sort of thing has gone by the wayside, but it used to be a big deal.  I remember seeing in the 1960's - 1980's plenty of listings in the classified ads for these. It was a way of hiding out. You send your stamped mail to a remailing service in a distant city, and for a fee they would drop it in the mail for you from there, getting the distant city's postmark (as evidence) in the process. These were used by people who didn't want other people (a spouse, a bill collector, etc.) to know where they really were - handy for sending ransom notes, alimony, child support checks, and Dear John letters.

This was a nice early Queen, a real page turner, and a nice break from the New York City locale. It never got bogged down. The deaths had no apparent motive, and the actual motive, when discovered, was clever. The solution was a bit complex but that was of necessity.