Review: The Roman Hat Mystery

The Roman Hat Mystery by Ellery Queen
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

I didn't finish this book, so I won't leave any rating. I should specify, however, that I've read several complaints about this book here on Goodreads, but none about the issues I had, i.e. how contrived the situations seemed. 

For example (PROBABLY A SPOILER AHEAD), the assassinated man happened to jot down, randomly, on a piece of paper, the amount he was blackmailing someone else for plus the time the other person was supposed to meet him?? And, according to the inspector "Nothing is more natural". I've sat waiting for plenty of meetings with a notepad and pen, and not once have I jotted down the amount of money involved or the time someone else was supposed to show up. Let alone doing so for an illegal act (and he was a lawyer!). 

There were other issues, but this one stood out the most to me. 

Again, I didn't finish the book, so maybe this turns out to be a red herring, but it still seems rather disingenuous of the detective hero of this book. 

And the fact that it was written in 1929 is no excuse. The Sherlock Holmes books were written decades earlier and stood on much firmer ground. 

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