An enjoyable Ellery Queen murder mystery. Ellery (Donald Cook) and Judge Mackin (Berton Churchill) head off to California on holiday. Immediately they are drawn into a crime mystery as Stella (Helen Twelvetrees) is found bound and gagged in their chalet after her uncle has been apparently kidnapped. When they return Stella to her parents' home they find the first of a number of murders has been committed...
While Sheriff Moley (Harry Stubbs) stumbles his way through the crime scene, Ellery pretends he is not interested in the situation though he is very interested in Stella. He, of course, manages to discreetly steer Moley away from arresting everyone on sight while finding the real culprit...
A very agreeable country house mystery with a number of possible culprits and red herrings. A seasoned crime film watcher will probably quite quickly realise what is really going on but this is a well made little murder mystery.
