埃勒里•奎因（Ellery Queen），推理小说史上一个非凡的名字，实指弗雷德里克•丹奈（Frederic Dannay，1905-1982）和曼弗里德•李（Manfred Lee，1905-1971）这对表兄弟作家。他们的创作时间长达半个世纪，作品多达数十部，全球销量约计两亿册；他们曾五获埃德加•爱伦•坡奖；他们的四部“悲剧系列”和九部“国名系列”作品被公认为推理小说史上难以逾越的佳作；他们于1941年创办的《埃勒里•奎因神秘杂志》（EQMM）成为劳伦斯•布洛克、迈克尔•康奈利等推理大家起飞的平台，迄今仍是最专业、最权威的推理文学杂志之一；他们出资设立“密室研讨小组”，定期与约翰•狄克森•卡尔、克雷顿•劳森等推理大师交流、切磋……他们成就的不仅仅是自己，更成就了推理小说的黄金时代。

Ellery Queen is the pseudonym of cousins Frederic Dannay and Manfred B. Lee. Ellery Queen is also the name of their famous detective who has appeared in more than 30 novels and 70 short stories. He has been on the radio, in the movies, on television, and in comic books. The Mystery Writers of America gave Queen 7 Edgar awards and its coveted Grand Master award. Dannay and Lee also founded and edited Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine which, at 61 years and still going, is the longest running mystery anthology magazine in American history. They wrote Queen's Quorum, a scholarly examination of the detective short story, and edited more than 90 books of detective fiction. Worldwide, their books have sold more than 150 million copies.

亿万富翁John Benedict与自己的三位前妻Marcia Kemp、Alice Tierney、Audrey Weston相聚在莱特镇，随行的还有律师Al Marsh和律师的秘书Smith小姐。此时奎因父子也受John Benedict之邀，到莱特镇休假。一天晚上，Benedict当众宣布自己要再次结婚，并这样描述新娘：“她就是我生命中最后的女人……”不料当天晚上，Benedict就惨遭杀害，弥留之际，他打电话给埃勒里，拼死说出了最后一句死前留言：“Home……”埃勒里赶到现场，却在现场发现分属三位前妻的晚礼服、假发和手套。究竟是谁杀害了Benedict，而他生命中最后的女人又是谁？