The Chinese Orange Mystery is the perfect ammunition for people who don’t like mysteries. It goes all-in on all of the most annoying tropes of mystery novels, the ones that drive non-fans nuts. The characters are paper-thin, the dialogue is stilted and almost entirely expository, the plotting is entirely consumed by the puzzle without any consideration of the reality of murder. The detective, Ellery Queen, is an insufferable fop who refuses to ever disclose what he is thinking or who he suspects of the crime. […]