Forgotten Book - The Madman Theory

The Madman Theory is an Ellery Queen novel. Except that it doesn't feature Ellery Queen the character and it wasn't written by Ellery Queen, the pseudonymous writing duo. Published in 1966, the book was ghost-written by Jack Vance, a highly-regarded science fiction writer who wrote two other 'Ellery Queen' novels. 

The book opens with a cop, the likeable Omar Collins, heading into the wilds to look at a crime scene. A wealthy businessman, Earl Genneman, has apparently been shot dead by a sniper while on a trip with four close associates. The location is remote - the middle of nowhere, really - and one of the puzzles is why it was chosen for the killing. Another mystery is why Genneman was killed - he had relatively few enemies. We then have a flashback scene which shows Genneman and the others starting out on their trip, which was so dramatically interrupted. After that we have, in effect, a police procedural as Collins meticulously pursues the killer.

At first the crime seems so outlandish that it must be the work of a madman (hence the title of the book). Collins tracks down the cars which may have brought the killer to the area, and before long his inquiry focuses on a man called Steve Ricks. When Ricks too is brutally murdered, it seems clear that the two crimes are linked.

I enjoyed the taut style of writing and the mystery kept me entertained. It's a short book and a quick read. However, there are two weaknesses. There isn't any adequate foreshadowing of the motive for the crime, which irritated me a lot. And the means by which the crime was actually committed was a bit far-fetched. So not a masterpiece, but I enjoyed it nevertheless.