The Dragon's Teeth (1939) is an unusual book in the Queen canon. It is certainly not centered on deduction, or the other things that make most of EQ great. When I first read it I thought it was terrible. Years later, I read it again, and was completely caught up in the storytelling of the book. EQ tries to create a new hero for the book, and get him involved in romantic adventures. The story succeeds admirably as romantic fiction. If you are going to enjoy it, you just have to accept the book on its own terms, and adjust yourself to its orientation away from EQ's traditions.
The Dragon's Teeth is part of a series of EQ stories in which a family with a complex history all gather for sinister, suspenseful events in a remote estate in the countryside surrounding New York City; these works include The Egyptian Cross Mystery (1932), "The Bearded Lady" (1934), and "The Lamp of God" (1935). All of these works also contain plot twists and developments with a broadly similar approach. The millionaire in The Dragon's Teeth who spends most of his time on his yacht at sea reminds one of the similar character in The Egyptian Cross Mystery. Some of the early sections of the book take place in Hollywood; by this time, EQ is completely "at home" there, and it seems to be as much a home base for his fiction as New York City and its environs.
Mike Grost
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