BUENOS AIRES: A dismembered body with no identification.
JAPAN: The most astounding bank robbery in the history of crime.
INDIA: Murder by curse.
RUMANIA: The beautiful woman who swindled a whole town...
And 16 more tales of mystery and detection, each of them unique and challenging to the daring imagination.

• SOUTHERN SPAIN: The Beautiful Lady of El Puerto
              (05/30/54 as "The Fatal Tattoo")
• JAPAN: Tokyo's Greatest Bank Robbery
              (06/27/54 as "Mad Murderer of Tokyo")
• NORMANDY: Inspector Fosse's Last Case
              (08/08/54 as "The Gravedigger's Secret)
• ARGENTINA: The Butcher of Buenos Aires
              (11/28/54 as "The Clue of the Missing Hands").
• RUMANIA: The Swindler of Adamolis
              (06/13/54 as "The Adamolis Swindle")
• ALGERIA: The Strangled Bride of Oran
              (06/06/54 "The Strangled Bride")
• MEXICO: The Jaws of Death
              (12/12/54 "The Claws of the Hawk")
• INDIA: The Curse of Kali  (07/18/54)
• YUGOSLAVIA: Crime Wave, Balkan Style
              (07/04/54 as "No Name on the Search Warrant")
• ECUADOR: The Mysterious Shooting at the Nacional
              (10/10/54 as "Masquerade for Murder")
• PARIS: The Young Man Who Lost His Eyes
              (06/20/54 as "The Acid Test")
• THE PHILIPPINES: Death in Manila
              (05/23/54 as "The Clue of the White Glove")
• WESTERN AUSTRALIA: Death Among the Aborigines
              (07/11/54 as "Murder Down Under")
• CZECHOSLOVAKIA: The Curious Case of the Flirt
              (08/01/54 as "The Girl Who Flirted with Death")
• MONTE CARLO: The Crime of the Croupier (10/17/54)
• MOROCCO: African Love Story
              (09/26/54 as "Murder at the Wedding")
• TURKEY: Secrets of the Harem
              (10/21/54 as "Death in the Harem")
• CHINA: The Shanghai Shootings
              (01/02/55 as "The Clue of the Passionate Poem")
• MADRID: The Red Virgin
              (12/05/54 as "The Red Maiden of Madrid)
• JERUSALEM: Passion in the Holy Land
              (08/15/54 as "Dead in the Garden")

All short stories were originally published in The American Weekly during 1954 and 1955. The stories are framed so that Ellery appears to be asking others about "true" situations in their countries as he travels around.One of the two true crime books Lee wrote credited to Ellery Queen from material gathered by researchers. 'The Woman in the Case' (1966) being the other.

Ellery Queen's International Case Book Translations: Dutch/Flemish: Met Ellery Queen de wereld rond Spanish: Archivo Internacional de Ellery Queen