The Circus Queen Murder is a 1933 American pre-Code mystery film directed by Roy William Neill and starring Adolphe Menjou, Donald Cook and Greta Nissen.

New York Police Commissioner Thatcher Colt (Adolphe Menjou) decides to take a vacation after six years of fighting crime, accompanied by his attractive secretary, Miss Kelly (Ruthelma Stevens).

On the train to their destination, they spot a rundown circus, "The Greater John T Rainey Shows", heading to the same place.

The circus is home to a love triangle: Josie La Tour (Greta Nissen), her husband Flandrin (Dwight Frye) (whom she is intent on divorcing), and her lover The Great Sebastian (Donald Cook (actor)), all three trapeze performers.

Rainey also informs Colt that La Tour, the star attraction, owns half the circus.

Colt surmises that it is dog's blood, and he noticed an extra member of the "cannibal" troupe last night, Flandrin in disguise.

Afterward, when Colt roams the grounds, he encounters Flandrin, armed with a pistol and holding Kelly captive.