The King Is Dead is a mystery novel by American authors Manfred Lee and Frederic Dannay, writing as Ellery Queen.

At that time, King is locked in a hermetically sealed room accompanied only by his wife; Judah is under Ellery's observation and armed only with an empty gun.

When Ellery learns that the Bendigo family is originally from his familiar haunt of Wrightsville, he travels there for an investigation of the King's early life.

After many popular mystery novels, a radio program and a number of movies, the character of Ellery Queen was at this point firmly established.

While some Queen novels focus on character development, this one is in the "puzzle" category, with complex clues and efforts to explain seemingly impossible events.