Twenty Minutes to Kill, first published in 1936, is an entertaining murder mystery by Arthur M. Chase. The story opens in a penthouse apartment high above the streets of New York. A party is in progress, composed of a number of the city's leading citizens, but underlying current of envy, jealousy, and greed is present. A masked intruder enters the apartment, and chaos and murder result, with many twists as the mystery is unraveled.