Cowdenbeath suffered their second successive five-goal Championship hammering as Queens underlined their credentials to make the Premiership play-offs.
The Blues have been hit for five in the last two league games without reply.
Manager Jimmy Nicholl was furious with the way Cowdenbeath shipped five goals on Saturday.
Yet in the first period the Cowden team with Colin Nish, signed from Dumbarton, leading the attack, and midfielders Robbie Buchanan and John Herron also making their debuts had chances to lead through Herron and midfielder Lewis Milne, but were caught napping on the interval whistle.
Home keeper Robbie Thomson made a fine save from a Derek Lyle header, but no home defender reacted quickly enough to stop the former Blue Brazilian following-up to nod home.
Then three goals in a five-minute spell took the game away from the Fifers.
Gavin Reilly scored number two from close in after 55 minutes, when Queen’s sliced through the Cowden cover.
Two minutes later the Cowdenbeath midfield was found wanting as the Dumfries men cruised into the danger area and Lyle had a tap-in to make it 3-0.
On the hour Ian McShane lashed a 25-yard rocket past home keeper Robbie Thomson.
The icing was put on the cake for Queen of the South with 10 minutes to go, when sub Iain Russell was nudged by Thomas O’Brien in the box and Lyle completed his hat-trick from the spot.
Nicholl said after watching his team being thrashed: “The first half saw us play pretty well and we created a few good chances. But in the second half our defending was horrific, especially in that five-minute period when we lost three goals.
“The second and third goals were so soft it is simply unacceptable. You have to put in challenges all over the park to stop the opposition creating openings, and we were guilty of letting Queen of the South walk the ball into the box and score so easily.”