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Ellery Queen's Lethal Black Book
Vintage paperback
- GenresMystery
206 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1965
3 people are currently reading
45 people want to read
About the author
Ellery Queen
1,789 books491 followersaka Barnaby Ross.
(Pseudonym of Frederic Dannay and Manfred Bennington Lee)
"Ellery Queen" was a pen name created and shared by two cousins, Frederic Dannay (1905-1982) and Manfred B. Lee (1905-1971), as well as the name of their most famous detective. Born in Brooklyn, they spent forty two years writing, editing, and anthologizing under the name, gaining a reputation as the foremost American authors of the Golden Age "fair play" mystery.
Although eventually famous on television and radio, Queen's first appearance came in 1928 when the cousins won a mystery-writing contest with the book that would eventually be published as The Roman Hat Mystery. Their character was an amateur detective who used his spare time to assist his police inspector father in solving baffling crimes. Besides writing the Queen novels, Dannay and Lee cofounded Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, one of the most influential crime publications of all time. Although Dannay outlived his cousin by nine years, he retired Queen upon Lee's death.
Several of the later "Ellery Queen" books were written by other authors, including Jack Vance, Avram Davidson, and Theodore Sturgeon.
(Pseudonym of Frederic Dannay and Manfred Bennington Lee)
"Ellery Queen" was a pen name created and shared by two cousins, Frederic Dannay (1905-1982) and Manfred B. Lee (1905-1971), as well as the name of their most famous detective. Born in Brooklyn, they spent forty two years writing, editing, and anthologizing under the name, gaining a reputation as the foremost American authors of the Golden Age "fair play" mystery.
Although eventually famous on television and radio, Queen's first appearance came in 1928 when the cousins won a mystery-writing contest with the book that would eventually be published as The Roman Hat Mystery. Their character was an amateur detective who used his spare time to assist his police inspector father in solving baffling crimes. Besides writing the Queen novels, Dannay and Lee cofounded Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, one of the most influential crime publications of all time. Although Dannay outlived his cousin by nine years, he retired Queen upon Lee's death.
Several of the later "Ellery Queen" books were written by other authors, including Jack Vance, Avram Davidson, and Theodore Sturgeon.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 14, 2023
An excellent anthology of stories that mixes in whodunits with tales that are meant to generate suspense & tension. I enjoyed every story in it, but here are my favorites:
"The Man Who Knew How," by Dorothy Sayers--which has an unexpected and brutal twist ending.
"Don't Look Behind You," by Frederic Brown--which comes up with a "believable" way to make YOU (the person reading the story) the next victim of an insane killer.
"Ten Clues for Mr. Polkinghorn," by Charlotte Armstong--this one pokes gentle fun at the difference between fictional deductive reasoning and real life.
"And the Birds Still Sing," by Craig Rice--this story is my introduction to John J. Malone, an alcoholic but brilliant defence attorney. It an incredibly fun story and makes me want to read Rice's Malone novels.
"The Man Who Knew How," by Dorothy Sayers--which has an unexpected and brutal twist ending.
"Don't Look Behind You," by Frederic Brown--which comes up with a "believable" way to make YOU (the person reading the story) the next victim of an insane killer.
"Ten Clues for Mr. Polkinghorn," by Charlotte Armstong--this one pokes gentle fun at the difference between fictional deductive reasoning and real life.
"And the Birds Still Sing," by Craig Rice--this story is my introduction to John J. Malone, an alcoholic but brilliant defence attorney. It an incredibly fun story and makes me want to read Rice's Malone novels.
December 1, 2019
A Rex Stout I hadn't read! This was a decent mixture of mystery genres.
October 14, 2021
Not a lemon in the batch. Every story will make you guess and then smile. Fantastic writing.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews