The Murderer is a Fox

Ellery Queen Detective #18

by Ellery Queen, Mark Peckham (Narrator)

Could murder really be hereditary? Davy Fox certainly thinks so. When he was only a boy, his father, Bayard Fox, was convicted of murdering Davy s mother in the small town of Wrightsville. Now that Davy has grown up and returned home from the war, he fears that it is only a matter of time until he kills his own wife. But could he really do such a thing? Desperate to find out the truth, Davy s wife, Linda, calls on Ellery Queen to investigate the twelve-year-old murder of Jessica Fox.

Genres: Mystery, Detective, Crime, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Thriller, 20th Century

9 pages, Audio CD

First published January 1, 1945

About the author

aka 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.

Reviews

[MaSuMeH · Rating 1 out of 5]

نصفه رهایش کردم. به خواندنش نمی ارزید. برخلاف اسمش که بشدت مرموز بود و جذاب. داستان تا حد دهشت آوری کسل کننده بود .نه داستان قتل مهیج بود. نه خود کارآگاه شخصیت جالبی داشت. و نه مسیر یافتن قاتل چیز قابل وصفی بود. حیف آن همه تمثیلات لانه روباه و....برای این کتاب حوصله سر بر!

بهمن ماه 94/ژانویه 2016

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable whodunnit read.

Davy’s father has been in prison for twelve years for the murder of his wife Jessica. Davy returns from WW2 with post traumatic syndrome. He believes he has his fathers genes and will murder his wife Linda.

Ellery Queen is asked to reinvestigate the case as the couple believe if his father, Maynard is proved innocent then Davy will be cured of his murderous rages.

It all comes down to who put the poison digitalis into Jessica’s grape juice. A few red herrings and a good twist at the end. Chemistry sets for 10 years can be dangerous toys.

[Anto M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una bella storia su un soldato della prima guerra mondiale che torna a casa con un disturbo post-traumatico da stress. Anni prima, quando aveva 10 anni, suo padre era stato condannato per aver ucciso sua madre e, da allora il suo timore era che anche lui un giorno sarebbe diventato un assassino. L'ulteriore stress della guerra gli fa temere che crollerà e ucciderà sua moglie. E allora entra in campo Ellery che dovrà riprendere il mano il caso del padre.
Diversamente dal solito, Ellery non riesce a risolvere il caso facilmente, anzi, dovrà rivedere le sue supposizioni. Lettura interessante.

[Alonzo Church · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ellery Queen makes a late entrance, but his favorite town, Wrightsville makes an immediate and colorful entrance. A war hero is returning home from a brutal war, and his PTSD is aggravated by a murder in his past. An exceptional first act ends literally with a thunderbolt, and it is time for EQ to make his entrance.

What develops is a seemingly impossible murder to solve, with red herrings that all seem to come to nothing. Ellery perseveres, however, and soon discovers who is the murderous Fox.

This is EQ I think I like best, because none of the annoying tropes are here and the writing is exceptional. While this is written during the melancholy Ellery period, it’s a satisfying read rather than depressing.

[Fahime Zarei · Rating 3 out of 5]

یه رمان پلیسی که اونقدر جذابیت داشت که 350 صفه رو بی‌وقفه بخونم. یه جور خوبی بود یه جور خانوم مارپلی‌ای

[Jeffrey Marks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clear, perfectly clued, and succinct. One of my favorites of the Wrightville books.

[Teri-K · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an excellent story about a WWI soldier who comes home with PTSD. His father was convicted of killing his mother when the soldier was 10, and he's always feared he, too, would be a killer. The added stressed of the War has him fearing he'll crack and kill his wife. She convinces him to go to Ellery Queen for help. This leads to Queen reopening the case against his father.

A great deal of the beginning focuses on Davey Fox and his PTSD, and I really grew to like him and his wife a lot. In fact I began to worry about who would turn out to be the murderer and what the effect would be on him.

Ultimately this was an excellent mystery, but I'm not sure how I feel about the ending. Maybe it was clever and great, or maybe... not. So 4 stars for a really good book with an ending I'm not sure about.

[elham · Rating 5 out of 5]

کتاب موضوع جالب و فوق العاده ای برای پیگیری مداوم داشت. بطوریکه تا لحظه تموم شدنش دلم نمیخاست رهاش کنم.معصومیت بچه و از طرفی رها کردن خوشبختی و سکوت یک پدر برای ارامش ابدی بچه ش و از طرفی سوئ تفاهم و نااگاهی برای پایان دادن زندگی یک نفر. بی نظیر بود.

[Samane · Rating 3 out of 5]

دوستت دارم اما تو دیگر مرا نمی شناسی
. ذهنم طور دیگری شده .
دوستت دارم و احمق بودم که به تو شک بردم ، اما بی فایده است ، بی فایده است .

[Tommy Verhaegen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Een verhaal uit de Wrightsville reeks, dat, hoewel erg spitsvondig, toch vooral opvalt door zijn sombere sfeer. Het duurt even voor Ellery Queen (de detective) ten tonele verschijnt en daartegen is de toon al gezet, dit wordt geen vrolijk verhaal. Ellery Queen (de schrijver) voert Wrighsville weer ten tonele maar buiten commissaris Dakin spelen de bekenden van uit de vroegere boeken geen of slechts een kleine rol. Ook vader Queen speelt slechts heel even mee, dus de interacties tussen vader en zoon ontbreken.
Ellery neemt een onmogelijke zaak aan: een moord van 12 jaar geleden (her)onderzoeken, terwijl de zaak destijds grondig werd uitgespit, er geen fouten in het onderzoek gebeurden en de schuld waterdicht bewezen was.
Uiteraard zal Ellery alles opnieuw nalopen en aan een los draadje beginnen trekken om uiteindelijk tot een heel andere conclusie te komen. Valse sporen, over het hoofd geziene sporen, een persoonlijke en fysieke aanval op Ellery, veel praten en een onverschillige hoofdverdachte make dit tot een spannende whodunit. Zoals gebruikelijk kan de zeer aandachtige lezer de zaak zelf oplossen en het juiste motief geven. Dat was voor mij in dit verhaal minder moeilijk dan in sommige andere.

[Chazzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Davey Fox comes home a war hero to his town and family, but the truth is he is haunted by his father being a convicted murderer. Having been through the hell of war, he thinks that he will also become a murderer and his wife will be his victim.

His wife, Linda, thinks different and contacts Ellery Queen to see if he can prove that Davey's father is really innocent, and the trial wasn't cut and dried as it was treated. It has been twelve years since the trial, and Ellery has to rely on his investigating and old records. Records that aren't easy to access, and secrets that don't want to be revealed.

There is more character description in this book than usual. Davey would be considered to be suffering from PTSD today, but this is in the 1940s and treatment is lots of rest. Unfortunately it doesn't help when the person suffers nightmares on a reoccurring basis.

This was a different Ellery Queen that the ones I've read in the past. Ellery did not solve things as easily as before, but had to do quite a bit of thinking and error checking. Interesting read.

[Sarah Drews · Rating 1 out of 5]

Leider war das Buch nicht meins. Die Sprache und Ansätze zu veraltet.

[William · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of the same a la Calamity town. Here, the puzzle provides even less to chew on and most of the mystery is solved before the big reveal. There were a couple of moments where Ellery spouts "Ah...don't you see what this means!", and I was thinking, "Yup, no kidding." It's generally not a good thing when you find yourself mocking the detective. Breezy, so I'll let it keep that third star.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best Queen novels, written succinctly and with a minimum of melodrama. When I first read it, I don’t think I realized how hard it is to write this simply and grippingly. It doesn’t have the full emotional range of Ten Days’ Wonder or the intricacy of puzzle found in The Greek Coffin Mystery, but it has a quiet dignity and—very unusual for Queen—believable, sympathetic characters. I wish more of the books were like this one.

[Masoud Niazi · Rating 4 out of 5]

آفرین به نویسنده هاش احسنت .مجبور میشی بیوقفه همش رو بخونی 354صفحه

[Farzan · Rating 3 out of 5]

داستان معمایی جالبی بود و با اینکه در این زمینه مسلما کتاب های بسیار بهتری از نظر من پیدا میشود ولی برای اینکه بین دو کتاب خستگی در کنید این کتاب ساده و روان را با پایانی دلپذیر توصیه میکنم

[Conni Wayne · Rating 2 out of 5]

My favorite thing about the book is that the title is purposefully and technically correct. The plot was fine. I didn't love, no wait, I actually hated that Davy (sp?) married his adopted sister/cousin, and then tried to strangle her, and Linda was like, "I still love you completely and irrevocably." Not a personal fan of how often the Ellery Queen Authors (Ellery and Ellery Queen, I presume) keep making siblings get married. I don't love it. Also, the racism was horrible, and I know it isn't the time period's fault that no one knew how to respond to PTSD, but listening to Davy have flashback after flashback with no one responding appropriately made me crazy!

Also, were those grape juice cup/pitcher combos really a thing? All purple with stylized grapes on them? Isn't that a little on the nose?

[Glen U · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another great Ellery Queen who-dun-it. Perhaps, one of his finest. This story is Ellery at his best, full of red herrings, convoluted relationships, last minute clues and Queen's solving of the crime with a twist. Written over 70 years ago, Ellery Queen's stories still provide entertainment and enjoyment for his Legion of fans. A very good read.

[Elise Hung · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book I read from the series. I like the layout and how the authors display the time for the evidence. Of course, you would want to know who the killer is but at the same time, it's just painful to know the truth... It's not the first time I read the story like this. I kind of understand why there are things should forever stay in the dark...

[Shahira8826 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I haven't read many Ellery Queen novels, but "The Murderer is a Fox" was a bit of a disappointment. The pacing in the first half is way too slow, the way in which the 12-year-old clues drop into the detective's lap too contrived, and I had guessed the true identity of the "murderer" far too early in the story.
Overall, an entertaining read, but I was expecting something more.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great convoluted mystery

I first read this book as a teen. It was my introduction to Ellery Queen. It’s always been my favorite of his books, because of the well-drawn characters and convoluted mystery. No overt sex or violence, just a great classic mystery. Some may find the negative comments on the Japanese offensive. Please remember the book was written in the 1940’s.

[Gabriele Crescenzi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Romanzo molto malinconico, molto scorrevole e basato su un cold case. Si nota un Ellery più flemmatico del solido. Purtroppo la soluzione finale rovina un po' il tutto, essendo sì molto teatrale, ma improbabile e non deducibile. Dunque 3 stelle.

[Ali Karimnejad · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was boring for me. hardly tried to persuade myself to read it till the end.

Don't suggest.

[Diana Petty-stone · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good who dun it!

[Raquel Santos · Rating 4 out of 5]

No original, "The Murderer was a Fox", um vampiro vintage.
Ellery Queen em topo de forma, como já não o vi há alguns livros.

[Isla McKetta · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read. I picked this up because my grandparents really loved Ellery Queen and it was an enjoyable throwback with an interesting conceit.

[David Megginson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Update: it didn't live up to its opening. Just an OK murder mystery.

I just started, and it's a surprisingly sophisticated opening for 1945: a war hero is arriving back in his U.S. hometown with severe PTSD and is about to be assaulted by a giant celebration he doesn't want or need. The subtlety is that while the army doctors attribute his PTSD to his combat experiences, he attributes it to childhood trauma 12 years earlier.

I don't know where the novelists will take it — I hope it doesn't go off the rails.

[Sian · Rating 4 out of 5]

After so long not reading physical books it was a little hard to get into however once the initial set up had been completed I really enjoyed Queen's investigative process.

[Klaus Mattes · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wir befinden uns hier im Mittelteil von Ellery Queens Karriere. Sie hatten es schon einmal getan, 1942, mit „Schatten über Wrightsville“: Ellery Queens Bücher spielten auf einmal nicht mehr in Manhattan, sondern bei einfacheren Leuten, in Middle America, der Held hatte nichts mehr mit den New Yorker Polizei zu tun, neuer Schauplatz war die fiktive Kleinstadt Wrightsville, ein Schnellzughalt an der Eisenbahnstrecke zwischen New York und Montreal.

Obwohl es in den dreißiger und vierziger Jahren mehrere Hörspielserien und Hollywood-Filme mit dem New Yorker Indiziensammler gegeben hatte und inzwischen jeder Amerikaner wusste, wer Ellery Queen war, müssen Dannay und Lee damals gespürt haben, dass ihnen in der Hard-boiled-Schule mit Hammett und Chandler unschlagbare Konkurrenten erwachsen waren, an deren Forderung, das Verbrechen müsse den Leuten zurückgegeben werden, die damit wirklich was zu tun haben, schon auch was dran war. Wir sind in einer Phase, als sie immer wieder was Neues ausprobierten und auch Risiken eingingen. Ohne allerdings letztlich aus dem altmodisch gewordenen Lehnstuhl- und Meisterdenker-Genre ein zukunftsträchtiges, modernes Genre entwickeln zu können. Dessen Tage waren erst einmal gezählt. Der Autor von Wikipedia kommentiert folgerichtig, eigentlich sei das ein herrliches Buch voller hinreißender psychologischer Figurenzeichnung, man hätte allerdings das Gefühl, ohne Ellery Queen wäre es besser.

Das wollten die beiden Erfinder aber nicht und diesen letzten Schritt gingen sie dann nie, harte Krimis ohne ihren immer alles lösenden Detektiv zu schreiben.

Ich bin mir nicht sicher, ob ich das integrale Buch kenne, denn ich habe das Heyne-Taschenbuch („Willkommen, Mr. Fox“) von 1990 gelesen, das immer noch die Übersetzung des Scherz Verlags von 1947 („Der Mörder ist ein Fuchs“) bringt. Leider hat es dieser Ellery Queen nicht zu einer Neuauflage und Neuübersetzung innerhalb der, im Wesentlichen in den neunziger Jahren erscheinenden, DuMonts Kriminal-Bibliothek gebracht. Trotzdem kann ich mich der Ansicht des Wikipedia-Gewährsmannes, dieses wäre der beste aller Ellery Queens, nicht anschließen. Nachdem man ziemlich lange hingehalten wurde, ist die Auflösung doch eher läppisch und kann einen inhaltlich durchaus nicht zufriedenstellen.

1945 ist das Jahr von Hitchcocks Film „Spellbound“ mit Gregory Peck gewesen, für den er sich eine Traumsequenz von Salvador Dalí designen ließ. Es lag also wieder mal in der Luft. Der Krieg ging zu Ende, aber die dunklen Schatten der Angst blieben. Schwarze Serie und Morde, die von weit zurückliegenden seelischen Verwundungen herrühren.

Bei dem Kriegshelden Davy Fox ist nicht klar, ob es traumatische Erlebnisse im Weltkrieg, das familiär weitergegebene Mördergen oder die Tragödie seiner Kindheit waren, die ihn zum seelischen Krüppel gemacht haben. Er glaubt jedenfalls, dass er seine Verlobte nicht heiraten darf, bevor der Tod seiner Mutter, der sich ereignete, als er Kind war und für den sein Vater ins Gefängnis gegangen war, wirklich restlos aufgeklärt ist. Er glaubt sogar, dass ihn wiederkehrende Albträume dazu drängen, seine Verlobte zu morden, das Vorbild des Vaters zu wiederholen. Die junge Frau hat vollstes Vertrauen zu ihm und setzt auf die Intelligenz des berühmten Kriminalautors Ellery Queen. Ein etwas lächerliches Gespann, aber Ingrid Bergman traute Gregory Peck ja auch.

Die Mutter wurde seinerzeit offenbar vergiftet. Aber wie soll das überhaupt bewerkstelligt worden sein, wenn es nur ein enges, gut überschaubares Zeitfenster für die Tat gab, während dessen die Frau nichts gegessen, sondern nur etwas Saft getrunken hatte. Es müsste ein Durchreisender getan haben, der in einer knappen Stunde Aufenthalt zwischen zwei Zügen das Haus der Fox' aufsuchte und dann auf Nimmerwiedersehen verschwand. Wer war er, wie kann man ihn finden, welche Motive könnte er gehabt haben? Wenn er es aber nicht war, dann ist es wohl doch der Vater gewesen, der noch zu leben scheint, aber von allen geschnitten wird.

Der Mord von vor Jahren, aber endlich geklärt. Auch dies ein attraktives Thema. Aber ich muss abschwächen, es kommt halb so geheimnisvoll, wie man sich jetzt denken mag, und man müsste sich eher, wie der Kollege von Wikipedia, an der Beschreibung bösartiger Wrightsville-Bürger delektieren, die für die Tat letztlich allerdings dann doch keine Rolle spielen. Ein MacGuffin-Krimi.

[Paologa · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stelline un po’ tirate, ma 2 sarebbe stato un giudizio troppo severo.
Certamente non tra i migliori Ellery queen. La prima parte è lenta ed aspetta un po’ troppo per cominciare ad entrare nel vivo della storia. Riguarda un delitto commesso anni prima e la le pagine della ricostruzione dei fatti che ne fa Ellery chiamato a far riaprire un caso ormai chiuso questa è la parte più debole, non riesce a ricreare né suspense né trepidazione. Nemmeno serve ad introdurre i personaggi che, a parte Bayard Fox, non rimangono impressi nonostante le forzature nel carattere di alcuni.
Anche la caratterizzazione del paese, lo stesso del Paese del maleficio, non è all’altezza del romanzo precedente, perciò sembra di guardare la storia dal di fuori.
Forse però ai tempi, appena finita la Seconda Guerra Mondiale, il pubblico era più sensibile a cogliere dettagli di certi temi, che ad un lettore di settant’anni dopo appaiono labili.
Quando l’azione passa al presente la storia si ravviva e colpi di scena e falsi indizi aiutano a tenere alta l’attenzione e la storia prende quota, ritornando ad essere un classico di Queen.
Il finale è un po’ banale e sottovaluta l’intelligenza dei personaggi che non colgono la verità… possibile che solo Ellery, Bayard Fox ed io avessimo capito che c’era qualcosa oltre la versione propinata alla polizia?