Ellery Queen, Master Detective

by Ellery Queen

Halfway across the room, Nikki stopped abruptly. From behind the desk portruded a leg. Then she saw it all - the hand, the blood. The police believed Nikki Porter had murdered John Braun, but Ellery set out to prove that she was innocent. Working alone, he matched his wits against a brilliantly clever criminal who twice stole the body of the murdered man from under the very nose of the police.

Genres: Mystery

201 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1941

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

[Alonzo Church · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a lot of Ellery Queen not actually written by both of the collaborators. I think this is the earliest example. This is a novelization of a 1940 movie, in which the comedy was both hyped up and dumbed down. No Queen melancholy here. I have seen the movie and did not like it.

The book result, though, is short and fun. The mystery is a good one — far simpler than the complex mysteries usually dishes out by Dannay and Lee. The murder method and the complicating factor are ones I could see EQ doing but they would include many I more red herrings. For a book not written by the real EQ, it is unusually self-referential (past EQ books are mentioned. EQ, unprompted, starts editing an inferior manuscript) Not all the comedy works, but it a large proportion does.

If you find it, go for it.

[Rick Mills · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story introduces Nikki Porter, who will become EQ's girlfriend throughout the series. This story also plugs several other EQ books along the way, Hardy Boys style. The health farm fad seems reminded me of Jack LaLanne and his fitness empire, which flourished a few years after this story.

The story moves right along. I had to reread some to get a handle on how the Braun suite was laid out, as that is pertinent to the plot; and to understand how Nikki got herself locked inside.

The body gets lost - twice - in a couple of amusing episodes, and the reactions of the indignant medical examiner are enjoyable.

The hook behind the disappearing murder weapon is a stunt - easily foretold - recycled in later EQ books as well.

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[P.S. Winn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nikki saw it all, including the dead body. The police think she murdered John Braun. Ellery Queen has different ideas and is heading into the murder, mystery to prove his theory.

[Shelby Shoop · Rating 5 out of 5]

as The Vanishing Corpse

[Sergio · Rating 2 out of 5]

Non tutte le ciambelle escono col buco! Stavolta una trama stiracchiata non porta al risultato atteso e la delusione mi ha preso a fine lettura