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Masterpieces of Mystery- The Forties, Selected By Ellery Queen
Hardcover
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About the author
Ellery Queen
1,780 books488 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 of 1 review
July 12, 2022
Of the 19 mystery stories from the 1940s collected in this volume, I would rate 7 of them as hardly worth reading, 8 as pretty good stories, and 4 as classics that stand the test of time.
The best story in the book, for me, was "Don't Look Behind You" by Fredric Brown, which has a stunningly original twist carried off impeccably.
The other three I would highly recommend are "The Man in the Velvet Hat," by the brothers Jerome and Harold Prince, "Chinoiserie" by Helen McCloy, and "The Lady and the Tiger" by Jack Moffitt, a tour de force of suspenseful historical/biblical fiction.
I would also mention "The Arrow of God" by Leslie Charteris, a nice little 24-page story featuring Charteris' famous gentleman sleuth, Simon Templar, aka The Saint. There is an episode of the 1960s television show The Saint, starring a young Roger Moore, based on this story. As is so often the case, the original is better than the adaptation.
The best story in the book, for me, was "Don't Look Behind You" by Fredric Brown, which has a stunningly original twist carried off impeccably.
The other three I would highly recommend are "The Man in the Velvet Hat," by the brothers Jerome and Harold Prince, "Chinoiserie" by Helen McCloy, and "The Lady and the Tiger" by Jack Moffitt, a tour de force of suspenseful historical/biblical fiction.
I would also mention "The Arrow of God" by Leslie Charteris, a nice little 24-page story featuring Charteris' famous gentleman sleuth, Simon Templar, aka The Saint. There is an episode of the 1960s television show The Saint, starring a young Roger Moore, based on this story. As is so often the case, the original is better than the adaptation.
Displaying 1 of 1 review