click on cover to go back

previous indepth review... The Tragedy of Y (1932) next indepth review...

The Mad Hatters of Washington Square were not only mad but vicious -- "nasty people" as their neighbors were prone to whisper. So when the worst of the lot, old Emily Hatter, was found murdered, no one was particularly upset, except possibly Louisa Campion, her deaf, dumb, and blind daughter by a former marriage. In this tangled web, not one of the family was above suspicion. There were Barbara, the Delphic oracle of New York's intelligentsia, whose abnormality bordered on genius; Conrad, who loved liquor but couldn't hold it; Jackie, his son, with a wily brain and an inspired gift for inventing cruelties; and Jill, the eternal debutante, who experimented with Life with a capital L. But when the clues began to point to Emily's husband, York, proved dead beyond a doubt, Inspector Thumm turned in desperation to his old friend Drury Lane, the famous actor, whose brilliant analysis and solution of the case proved "The Tragedy of Y" a tragedy indeed.

"Exceptionally good... a strange and wondrous plot that is finally pulled out of the whirlwind of events, and it will keep a reader going with unflagging interest." --  Detroit News.

"Strange and fascinating... places Barnaby Ross in the front rank of detective story writers." -- Philadelphia Public Ledger.

"A thoroughly good mystery story." --  Scribner's

"Very cleverly written; it is a detective yarn of a better grade and will deserve a host of readers." --  Cleveland Plain Dealer.

"A rich and meaty book which will please immensely those who take their stories of crime and detection seriously." -- Chicago Tribune.

"Even better than its predecessor... A most ingenious narrative, a swiftly-moving plot and a distinctly literary style will make The Tragedy of Y an outstanding mystery take of the season."
--
Los Angeles Saturday Night.

"... is inspired to new heights... carrying his wizardry right up to the final paragraph where there's a most unusual kick." --  New York Herald Tribune.
 
The Tragedy of Y - cover Viking Press edition, 1932The Tragedy of Y - hard cover Viking Press edition, 1932The Tragedy of Y - dust cover Grosset & Dunlap edition, New York, 1932 (early reprint)The Tragedy of Y - hard cover Grosset & Dunlap edition, New York, 1932 (early reprint)The Tragedy of Y - cover Grosset & Dunlop edition, 1941
The Tragedy of Y - cover Grosset & DunlapThe Tragedy of Y - cover Grosset & Dunlap, 1941 (confirmation needed)The Tragedy of Y - cover Grosset & Dunlap, 1941The Tragedy of Y - dust cover Stokes editionThe Tragedy of Y - hardcover Stokes edition (confirmation needed)
Top row left to right: Both dust cover and hard cover for Viking Press, dust and hard cover for Grosset & Dunlap (early Barnaby Ross reprint), dust cover Grosset & Dunlap
Bottom row left to right: three hard cover variations for hard covers Grosset & Dunlap, dust cover and hard cover (confirmation needed) for Stokes. (Click on the covers to see the differences) *
 
America: A Catholic Review of the Week,  Sep 24. 1932

"Barnaby Ross has conceived a fascinating story, "The Tragedy of Y" (Viking, $2.00). It is for the reader who likes a good story, carefully planned, and with every little detail dovetailing. At times it may seem verbose, but perhaps that is because one is impatient to solve the mystery. The Inspector might have been a little less crude and a bit more intelligent, but then he would not have been such an acceptable foil for Drury Lane. However these are slight criticisms to make of such an interesting story."

 
The Tragedy of Y - cover Bestseller Mystery (Mercury)The Tragedy of Y - cover pocket book edition, PocketBook, 313, 1945The Tragedy of Y - cover pocket book edition, Avon, #450, January 1. 1952The Tragedy of Y - cover pocket book edition, Avon T-337, circa 1956Tragedy of Y - cover pocket book, Avon, S207, 1966
Seems to be a case of murder by a dead man. EQ's first mathematics-based solution, in The Tragedy of Y, seems modeled on the similar math-based deductions in Chapter 9 of S.S. Van Dine's The Benson Murder Case (1926). The use of mathematics seems related to EQ's deep commitment to logic and reasoning. Some critics have described some aspects of the plot as silly: the murderer bludgeons his victim to death with a mandolin because the instructions called for "a blunt instrument". There is a difference between silliness and improbability.

In 1978 made into a
Japanese TV play about Drury Lane.  
The Tragedy of Y - cover English edition, Cassell (UK), first edition, 1933Tragedy of Y - cover 'English' edition , Albatross Verlag in Albatross Modern Continental Library Nr70, Hamburg, Germany, 1933 and ..."Not to be introduced into the British Empire or the U.S.A."The Tragedy of Y - cover International Polygonics, Ltd.,1986-1987,art by QuayThe Tragedy of Y - cover audiobook Blackstone Audio, Inc., read by Mark Peckham, September 1. 2014
The Tragedy of Y - cover MysteriousPress.com/Open Road (July 28, 2015)The Tragedy of Y - cover paperback edition, Classic Reprint Series, Forgotten Books, 2018 (Blue)The Tragedy of Y - cover paperback edition, Classic Reprint Series, Forgotten Books, 2018 (Brown)The Tragedy of Y - cover hard cover edition, Classic Reprint Series, Forgotten Books, 2018
 
Brooklyn Daily Eagle, New York  - "Of the Making of Books..." by Jerome Coignard, July 17 1932

"Y Follows X. Last Spring the Viking Press praised itself, while trumpets blared and drums beat, for waiting all these years for the perfect detective novel, which proved to be, so they said, "The Tragedy of X" by one Barnaby Ross. Now the same author has given them "The Tragedy of Y," with Drury Lane doing his stuff, for September publication. And I'll bet that Barnaby Ross is kicking himself because he did not entitle his first one, "The Tragedy of A." As it is, he only has Z in reserve and we detective-story readers think it is a pity."

 


Het Y-mysterie - cover Dutch edition Zeemeeuw-serie Nr.9 , 1935 author= Barnaby RossEen Moordenaar pleegt plagiaat - dutch cover Prisma-Detective N°119Een Moordenaar pleegt plagiaat - coverLa Tragédie d'Y - cover French edition Gallimard, in the first Detective collection, n° 36 , 1934Die Tragödie von York - cover German pocket book edition Ullstein-Krimi Nr. 1556, 1973Der Giftbecher - cover German edition, 1959
La tragedia di Y - cover Italian edtion, editions Mondadori, series ' I Gialli Mondadori' N°110, 1951La tragedia di Y - cover Italian edtion, reprint I Capolavori dei Gialli, Arnoldo Mondadori editore Nr.49, 1956The Tragedy of Y - cover Italian edition I Classici del Giallo Mondadori N°11The Tragedy of Y - cover Italian edition I Classici del Giallo Mondadori, 1989La tragedia di Y - cover Italian edition, Juny 7. 2011La tragedia di Y - cover Italian edition, February 27. 2012

The Tragedy of Y Translations 
Brasilian: Um Cadaver No Oceano  
D
anish: Y’s tragedie  
Dutch/Flemish: Het Y-mysterie  
aka Een moordenaar pleegt plagiaat  
Finnish: Tapaus Y  
French: La Tragédie d'Y  
German: Die Tragödie von York (aka Der Giftbecher)  
Italian: La tragedia di Y  
Japanese: Yの悲劇 (Y no higeki)  
Korean: 드루리 레인 Y의 비극  
Portuguese: A tragédia do Y  
Russian: Трагедия Игрек 
aka Трагедия «Y»
 
Spanish: La tragedia de Y  
Turkish: Y'nin Esrarı  
Vietnamese: Tấn bi kịch Y  

A tragedia do Y - cover Portugese edition, Colecçao XIS N°56, Minerva, Lisboa, 1956A tragedia do Y - cover Portugese editionUm Cadaver No Oceano - cover Brasilian edition, Brazil_Edições MM, 1974La Tragedia de Y - cover Spanish edition, Libreria Hachette, Buenos Aires, ArgentinaLa Tragedia de Y - cover Spanish edition, Hachette, Argentina, 1949La Tragedia de Y - cover Spanish edition, Picazo, Barcelona, 1976
Ellery Queen novelas escogidas 2 - cover Spanish Paperback edition, omnibus contains "The Four of Hearts", "The Tragedy of Y" and "Halfway House", Aguilar Editor, Madrid, 1980Ellery Queen novelas escogidas 2 - hardcover Spanish edition, omnibus contains "The Four of Hearts", "The Tragedy of Y" and "Halfway House", M. Aguilar Editor, Mexico, 1980Y’s tragedie - cover Danish edition, LommeromanenY’s tragedie - cover Danish edition, Rosenkilde, January 19. 2018Tapaus Y - cover Finnish edition, 1948Y'nin Esrarı - cover Turkish edition, 1964
Трагедия «Y» - cover Russian compilation, contains 5 stories, Earl Derr Biggers "" (Дом без ключа), Ellery Queen's "The Tragedy of Y" (Трагедия «Y»),  Octavus Roy Cohen's "The Mystery of the Missing Wash"(Тайна исчезнувшего белья), Ellery Queen's shortstory "The Mad tea Party" (Приключения на безумном чаепитии) & F. Tennyson Jesse's "Treasure Trove"(Сокровище), Publisher Sanan (Санан), Elista, 1992.Трагедия Игрек - cover Russian edition, 2007 (also includes stories from Queens Full)드루리 레인 Y의 비극(The Tragedy of Y) - cover Korean edition, 시그마 북스 (Sigma Books), Dec 1. 1994드루리 레인 Y의 비극(The Tragedy of Y) -  cover Korean edition,  해문출판사(Haemun Publishing), Sep 25. 2001드루리 레인 Y의 비극(The Tragedy of Y) - cover Korean edition,  동서문화동판(Dongsuh Mystery Books), Jan 1. 2003드루리 레인 Y의 비극(The Tragedy of Y) - cover Korean edition,  해문출판사(Haemun Publishing), Jul 15. 2003
드루리 레인 Y의 비극(The Tragedy of Y) - cover Korean edition, 정태원 | 국일미디어 (De Jung, Zhou Media), Jul 15. 2003드루리 레인 Y의 비극(The Tragedy of Y) - cover South-Korean edition,  검은숲, The Ellery Queen Collection, 2013The Tragedy of Y - cover Japanese editionThe Tragedy of Y - cover Japanese edition, Akita Shoten PublishingThe Tragedy of Y - cover Japanese edition, possibly Arakisha publishing 'Bernaby Ross' (sic)The Tragedy of Y - kaft Japanese uitgave, Hayakawa publishing
The Tragedy of Y - cover Japanese edition, HeiseidoThe Tragedy of Y - cover Japanese edition Kodansha Ruby Books, Nov 1. 2001The Tragedy of Y - cover Japanese edition, omnibusThe Tragedy of Y - cover Japanese edition, Arakisha uitgave, Black Book Selection, 1950The Tragedy of Y - cover Japanese edition, Tokyo Sogensha, September 1959 (87th Edition 1983)The Tragedy of Y - cover Japanese edition, Somoto reasoning, Sep 1959
The Tragedy of Y - cover Japanese edition, Shincho Paperback, 1969The Tragedy of Y - cover Japanese edition, Hayakawa Pocket Mystery Book, 1970Tragedy of Y - cover Japanese edition, Aug 3. 1972The Tragedy of Y - cover Japanese edition, Bunken Publishing, 1977Tragedy of Y - cover Japanese edition, Akita Shoten, World Mystery, 1982Tragedy of Y - cover Japanese edition, Kadokawa Bunko, February 1983
Tragedy of Y - cover Japanese edition, Shinchosha Publisher, 1986Tragedy of Y - cover Japanese edition, Poplarsha Bunko, 1989Tragedy of Y - cover Japanese edition, Shueisha Bunko, Nov 1998Tragedy of Y - cover Japanese edition, Tor Books edition,  Aug 31. 1988The Tragedy of Y - cover Japanese editionThe Tragedy of Y - cover Japanese edition, Poplar paperback, Mystery Box, 2004
Tragedy of Y - cover Japanese edition, Kadokawa Bunko, October 25. 2010Tragedy of Y - cover Japanese edition, November 2012The Tragedy of Y - cover Japanese edition, Shurisha Manga Bunko, 2013Tragedy of Y - cover Japanese editionTragedy of Y - cover Japanese edition
The Tragedy of Y - cover Japanese edition, Tokyo Sogensha Somoto Reasoning Paperbacks, August 2022The Tragedy of Y - cover Chinese edition, Star Light Press, June 1995The Tragedy of X, The Tragedy of Y - cover Chinese edition, Masses Press, August 2000The Tragedy of Y - cover Chinese edition, Adventure Publishing, June 18. 2001The Tragedy of Y - cover Chinese edition, New Star Press, 2009The Tragedy of Y - cover Chinese edition, New Star Press, 2009
The Tragedy of Y - cover Chinese editionThe Tragedy of Y - cover Chinese edition, New Star Press (Shinseisha Publishing Co., Ltd.), March 2011The Tragedy of Y - cover Chinese edition,  New Star Press, Jan 2017The Tragedy of Y - cover Taiwanese edition, Face Press, August 1995The Tragedy of Y - cover Taiwanese edition, 麥田 (Ryefield), 1995Tấn bi kịch Y - cover Vietnamese edition of  'The Tragedy of Y", Văn học editions, 2016
 


Click if you think you can help out...!

Other articles on this book

(1)
Reading Ellery Queen - The Tragedy of Y Jon Mathewson (Jul 2013)
(2) The Green Capsule – The Tragedy of Y Noah Stewart (Aug 2018)
(3) The House of Mystery Ho-Ling (Feb 11. 2016)
(4) The Tragedy of Zzzzzzz Brad Friedman (Oct 23. 2018)
(5) The Tragedy of Y, as by “Barnaby Ross”  Noah's Archives (Jun 1. 2014)
 
* Interested readers should know that the icons/covers of books, used throughout the website have extra descriptions/information not included in the text on the same page. Pointing your cursor at the icon/cover used to reveal this extra information.
To achieve the same effect Firefox users can install an add-on called '
Popup ALT Attribute'. When installed pointing your cursor at an icon/cover results in showing you the details or additional information.

previous indepth review...  b a c k   t o  Q  B  I  next indepth review...


Copyright
© MCMXCIX-MMXXIV   Ellery Queen, a website on deduction. All rights reserved.