|
|
EDITORIAL
|
If you think you can help us, or would like something to add. Don't be shy! Pick one of the following categories (by clicking on the icons):
|
Q.B.I. Covers
added since April 2024:
14 better and 36 new covers.
The latter corresponding with
the red numbers in
this
list.
Latest additions made on
December 8. 2024:        Past additions to the site: April 2023 - April 2024: 24 better and 17 new covers April 2022 - April 2023: 69 better and 131 new covers ... |
 |
| December 9. 2024 - April 18. 1999 |
Ellery Queen’s The Finishing Stroke
(1958) is one of the most memorable entries in the legendary series,
combining suspense, clever plotting, and a fascinating historical backdrop.
Set during the 12 days of Christmas in 1929, the story unfolds in a
snowbound mansion where a joyful holiday party turns sinister. Anonymous
gifts arrive for the hosts, each accompanied by cryptic messages. With every
day, the tension escalates, culminating in a chilling warning: on the
Twelfth Night, someone will die. At the heart of the novel is Ellery Queen’s struggle to unravel a mystery that spans nearly 30 years. The story begins in Queen’s youth and concludes in 1958, with him solving a case that haunted him for decades. The interplay between past and present gives the novel a unique, almost "epic" quality, enriched by its exact historical references and attention to period detail. The plot is driven by the recurring "12" motif—twelve guests, twelve days, twelve mysterious gifts—and a dead man whose identity baffles everyone. As the mounting unease forces the guests to stay in the house, Ellery must confront an intricate web of secrets and suspicions. Critics praised the book's carefully crafted suspense, with The New York Times highlighting its “detailed and delightfully accurate picture of America at the end of the 1920s.” The novel was also celebrated for its inventive structure and gripping surprises. Dorothy Quick of the .... Continue here ... |
 |
| November 23. 2024 |
The Tragedy of X by Ellery Queen (under the
pseudonym Barnaby Ross) is a quintessential 1930s mystery novel that
introduces readers to Drury Lane, an eccentric retired Shakespearean
actor-turned-sleuth. Set in the bustling heart of New York City, the novel
follows the mysterious murder of Harley Longstreet, a prominent and
well-disliked broker, who dies unexpectedly aboard a crowded streetcar.
Though everyone on board saw Longstreet fall, no one witnessed the killer,
marking the start of a baffling murder investigation. The crime is unusual: Longstreet reaches into his pocket for his glasses, only to pull out a bloody hand before collapsing dead on the floor. This grisly scene, punctuated by the revelation of a nicotine-tipped-needle hidden within a cork ball, is Queen’s first experiment with what would later become known as the “dying message.” The novel follows two additional murders on public transportation, as both the killer’s methods and motives unfold with chilling precision. Inspector Thumm and District Attorney Bruno find themselves without leads and turn to Drury Lane, who lives on an estate known as The Hamlet—a grand castle on the Hudson River filled with medieval halls and Shakespearean grandeur. Lane, who is both a celebrated matinee idol and a master of disguise, has an affinity for mysteries, viewing them as a "refinement of human drama.” Seated in his ornate home, Lane listens to the details of the case and almost immediately deduces the identity of the murderer. However, he refrains from disclosing the culprit’s name until he can substantiate his theory with solid evidence, opting to tease out the truth through further investigation. As the novel’s "amateur sleuth," Lane’s exaggerated theatricality makes him a unique figure in crime fiction. Described as "greater than life," he embodies dramatic flair and sophisticated reasoning, coupled with his signature skill in adopting various disguises—a talent reminiscent of Arsène Lupin and Sherlock Holmes. These disguises allow him to infiltrate circles unknown, though critics like Charles Reed Jones expressed frustration at the unrealistic nature of his transformations, which deceive even those closest to the killer. ... Continue here ... |
|
|
| October 27. 2024 |
|
On October 20. 1905 Daniel (David) Nathan alias Frederic Dannay was born in
Brooklyn (Kings), N.Y. He would become half of the
writers' duo known as Ellery Queen The other half being
Manfred B. Lee ... if you're unfamiliar with their work a good place to start would be Calamity Town (1942) by Ellery Queen: A Classic Mystery in Small-Town America  In Calamity Town, the iconic detective Ellery Queen leaves his familiar urban landscape to venture into Wrightsville, a small American town where seemingly idyllic lives mask deep-seated intrigue and dark secrets. The story, born from a passing mention of “predated letters” in a biography, builds a complex narrative around Queen’s investigation into the Wright family, a respected but troubled clan headed by the town banker and his high-society wife. Daughter Nora’s recent heartbreak, brought on by the sudden disappearance of her fiancé Jim Haight three years ago, casts a shadow over the family’s standing. Ellery arrives in town incognito, posing as “Ellery Smith,” and rents a house that was originally built for Nora and Jim. Just as he settles in to write, Jim returns to town, reigniting rumors and setting the stage for a web of suspense involving cryptic letters, arsenic poisonings, and the death that Queen becomes entangled in solving. Events spiral when a poisoned cocktail at Nora’s New Year’s Eve party implicates Ellery in the crime, while local gossip and a turbulent court trial bring the mystery into sharp focus. The plot takes readers through a series of twists, as Queen pieces together clues surrounding the three undelivered letters that suggest premeditated murder. Despite the inevitable missteps of small-town justice, it is ultimately a minor detail, divulged by Nora’s sister Patricia, that allows Queen to unravel the true motive and method behind the crime. Calamity Town is celebrated as one of the best Wrightsville novels, praised for its intricate structure and strong sense of place. Critics lauded Queen's nuanced character development, painting Wrightsville residents not as mere plot devices but as real, relatable figures, rich with flaws and domestic woes. The Sydney Morning Herald noted the author’s skill in blending mystery with psychology, crafting a story that feels both intimate and suspenseful. Perry Record and Daily Telegraph also recognized the book’s unique contributions to the mystery genre, particularly for its daring plot and Queen’s signature cerebral style. Yoshitaro Nomura later adapted the story into the 1979 Japanese film The Three Undelivered Letters, underscoring the novel’s international and timeless appeal. Calamity Town remains an American classic, a quintessential tale of small-town scandal, poison, and Ellery Queen’s relentless quest for truth. Read more here ... |
|
|
| October 2. 2024 |
|
In the section on "Unusual Media Subjects," we would like to highlight some
somewhat neglected examples of Ellery Queen content, particularly in the realm of games: board games, puzzles, and even video games. Examples from each category can be found on this page. However, it seems that Ellery Queen has been largely forgotten in PC-based and console games. Board games existed long before Ellery's first game appearance in 1956, which came just before the publication of what was intended to be Ellery Queen's last appearance in print, The Finishing Stroke (1958). As we know, Ellery made a comeback in the 1960s with a final series of novels, but his first game appearance was still late in the Queen canon. One Ellery Queen board game eventually inspired Cluedo, one of the most popular board games ever! However, in our opinion, the best crossover came in puzzle form in 1973, which even included a Challenge to the Reader! ... 
 Read more here ... |
|
TIP:
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. |
 |
| September 1. 2024 |
  |
|
"The Book Case", an Ellery Queen
novella appeared in the May 2007 edition of Ellery Queen
Mystery Magazine, and was written by Dale Andrews and Kurt Sercu!
Now you can hear the story as an audio book, part of Miniature Mythos weekly Sunday posts. Enjoy!
Direct links
Spotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/.../Ellery-Queen-The-Book... Enjoy! |
 |
| And more on "The Book Case" you can read here... |
|
|
| August 7. 2024 |
|
Keeping this site up-to-date doesn't feel like an obligation at all. Discovering bygone information through selection, verification, and re-verification offers enough satisfaction. Some naysayers will claim that some pages will hardly be read. But sometimes the satisfaction and recognition come from that one reader. A family member of one of the actors expressing their appreciation for rediscovered details about a parent/grandparent is more than enough for me. Especially when they take the time and effort to let me know. When rechecking facts, I find that my pages were indeed useful to others. Since December of last year, due to circumstances, I have been able to make more time to update the biographies. In doing so, I reviewed what information I could gather over the past years and compared it to the text on this site. Small additions, corrections, discoveries... new photos... Nine months later, I went through all the pages. Finished with this round. The very detailed pages are mostly the result of bringing together nearly unfindable details and, less so, of weeding through a lot of information. Still, there is satisfaction in completing this round. You can read the detailed pages of the actors by clicking on their photos... starting on the (third) Ellery Queen page... Thanks also to Rémi Schulz who provided some variety and pointed out a few covers of Ellery Queen books in Hebrew. I can also announce that at the end of this month we have a nice surprise for our listeners. So stay tuned!!! |
|
|
| June 22. 2024 |
|
Since 1941 Dannay and Lee had been recruiting and training ghostwriters they
already had used on some juveniles and adaptations of Queen movies and radio
shows. While writer's block is mentioned in The King is Dead
(1952) it is believed Manfred developed a series of
other psychological ailments, one of which was writer's block in the late
fifties, causing both cousins to review the way they wrote novels. Scott Meredith's literary agency wanted to expand Ellery Queen's readership beyond the slowly fading genre of formal detective fiction and into the booming field of original crime novels without detection. Contingent to the cousins' approval they agreed to the publication of a cycle of non-series paperback originals, ghostwritten by other Meredith clients (many connected to Manhunt magazine, another project of Scott Meredith) for a flat fee of around $2,000 per book and published under the Queen name, with all royalties split between Fred and Manny after the agency took its commission. Manny, who had a large family to support and still suffered from writer's block, favored the idea. Fred was violently opposed but felt that his cousin's financial and creative problems left him little choice but to go along since Manny had saved the Queen radio series when the death of Fred's first wife left him unable to perform that function. Lee provided the basic idea and the manuscripts were written by various ghosts and submitted to Manny who edited them more or less as Fred edited the stories he bought for EQMM. But Fred refused to read any of the books published under this scheme and terminated the arrangement soon after Manny's death. Click here to read more...                Above: Covers for the paperback originals 1961-66. Click on the covers for the in-depth pages... |
|
|
| May 23. 2024 |
 ergeant Thomas Velie made his
entrance into the Queen-sagawith the words "What's up, Doyle?" in The Roman Hat  Mystery where he is introduced to us as a tall man in
plain clothes. He is addressed by Inspector Queen in a rather fatherly way
as "Thomas". While the
faithful sergeant addresses Ellery as "maestro".Velie aka "the tall one with the sledgehammer hands and the rumbling voice.." still has (largely through the Hutton TV series) somewhat of a cult following. According to one radio play "The Old Witch" (02-26-42 or 02-28-42 - episode 75) Velie lived in an apartment and had one daughter! |
 Now ALL (!) of the 9 profiles of actors who played Sergeant Velie are updated... Read them by clicking on the photo of each individual actor on the "Other Character" page... |
|
Tom Reese who played Velie in the
unforgettable 1975-76 TV series Ellery Queen
stands out (above left)... Or click on a photo of one of the actors below... to read much much more...         |
A challenge to the reader: if you think you
could add additional information (even
corrections) please do so...
 You can reach us by clicking
the "Uncle Sam" icon (right).
We've always appreciate
corrections and additional information, however
small the detail may be... |
 |
| April 21. 2024 |
 The
25th (!) anniversary of the site is a fact. I've said this before, but I'm
happy to repeat it: This site has given back to me as much as I've put into
it! That says something.Perhaps a word of thanks from me to everyone who took the time (who does that nowadays?) to contact us and make small or large contributions. Or simply to express some appreciation (who does that nowadays?). Then there are the "Usual Suspects," or maybe I should say the West 87th Street Irregulars, with whom I am more frequently in contact. Ready to answer questions... about this niche topic. I want to specifically mention Dale C. Andrews here. What started in a conversation long ago on a blog... resulted in many enjoyable online and real-world contacts. So it's very fitting now to add an interesting text from Dale to the site. It perfectly illustrates what our conversations often revolved around... I'm sure anyone with a little knowledge of Ellery Queen's books will enjoy this: Ellery Queen Easter Eggs. Where is this extra section hidden? That's also a bit of an Easter Egg... click above on the banner at the very top on "EQ". This will take you to the main page with all sections... But not everything is as it seems. Some objects are also clickable (shh, don't tell anyone). The pen will take you to a specialized section... Thanks to everyone who helped, or visited the site in the first 25 years ... On to the next 25! Enjoy! |
|
|
| March 27. 2024 |
|
The 25th (!) anniversary of the site is just around the corner. It has never
been for lack of ambition on my part. "Everything about
Ellery Queen." This ultimately led to writing the mini-biographies
you can find in this section,
covering all the actors who have ever played a role in any of the
Ellery Queen adaptations, be it on radio, film, or television.
Often, these biographies are pieced together from small snippets found in
newspapers here and there. Let's be honest, they don't always feature very
well-known actors. As a result, their careers are often obscure and were, as
such, not searchable on the internet. The search brought forth careers first brought to light online, and, as extra, providing interesting
insights into the life of the previous century. The cult of personality in the media clearly began to emerge in the 1920s and '30s, and the new media often paid little attention to the "previous" media from which they were recruited. Radio ignored vaudeville, or television ignored radio... Some of the biographies here I started over 10 years ago. They are regularly updated or revised (an advantage you don't have with books). Due to circumstances, I am in the process of a detailed revision this year. As online archives are expanded and "historical" information becomes more available, profiles can be updated. Online searches often bring me back to my own site. Some actors already have multiple pages paying tribute to them. In such cases, it's essential to look beyond just the factual information and search for that extra something: amusing anecdotes, family photos, and so on, ultimately adding value. You would truly be surprised at how often information is misrepresented (and subsequently copied), making it difficult to discern the truth. Don't get me wrong, mistakes happen (I've made a few)... but thorough fact-checking can prevent this. However, this takes time, and in this fast-paced world, it seems too much to expect from every webmaster, blogger, ... As an exception to the rule sometimes a great many biographies are found. This was so for both Peter Lawford and his co-star Harry Morgan in Ellery Queen Don't Look Behind You (Universal, Nov 19. 1971). But what is the real story  behind
the original name of Harry Morgan who became best known as Colonel Sherman T.
Potter in M*A*S*H? What is truly known about the beginning of his
career, his studies, or his start with theater companies? There are many
aspects to clarify... This has now been done, with representative
photos accompanying each section... So, without claiming to be exhaustive,
we can certainly assert that this is the most comprehensive overview online
for this actor, as described by Alan Alda as "a
treasure as a person, an imp at times, and always a true professional."Click here to read his full profile ... Another example is the biography of yet another actor who portrayed Inspector Queen, but this time in the TV series The Further Adventures of Ellery Queen (NBC, 1958-59), with a very  distinctive voice and highly active on radio. While Harry Morgan
had an equally expressive voice, he was much less active on radio compared
to Les Tremayne. It's difficult to ascertain why this is the case, but
sometimes things unfold as they do. While Morgan achieved quick success in
other media, Tremayne faced more challenges.We have been able to reconstruct his life before his breakthrough, from a very young age, starting from his departure from London aboard the S.S. Saint Paul bound for the U.S., up to his major breakthrough with the program First Nighter (1937). Furthermore, you will notice that Tremayne was married three times, with one marriage garnering more media attention than the others. Click here to read his full profile ... |
|
|
Perhaps one of the most celebrated actors to appear in an
Ellery Queen
series has to be the 2x Tony award-winning
David Wayne. For many the
ultimate portrayal of Inspector Queen,
 Ellery's
father. Wayne had a very extensive career and had obviously lost his heart
to the stage. This time a multitude of footage from which the right choices
were made. Certainly about his early beginnings in show business, in stage
companies here and there and, in marionette theater,... there was still
something to clarify. Few actors were given the chance to play opposite
Marilyn Monroe no less than three times! There was nothing short of drama in
David's life that began early with the death of his mother. His skills
included sword swallowing, and he once drove his ambulance into a mine and
could recount it....Click here to read his full profile ... |
|
|
| February 25. 2024 |
 As
we have already discussed elsewhere in the
pages of this website, Ellery Queen's
popularity is world wide. While it has ebbed
in some parts of the globe, it remains
perhaps at its highest among the mystery
readers of China and Japan. It is therefore
fitting that our next inductee into the
fraternity of the
West 87th Street
Irregulars is Nathanael T. Booth, Associate
Professor in the School of Foreign Languages
at Huazhong University of Science and
Technology in Wuhan, China. Nathanael is not only an avid reader of the
Queen oeuvre, he is also truly a scholar of
those works. His relationship with
Ellery Queen has been a long one,
stretching back to the time when, as a
teenager, he discovered The Dutch Shoe
Mystery at a library book sale. He has
written extensively about Ellery Queen in
both of his books:
American Small-Town Fiction,
1940-1960: A Critical Study
(McFarland, 2019)
and recently God and the Great
Detective: Ellery Queen's Struggle with the
Divine, 1945-1965
(McFarland, 2023).As the newest member of the West 87th Street Irregulars, Nathanael introduces himself with an essay -- in this case his scholarly analysis of the transformation and humanizing of Ellery that began with the introduction of the small New England town of Wrightsville. Somehow, we suspect that Nathanael is not done with Ellery yet. Welcome to our latest West 87th Street Irregular! Read Nathanael's essay here... |
|
|
| January 26. 2024 |
|
Names. Any Ellery Queen fan could take at least a 15-minute run-up before talking about the works. Who is Ellery Queen? That run-up would then cover original names, stage names, aliases, ... This cult of names was not that uncommon in the United States. Name changes were made as early as immigration. Usually to make them easier to pronounce, but sometimes also because there already existed artists with the same name. In the case of some of the biographies on this site, this does matter a great deal. To this day, achievements of actors are assigned to namesakes. Thus (at least) 2 biographies were reviewed and completed. Extra attention was paid to the exact changes of persons.  Carleton
G. Young and Carleton S. Young
were both actors. The former
once took the role of
Ellery Queen. Despite
their markedly different
appearances, they are still
sometimes confused in many
descriptions. This confusion is
a bit self-seeking because, for
both, the role description used
the name Carleton Young. Our
research revealed, in addition
to details from his early
career, that Carleton G. was
married not once but twice.
Carleton S. Young starred once
as a drunkard in The
Mandarin Mystery, but that
is where all Ellery
Queen connections end.Click here to read his full profile ...  Sydney
G. Smith at one point also
played Ellery Queen
in the radio series. It
came as a surprise that his
father, who was a doctor, first
took to the stage. Sydney H.
Smith performed before the birth
of our Sydney on Broadway. All
Broadway references before 1905
pertain to his father. Sydney
took the name Sydney Goffe
Smith, perhaps when his parents
divorced, and Sydney and his
sister were raised by their
mother. Again, the text, images,
and content were liberally
adapted. It is also clearly
indicated in the notes what
remains to be discovered ... .Click here to read his full profile ... Some like crosswords. I find making these much more fun ... ;-) |
  |
|
Recommended
|
 |
|
|
|
Introduction |
Floor Plan | Q.B.I. |
List of Suspects | Whodunit?
| Q.E.D. | Kill as
directed | New |
Copyright Copyright © MCMXCIX-MMXXIV Ellery Queen, a website on deduction. All rights reserved. |
