Literary significance & criticism
After many popular mystery novels, a radio program and a number of movies, the character of Ellery Queen was at this point firmly established. This novel is the second to take place against the setting of the imaginary New England town of Wrightsville (following Calamity Town ) and, as is common in the Wrightsville novels, depends more on characterization, atmosphere and the observed minutiae of small-town American life than many other Queen novels, especially earlier ones, which are more stylized puzzles.
Calamity Town is a novel that was published in 1942 by Ellery Queen. It is a mystery novel primarily set in the fictional town of Wrightsville, a place that figures in several later Queen books.
Very intelligently, Dannay and Lee used this change in locale to loosen the structure of their stories. More emphasis was placed on personal relationships, and less on the details of investigation. For a time this worked well. Calamity Town (1942) and The Murderer is a Fox (1945) are two books in which the transition from one kind of crime story to another is successfully managed, although a feeling lingers that they would be even better books if Ellery did not appear in them. [2]
In Wrightsville Ellery gets invariably separated from the New York Police Department and thus his normal modus operandi. He has to rely on his reputation as sleuth to give him access to any police investigations. The more fallible side to Ellery is essentially emphasized. ... EQ's second visit to Wrightsville brings his most vividly involving character studies; on this level, it's EQ's masterpiece. A pity that the final resolution is based on rather thin evidence. [1]
This page is based on this
Wikipedia article Text is available under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—either professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as speculative fiction and other genre fiction in the mid-nineteenth century and has remained extremely popular, particularly in novels. Some of the most famous heroes of detective fiction include C. Auguste Dupin, Sherlock Holmes, and Hercule Poirot. Juvenile stories featuring The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and The Boxcar Children have also remained in print for several decades.
Edward Dentinger Hoch was an American writer of detective fiction. Although he wrote several novels, he was primarily known for his vast output of over 950 short stories.
The Adventures of Ellery Queen is the title of a radio series and four separate television series made from the 1950s through the 1970s. They were based on the fictional detective and pseudonymous writer Ellery Queen and the cases he solved with his father, Inspector Richard Queen.
Patrick Quentin, Q. Patrick and Jonathan Stagge were pen names under which Hugh Callingham Wheeler, Richard Wilson Webb, Martha Mott Kelley and Mary Louise White Aswell wrote detective fiction. In some foreign countries their books have been published under the variant Quentin Patrick. Most of the stories were written by Webb and Wheeler in collaboration, or by Wheeler alone. Their most famous creation is the amateur sleuth Peter Duluth. In 1963, the story collection The Ordeal of Mrs. Snow was given a Special Edgar Award by the Mystery Writers of America.
The Roman Hat Mystery is a novel that was written in 1929 by Ellery Queen. It is the first of the Ellery Queen mysteries.
The French Powder Mystery is a novel that was written in 1930 by Ellery Queen. It is the second of the Ellery Queen mysteries.
The Egyptian Cross Mystery is a novel that was written in 1932 by Ellery Queen. It is the fifth of the Ellery Queen mysteries.
The Siamese Twin Mystery is an English language American novel written in 1933 by Ellery Queen. It is the seventh of the Ellery Queen mysteries.
Halfway House is a novel that was written in 1936 by Ellery Queen. It is a mystery novel primarily set in New Jersey, United States.
The Finishing Stroke is a mystery novel by Ellery Queen, published in 1958. It is set in New York state during three different times in the 20th century: Early 1905; the Christmas-New Year's holidays of 1929-1930; and midsummer 1957.
The Dragon's Teeth is a mystery novel published in 1939 featuring the popular fictional character Ellery Queen, which is also the pseudonym of the book's authors, Daniel Nathan and Manford (Emanuel) Lepofsky. It is primarily set in New York City, United States.
Ten Days' Wonder is a novel that was published in 1948 by Ellery Queen. It is a mystery novel primarily set in the imaginary town of Wrightsville, United States.
Cat of Many Tails is a novel that was published in 1949 by Ellery Queen. It is a mystery novel set in New York City, United States.
Double, Double is a novel that was published in 1949 by Ellery Queen. It is a mystery novel set in the imaginary New England town of Wrightsville, US.
The King Is Dead is a novel published in 1951 by Ellery Queen. It is a mystery novel set primarily on a fictional island, but also partly in Wrightsville, a fictional small town in the northeastern United States that figures in several Queen stories.
The Scarlet Letters is an English language novel published in 1953 by American author Ellery Queen. It is a mystery novel set primarily in New York City.
The Glass Village is a novel that was published in 1954 by Ellery Queen. It is a mystery novel set in the imaginary New England town of Shinn Corners, United States.
Mr. Monk on Patrol is the thirteenth novel written by Lee Goldberg to be based on the television series Monk. It was published on January 3, 2012. Like the other novels, the story is narrated by Natalie Teeger, Monk's assistant.
