Whatever Happened to Ellery Queen?

ANFHONY J. MAZZELLA

Parenthesis and Challenge

[Since] I have often found it a stimulating exetcise in my
own reading of murder fiction ... [to try] to determine . . .
the identity of the criminal[,] ... I submit... an amiable
challenge to the reader[: ] Without reading the concluding
pages. Reader—Who Killed Mrs. French? ... A certain
amount of [guessing] is inevitable, . . . but the application
of logic and common sense is the important thing, the
source of the greater enjoyment. . . .

[fromCh. 36, TheFreiichPowder.Mystery, 1930]

Ellery sat down at the desk and wrote earnestly on the fly
leaf of his sadily abused little book.

[from Cb. 18]
 

r
 

1^ If "^HE statistics arc impressive: John M. Reilly's Twentieth
Century Crime and Mystery Writers (1980) lists some
forty-one novels and omnibuses, all but two featuring
Ellery Queen and his father. Inspector Richard Queen; five novels
under the pseudonym Barnaby Ross, featuring retired Shakes¬
pearean actor Drury Lane; eight short story collections plus six
uncollected stories; and nearly 100 other listings for plays, radio
scripts, and edited publications. Since then the list has expanded.

The credentials also comprise five Mystery Writers of America
Edgars, the top award for mystery fiction, including one for El¬
lery Queen's Mystery Magazine (begun in the fall of 1941 and
still continuing), as well as a Grand Master, the highest accolade.
In addition, Ellery Queen was awarded the organization's special
prize, the Raven. He won the Silver Gertrude for selling a million
copies of a single title, and the Golden Gerttude for selling over

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