Ellery Queen is the name of a fictional detective in one of America's most popular whodunit stories. Incidentally, stories featuring Ellery Queen as the main character were also written under the pseudonym Ellery Queen. In reality, these detective stories were the brainchild of Frederic Dannay and Manfred Bennington Lee.
Given the massive influence of the Queen-based stories and the imaginary sleuth on the American detective genre, many fans eagerly inquire about the inspiration behind these two factors.
Evidence points to a number of influences. First, Dannay and Lee claimed to have been fans of crime stories from an early age. They were especially enamored of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's legendary series devoted to super sleuth Sherlock Holmes.
The pair was also influenced by the real-life murder of Joseph Elwell, a champion bridge player. Ellwell's case was an unsolved, mystery from the 1920s after Elwell was found dead in a locked room. Dannay and Lee were also influenced by S.S. Van Dine's famous detective story, which was loosely based on the Ellwell case.
As for the name 'Ellery Queen', many sources state 'Queen' was derived from a card game, while 'Ellery' might have been lifted from the name of a friend. Others claim it was also the name of a favored poet for one or both writers.
The doubling of sleuth and pseudonym as Ellery Queen was a marketing trick by the writers. The initial story had been intended for writing contest where the actual names of the writers would be hidden from the reader. Thus, these two writers decided to double the name, making it easier for readers to recall their story.
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