Ellery Queen (EQ) was a character created in 1928 by two young Brooklyn, NY wanna-be writers, Frederic Dannay and Manfred Lee. The name was also a pseudonym for both the authors. They had entered a writing contest and won, but the company was sold before the novel could be published.
This didn't stop these two enthusiastic writers, however. They continued writing for readers who could hardly wait for their next book to hit the stores. In 1929, The Roman Hat Mystery started the wildfire of success. Soon Dannay and Lee started making some changes in their writing formula. One such addition was adding Ellery Queen's stubborn father as Inspector Richard Queen, who was an immediate hit.
Their standard formula consisted of an unusual crime, a complex series of clues and Inspector Richard Queen. Their novels, released from 1929-1935, established the format for all future mysteries. This formula was not only a learning journey for Dannay and Lee but also for EQ books that slowly evolved. In the beginning, the EQ character was snobbish, intellectual and independently wealthy, yet evolved slowly.
Dannay and Lee's book written in 1942, Calamity Town, saw EQ become more human by showing his emotions, which endeared the readers even more to this fictional character. The EQ novels made their way into radio, television, films, comic books, board games and jigsaw puzzles.
EQ is alive and well today despite the passing of Lee in 1971, and Dannay in 1982. Most libraries and book clubs still have them in their inventory. The mysteries they have written in their lifetimes are still as interesting and mind-boggling to today's reader as they ever were.
Tags: ...
Comments (0):