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Ellery's first three Wrightsville cases
This omnibus edition consists of the first 3 Ellery Queen novels set in Wrightsville, namely, CALAMITY TOWN (1942), THE MURDERER IS A FOX (1945), and TEN DAYS' WONDER (1948). For more detailed discussion of each individual story, consult reviews of the individual books; here I'll be considering them in general terms.

First published in 1948, this omnibus volume at that time covered all the Wrightsville stories, but quite a few more were added to the list in later years, including a number of short stories (consult Listmania for a more complete list of Wrightsville tales).

When referring to "Ellery Queen" in the rest of this review, I'll be referring to the character, rather than to his creators (the team of Fred Dannay and Manfred Lee).

In CALAMITY TOWN, Ellery's on his own; Inspector Queen and the Centre Street team don't appear. Ellery's character has grown out of the annoying dilettante phase of the earliest books, and as a working writer, he's about to begin his next book. Since the book will be set in a small town, city-dwelling Ellery intends to rent a house incognito for six months in none other than Wrightsville, Wright County, New York. Upon hearing the story of "jinxed" Calamity House - built by the Wrights for their middle daughter's marriage, which never took place - he promptly takes the lease, feeling that it would make just as much sense to call Wrightsville Calamity Town. Little did he know where this small town would lead him - or how devastating small town gossip can be.

While CALAMITY TOWN was published in 1942 and would normally have been set in 1941, one of the major events in the story revolves around a New Year's Eve party - so the entire story is very carefully noted to have taken place between August 1940 - May 1941 - anything including December 7, 1941 would have required a re-write of the ending of the book. As it is, Ellery avoids having his identity exposed by draft registration by quietly registering in his native New York City instead.

In THE MURDERER IS A FOX, Davy Fox returns from the China-Burma-India theater with a Medal of Honor, and a bad case of what would now be called post-traumatic stress disorder. But the worst damage was done not when he carried a fellow pilot and close friend across most of southern China only to watch him die, but when his father was convicted of his mother's murder when he was a child. His wife Linda, a friend of one of the Wright sisters, and knowing that Army psychologists haven't been able to help, makes an appointment with Ellery Queen, bringing him to Wrightsville for the second time.

In this second visit to Wrightsville, the recurring cast of characters is deployed in what comes to be typical of Wrightsville stories, but isn't a pattern: Wrightsville, like a real-life small town, changes over time, as prosecutors run for higher office, old friends retire, and businesses close or change. Unfortunately, Emmeline DuPre, the worst of the town's gossips, never changes: a typical sample of her work is that she sent an anonymous packet of clippings to Davy in China, implying that Linda is cheating on him.

Finally, Ellery's third but far from last visit to Wrightsville in TEN DAYS' WONDER begins with Howard Van Horn, the son of one of Wrightsville's new-money families - and hence someone social lioness Hermione Wright didn't introduce Ellery to on his first triumphal progress of Wrightsville. Howard's been having blackouts, and is terrified that he's committed some crime that he can't remember. Or has he committed only *one* crime? ... Read more

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puzzles that play fair
Francis Nevins has provided an introduction with a bit of biographical information about Fred Dannay and Manfred Lee, the two cousins who became Ellery Queen, and an overview of the evolution of the character. Nevins also lists the contents of each of Queen's short story collections.

Ellery, incidentally, sometimes ridicules the idea of really elaborate dying clues, but they occur nonetheless.

"The Glass-Domed Clock" (1933) Dying clue. Martin Orr has been found murdered in his curio shop, clutching an amethyst and one of the clocks on display.

"The Bearded Lady" (1934) Dying clue. Old Mrs. Shaw suspected her grown stepchildren of attempting to poison her, so despite her late husband's wishes she disinherited them, leaving most of the money to her husband's niece in England, with instructions that Edith would live in the Shaw house for at least 2 years, with regular checkups by Dr. Arlen, Mrs. Shaw's own physician (who got the rest of the money in trust). Alas, the stepchildren are the residuary legatees, and Dr. Arlen has been found murdered - leaving only an oddly defaced painting in his hobby studio as a clue.

"The Mad Tea-Party" (1934) This story was adapted for the TV series starring Jim Hutton as Ellery, as "The Adventure of the Mad Tea Party"; it's one of the strongest episodes. (Few of the episodes corresponded directly to any Queen story, oddly enough.) Richard Owen is staging a reenactment of the Wonderland tea party for his son's birthday; Ellery consented to visit only because he wanted to meet one of the actresses involved. Owen mysteriously vanishes on the day of the birthday itself, so Ellery (despite his best efforts) has to get to work.

"Man Bites Dog" (1939) A cyanide-laced hotdog at the Polo Grounds, in this case, during a subway series: Ellery's NY Giants vs the NY Yankees.

"Mind Over Matter" (1939) Paula Paris (Ellery's girlfriend from California), is covering the heavyweight title fight between champion Mike Brown and challenger Jim Coyle, and offers to get Ellery and the Inspector tickets. (Ellery at first refuses: "I'm a jinx. If I went, something catastrophic would be sure to happen. So why should I want to go?" "He's afraid somebody will knock somebody off," said the Inspector. "Well, doesn't somebody always?")

"The Inner Circle" (1947) The 1913 class of Eastern University, the 1st graduating class, formed a special organization within the Alumni Club: the Januarians. But 5 of them formed a club within a club as a clandestine business partnership, of which 3 have now died, organized as a tontine. Who will be the last survivor?

"The Dauphin's Doll" (1948) Cytherea Ypson, even at 78, made a hobby of collecting dolls. Upon her death, the collection is to be auctioned to establish a fund for orphans, but only 1 entry in the collection is really valuable: partly for historical associations, partly for the $110,000 diamond in its crown. But Miss Ypson's will provides that on the day before Christmas, the entire collection is to be displayed in Nash's department store...

"The Three Widows" (1950) Locked-room. Penelope and Lyra, after their husbands died, moved back in with their dad, Theodore Hood. After his death, their stepmother feared that (under the terms of the will) they had a great deal of motive to murder her, so she took extraordinary precautions to thwart them. Nevertheless, somehow someone managed to poison her.

"Snowball in July" (1952) Diamond Jim Grady, specializing in jewel robbery at gunpoint, has had Lizbet as his girl for 2 years, 10 months - eternity, in the circles where he moves. But she's put on weight, so when he picks up a new girl, Lizbet (nobody's fool) stages a vanishing act before Grady can clean up any loose ends.

"'My Queer Dean!'" (1953) Matthew Hope, one of Ellery's Harvard professors, is much given to spoonerisms. Very awkward, when he's been hurt badly in an attempted robbery, and Ellery's trying to interpret his attempt to say what happened and who did it.

"GI Story" (1954) Wrightsville + dying clue. One of Clint Fosdick's 3 stepsons (each named for a president: Wash the lawyer, Linc the MD, and draftee Woody) seems to be the murderer, but his last scrawled clue doesn't seem to fit the other evidence.

"Miracles Do Happen" (1957) Henry and Claire Witter have 4 children and no money - but Jody has expensive medical treatments, and hasn't been able to walk for 3 years. So when Tully the moneylender begins calling in debts on the eve of upcoming prosecution, Witter is the prime suspect, as the last victim to see Tully alive.

"Last Man to Die" (1963) Just as Ellery gets stuck with The Butler in his novel-in-progress, the granddaughter of one the last 2 survivors of the Butler's Club comes to him with a problem. The club treasury is tied up with a tontine...

"Abraham Lincoln's Clue" (1965) DiCampo, having fallen on hard times, must now sell his prize: a book bearing the signatures of Poe and Lincoln, with an accompanying document in Lincoln's own hand. The 2 competing bidders (one a Poe collector, the other a Lincoln enthusiast) have agreed to buy it jointly and let him select who takes custody. But the items are hidden somewhere suggested by the manuscript itself, and everyone's stuck figuring out the Lincoln clue.

"Wedding Anniversary" (1967) Wrightsville + dying clue. Ellery, through the police chief, attends the 1st anniversary bash of Ernst Brauenfel and his 2nd wife Zelda. Mr. B has been tactless, not only marrying his pretty bookkeeper within weeks of his 1st wife's death, but on his 1st wife's birthday. Somebody, however, has been much more crass, poisoning the liqueur he drinks only on very special occasions. ... Read more

Product Description
Modern Library Giant G69, anthology of detective stories edited by Ellery Queen. ... Read more

Book Description
New York's crime-solving genius is adrift in Tinseltown until a series of fatal finales revives him. With ambitious starlets, idols, and majordomos, The Hollywood Murders offers witty proof that the nature of evil is a bit gaudier on the West Coast. "A grand mystery, lightly handled and expertly solved." - The New Yorker ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Hollywood from Ellery Queen's Perspective
The Devil to Pay (1937), The Four of Hearts (1938), and The Origin of Evil (1951) roughly fall in Ellery Queen's middle period and are unique in that the setting is Hollywood.Four Walls Eight Windows published these three mysteries in 2000 under the title The Hollywood Murders.

Ellery's deductions are dazzling as usual, despite that Ellery himself sometimes seems out of place, even stranded, in the unorthodox milieu of Hollywood.Ellery encounters classic Hollywood stereotypes from movie stars to film producers to gossip columnists. The plots offer humor, some snappy dialogue, and a few extravagant Hollywood effects (e.g., a murderous pilot commandeers a small plane).I commend Four Walls Eight Windows for printing this collection.

The Devil to Pay (1937): Ellery Queen has been persuaded to rush to Hollywood to assist in writing a major production only to find that the producer is unavailable. Ellery becomes increasingly frustrated as he waits and waits for his first assignment. Fortuitously, he becomes involved in solving a bizarre murder of a hard-hearted, unethical financier. The murder weapon is an Italian dueling sword of the seventeenth century; its tip is coated with molasses and cyanide.

Ellery's remarkable reputation on the eastern seaboard is of little value in Los Angeles. Ejected from a crime scene, he subsequently masquerades as Hilary "Scoop" King, a colorful investigative reporter, to gain access to crime sites and confidential information. While somewhat farcical, this device allows the story to proceed.

The Four of Hearts (1938): In this sequel Ellery finally meets the young Jacques Butcher, colloquially known as Boy Wonder, executive vice-president of production at Magna Studios, and Ellery begins his work on a screen play. Unfortunately, an elaborate publicity stunt for the new production is derailed by a double murder. While the portrayal of the Hollywood film industry may not be entirely accurate, the plot is entertaining.

The Origin of Evil (1951): Thirteen years have elapsed and Ellery returns to a Hollywood that is reeling from the advent of television. However, as Ellery observes, Hollywood's post-mortem may be premature. This third Hollywood mystery reveals a growing list of surrealistic clues, including a dead dog, dead frogs, a poisoned sandwich, and a mutilated leather bound book of Aristophanes. The solution within a solution offered by Ellery is quite ingenious.

If you cannot find a copy of The Hollywood Murders, you might look for paperback editions from the 1970s and 1980s published by Ballantine Books, Signet Classics, and the Signet Double Mystery series. They are all inexpensive. The Origin of Evil is easiest to locate - look for a 1992 reprint edition by Harper Perennial. ... Read more