{"id":211,"date":"2012-04-03T15:02:28","date_gmt":"2012-04-03T15:02:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/darkandstormynightmysteries.com\/wordpress\/?p=211"},"modified":"2021-03-10T03:22:43","modified_gmt":"2021-03-10T03:22:43","slug":"let%e2%80%99s-not-forget-ellery-queen%e2%80%94part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/darkandstormynightmysteries.com\/wordpress\/?p=211","title":{"rendered":"Let\u2019s Not Forget Ellery Queen\u2014Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0<\/strong>In Part One, we looked at the creation of the Ellery Queen mystery\u00a0books and how\u00a0they are\u00a0an important part\u00a0in the development of the American detective genre. Now let\u2019s take a closer look at the Ellery Queen stories and why they are unique and a must read for mystery lovers.<\/p>\n

Golden Age of Mysteries<\/strong><\/p>\n

Keeping with the format of Golden Age Mysteries, Ellery Queen is not always involved in the action. Many of the scenes\u00a0focus on characters and potential suspects and much of the narration comes from these people as they interact with each. These interactions\u00a0help to\u00a0reveal possible clues.<\/p>\n

Ellery might be off stage chasing down a detail, but later he reappears to share his discoveries and to learn what others have found. Ellery is a sharp observer and presents everything he discovers to the reader.<\/p>\n

In Golden Age mysteries the clues are the most important element in the story because the detective cannot use intuition or guesswork to solve the crime. The clues must provide the answers.<\/p>\n

We relate to Ellery because in many ways he is just like us. As readers we are gathering clues and following suspects to find who committed the crime and so is Ellery. Our goal is to figure out who did it before Ellery provides the solution.<\/p>\n

A Mystery Jigsaw Puzzle<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ellery Queen mysteries are just like jigsaw puzzles. The books methodically lay out the puzzle pieces (clues) so\u00a0we can make an informed decision about who did it. Just like a jigsaw puzzle the last piece fits only in one place and all the clues point only to one possible culprit.<\/p>\n

The Reader Challenge<\/strong><\/p>\n

Another unique feature of the early Ellery Queen mysteries is the Reader\u2019s Challenge where Ellery asks us to go head to head with him to solve the case. Here is a portion of the Readers Challenge from Halfway House<\/em> (The Langtail Press, 2011, originally published 1936)<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 For many years I have been a voice crying in the wilderness\u2014I trust not vainly\u2014beseeching readers to repress heroically their guessing proclivities and play the game scientifically. It\u2019s harder, but <\/em>immeasurably more fun.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Why not begin with the problem of Joseph Kent Gimball\u2019s murder? <\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 At this point in the story you are in possession of all the facts needed to build up a complete and logical solution of the crime. Your job is to spot the vital clues, assemble them in rational order, and from them deduce the one and only possible criminal. It can be done; it has been done as you will see.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 If you fail, of course, you can always fall back on the old reliable guesswork. If
\nyou succeed, let me know about it. <\/em><\/p>\n

Ellery reminds\u00a0us that all the clues have been presented and\u00a0we have been privileged to the same information he has. Therefore\u00a0as reader’s we\u00a0should arrive at the correct solution. Later books don\u2019t specifically challenge the reader, but the process is still the same with all the clues pointing to only one possible solution.<\/p>\n

All is Revealed<\/strong><\/p>\n

Following his reader\u2019s challenge in Halfway House,<\/em> Ellery has all the suspects return to the scene of the murder to help recreate the events. As the facts are revealed (don\u2019t worry I won\u2019t reveal who did it) the murderer makes a run for it. However what is interesting is the murderer’s name still\u00a0isn’t revealed in this chapter.\u00a0 Of course if you have assembled your puzzle pieces in a logical order, as Ellery suggested, you know who did it. But just in case you missed the correct answer, in the next chapter Ellery takes the reader step by step through all of the clues. He explains how each of the possible suspects is gradually eliminated until there is only one person left\u2014the killer.<\/p>\n

Don’t Forget Ellery Queen<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ellery Queen mysteries are period books and a little dated but still a great read.\u00a0 If you haven\u2019t read an Ellery Queen book, check out your local book store or jump on Amazon or B&N and\u00a0order an Ellery Queen. As I mentioned in the last blog when you are finished, think about donating your copy to the local library. We want to make sure Ellery Queen mysteries continue to remain available for our fellow mystery lovers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0In Part One, we looked at the creation of the Ellery Queen mystery\u00a0books and how\u00a0they are\u00a0an important part\u00a0in the development of the American detective genre. Now let\u2019s take a closer look at the Ellery Queen stories and why they are … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/darkandstormynightmysteries.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/darkandstormynightmysteries.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/darkandstormynightmysteries.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darkandstormynightmysteries.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darkandstormynightmysteries.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=211"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/darkandstormynightmysteries.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1927,"href":"https:\/\/darkandstormynightmysteries.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211\/revisions\/1927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/darkandstormynightmysteries.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darkandstormynightmysteries.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darkandstormynightmysteries.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}