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Frederic Dannay (1905-1982) was--with his partner Manfred Lee--the creator of the Ellery Queen detective novels and short stories. Dannay was also a literary historian and critic, and the editor of the renowned Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine.
Queen--both a pen name and the fictional protagonist of the stories--was also a vital force behind the continuing popularity of crime fiction in the early to mid-20th century, after the deaths of Arthur Conan Doyle, G.K. Chesterton, Melville Davisson Post, and other Old Masters of the genre.
This book presents the first critical study of Ellery Queen's role in the preservation of the detective short story. Many of the writers, characters and stories EQMM championed are covered, including such celebrated authors as Allingham, Ambler, Ellin, Innes, Vickers, and even William Butler Yeats.
List of contents
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Preface
Introduction: Queen as Champion of the Past and Patron of the Future
One.¿From Thinking Machine to Human Being-From Ellery I to Ellery II
Two.¿A Quorum of Queens, the Old Masters and the New Masters
Three.¿A Never-Ending Stream of Manuscripts
Four.¿The Old Masters Resuscitated
Five.¿The New Masters Celebrated
Six.¿The Acclaimed and the Awarded
Seven.¿"'Tec Tyros" as Masters of the Future
Eight.¿Other Significant Debuts
Nine.¿The Fine Arts of Parody, Pastiche and Spoof
Ten.¿Queen as Champion, Cheerleader, Critic and Patron 187
Appendix: Story Titles
Works Cited
Index
About the author
Laird R. Blackwell is a humanities professor emeritus at Sierra Nevada College in the Lake Tahoe area of western Nevada, where he taught psychology and literature for 31 years. He is the author of four critical studies of detective fiction for McFarland and the recipient of nominations for an Edgar Award and an Agatha Award.
