Reviews

The Roman Hat Mystery by Ellery Queen

dasbooch's review against another edition

5.0

A fantastic dive into the “Golden Age of Detective Fiction”. This is the first Ellery Queen book I have read and although I admit it can be dry at times and is a product of its era (1929) in more ways than one, it was a real enjoyment and classic “who done it”. The tale starring bookworm Ellery Queen and his father inspector Richard Queen, feels more down to earth, and realistic than the often super human detective abilities of other heroes of the genre at the time such as the Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot. It could be slow at times, possibly too slow and dry for some contemporary readers, but really picks up towards the second half of the book. It really has a feel of a different era and I often imagined the scene like a well directed noir film of the forties.

skidley97's review

5.0

Fantastic book. Remember that it was written in a completely different era, one more formal and people were more cordial. Greatly enjoyed the simplicity of the era and the complexity of the book and characters.

ajpolinske1's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

4.5

jeremyj6482's review

1.0

I read a few of these as a teenager after running through better private-detective stories from the same time period, but I don't remember them being this horrible. Super-racist even for the era. Full of over-summarizing, sometimes of things that just happened, that make it more than twice as long as it needs to be. The central tenet of the mystery - the hat - is a clue with really only one solution. And by far the worst part is that Inspector Queen is an out-of-control law-breaking cop who treats the victim like a perpetrator, brings his civilian son along for the ride for no real reason and who orders break-ins, physical violence and a dangerous illegal sting operation.

octiquatro's review

4.0

I am not huge on making reviews, but I have to say I believe this book gets a bad rap... so many 2 stars? crazy...
I thoroughly enjoyed it! I enjoyed how the book was written, and the crime being solved by deductive reasoning. The step into the past, and the feel for the time period. Even though there wasn't a bunch of "action", my interest was kept. I listened to this book on my audible, and to me it was a wonderful "who-done-it" logic puzzle. I plan on reading the next in the series!

david_megginson's review

1.0

Horrifically racist twist that comes out of nowhere in the last few pages, and no, that's not just "of its time "

mkramer's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

baby_cthulhu's review

2.0

Abbastanza deludente. Un'ottima trama, con un bel caso rovinata da una scrittura lenta e da personaggi non particolarmente azzeccati e soprattutto troppo idealizzati. Alcuni dialoghi non si possono leggere, come l'uso esagerato e spropositato del termine sogghignare. In questo libro tutti sogghignano sempre.
La narrazione è lenta all'inverosimile con continue ripetizioni su ripetizioni, gli elementi di novità sono introdotti con una parsimonia incredibile. Si rileggono le stesse parti all'infinito con una noia incredibile, che invoglia quasi a saltare le pagine, tanto ci si ritrova sempre allo stesso punto.
Dal punto di vista narrativo è sicuramente il peggior giallo che io abbia mai letto.

ninaviivi's review against another edition

challenging mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

2.5

nettelou's review against another edition

medium-paced

4.0