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3.14 AVERAGE
3.14 AVERAGE
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!
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!
Horrifically racist twist that comes out of nowhere in the last few pages, and no, that's not just "of its time "
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
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.
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.
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
medium-paced
The one that started it all for the Queens. Solid whodunnit.
I picked this up because I have been watching the Ellery Queen television series with Jim Hutton and David Wayne, and I used to read and buy Ellery Queen novels back when I was a teenager. (Right now, the only one I own is the excellent [b:Cat of Many Tails|1951436|Cat of Many Tails (Ellery Queen Detective, #20)|Ellery Queen|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1292842622l/1951436._SY75_.jpg|2458721].) It's possible I have read this before, but it's been decades.
What struck me with this debut novel was how strongly the emphasis was on Inspector Queen, not Ellery. Our murder occurs during a Broadway play, and the first third of the book covers the hours immediately following the discovery of the death, with Inspector Queen marshalling a ton of detectives to interrogate and investigate. It reads almost like a procedural instead of a whodunit. And that focus continues straight to the end, where the Inspector delivers the final exposition on the who, how, and why. Ellery does much of the deduction, but he's much less central than his father, and I was disappointed as a result.
The mystery was good, but not stellar, and there are a few notes that can be off-putting to the modern reader. (There's some discussion of "negroid blood", and I'm not sure what to make of Djuna, the Queen's boy servant.) I found it mostly enjoyable, but I don't feel the need to keep on making the nostalgia trip.
What struck me with this debut novel was how strongly the emphasis was on Inspector Queen, not Ellery. Our murder occurs during a Broadway play, and the first third of the book covers the hours immediately following the discovery of the death, with Inspector Queen marshalling a ton of detectives to interrogate and investigate. It reads almost like a procedural instead of a whodunit. And that focus continues straight to the end, where the Inspector delivers the final exposition on the who, how, and why. Ellery does much of the deduction, but he's much less central than his father, and I was disappointed as a result.
The mystery was good, but not stellar, and there are a few notes that can be off-putting to the modern reader. (There's some discussion of "negroid blood", and I'm not sure what to make of Djuna, the Queen's boy servant.) I found it mostly enjoyable, but I don't feel the need to keep on making the nostalgia trip.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The first novel in the Ellery Queen series written by cousins Frederic Dannay and Manfred B. Lee. Ellery is an amateur detective who is fixated on books and bookstores and who, on occasion, assists his father, a police inspector, in solving complex crimes. Published in 1929, this novel reflects the culture of the 1920s and the reason for the crime has to be considered in light of that fact. A hit Broadway show, Gunplay, is the setting for the murder of Monte Field. Becasue of the explosions and gunfire contained in the play, no one in the audience notices the murder until someone literally stumbles over Field. The only clue is the ded man's missing top hat. Ellery to the rescue.