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3.14 AVERAGE
3.14 AVERAGE
challenging
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
It felt really slow and I couldn’t connect to the main characters
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Minor: Racism
Found it to be a tad long, but luckily the length was filled with continuous investigation instead of just random plot stuffing. Not as good as Agatha Christie, but a good alternative.
The very first Ellery Queen novel and one of the very best.
As a fan of the old show from the 60s, I was really excited to pick up the Ellery Queen book series! It ran just like the show where you see most everything and there’s the unavoidable moment of panic when the works says, “Well, that’s everything. Who did it?” With its pioneering “fair play” style, it is a gem of the 1920s mystery genre. However, I will say that bear in mind that it was written in a different time. The ending (which I will not give away) dealt with some antiquated beliefs that could easily be offensive now (thank goodness for times changing!) so be warned. Overall a great, cozy read!
The plot, that is to say the actual mystery and detective parts, is pretty good and would be 4 or perhaps even 5 stars.
Unfortunately, the writing is incredibly dated and furthermore not very high quality to begin with. I say this because one can compare it with other old books like Frankenstein or the Sherlock Holmes series and in those the writing quality is better able to surpass the old-fashioned style.
It also meanders quite a bit in places and could probably have been shortened a fair amount.
In summar, although the plot is decent, I'm not sure if I would recommend it to the modern reader and I would hesitate to read another Ellery Queen book.
Unfortunately, the writing is incredibly dated and furthermore not very high quality to begin with. I say this because one can compare it with other old books like Frankenstein or the Sherlock Holmes series and in those the writing quality is better able to surpass the old-fashioned style.
It also meanders quite a bit in places and could probably have been shortened a fair amount.
In summar, although the plot is decent, I'm not sure if I would recommend it to the modern reader and I would hesitate to read another Ellery Queen book.
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
An engaging mystery but the ingrained casual misogyny and racism of the Queen debut was a bit of a surprise. I knew that a book written in the late 1920s would be different in that regard, but to have lengthy passages extolling the way their POC houseboy idolised his massa while repeatedly comparing him physically to a monkey was still hard to stomach. And women casually contemned with almost every mention.
so i’m a bit of a mystery fanatic - i’ve read and reread stories of sherlock holmes, perry mason, and hercule poirot. in fact i grew up being read everything from miss marple to nero wolfe by my dad, making classic detective novels the root of my love for literature. that being said, i realized the other day that there are many famous detectives that i’ve yet to meet! ellery queen, for example, a series which i’ve had on my shelves since i was little, but never touched. i decided to give the queens a shot (instead of rereading old favourites) and picked up the first in the series - the roman hat mystery.
first of all, ellery queen is the biggest prat i’ve ever had the pleasure to encounter. in fact, he’s so pretentious with his literary references that he’s almost likeable to me because it became entertaining. also, in fairness, ellery makes his entrance at the crime scene, annoyed at his father for having pulled him away from buying a first edition while standing over a corpse, so from the get go i pretty much knew what i was getting myself into. that being said, the characterization of the queens is rather vague, with the only concrete facts we learn about them outside of their work being that ellery likes quoting authors (in moderation) and his father likes snuff (in excess). richard queen’s life seems to be his job, and so very little is referenced outside of the case. this was a bit disappointing as a lot of the other crime stories i read have detectives with stronger personalities. i went in with such high expectations of the so-called “king of crime” that this first installment of the series was a letdown, but the crime itself was very new to me and i didn’t predict the denouement, which to me is a win in and of itself! i liked the writing overall - the way in which the crime was set up and how the case was solved - and i’ve also been told that the first novel doesn’t live up to the rest of the ellery queen mysteries, so i’m definitely planning on continuing the series!
first of all, ellery queen is the biggest prat i’ve ever had the pleasure to encounter. in fact, he’s so pretentious with his literary references that he’s almost likeable to me because it became entertaining. also, in fairness, ellery makes his entrance at the crime scene, annoyed at his father for having pulled him away from buying a first edition while standing over a corpse, so from the get go i pretty much knew what i was getting myself into. that being said, the characterization of the queens is rather vague, with the only concrete facts we learn about them outside of their work being that ellery likes quoting authors (in moderation) and his father likes snuff (in excess). richard queen’s life seems to be his job, and so very little is referenced outside of the case. this was a bit disappointing as a lot of the other crime stories i read have detectives with stronger personalities. i went in with such high expectations of the so-called “king of crime” that this first installment of the series was a letdown, but the crime itself was very new to me and i didn’t predict the denouement, which to me is a win in and of itself! i liked the writing overall - the way in which the crime was set up and how the case was solved - and i’ve also been told that the first novel doesn’t live up to the rest of the ellery queen mysteries, so i’m definitely planning on continuing the series!
This father and son team is one of my favourite detective duos. I was really enjoying their dynamic but in the beginning of chapter 13 seeing them fight over the phone cinched it for me. I loved these two together, how different they are in interests and mannerisms and how well they play off each other to get the job done. It was enjoyable to read them taking jabs at each other in jest and even get on each others nerves at points but then to also see the great deal of love and pride they have for each other. And it was great to see the role reversal, in which the lead detective gives the credit to his assistant for unraveling the mystery and solving the case. Even though Ellery is credited as the brains behind solving this baffling case, I really enjoyed the character of Inspector Richard Queen and his methods for handling the case as well as the cast of witnesses and suspects.