Lee, Manfred B. 1905–1971
Lee, Manfred B. 1905–1971
(Manfred Bennington Lee, Ellery Queen, a joint pseudonym, Barnaby Ross, a joint pseudonym)
PERSONAL: Original name, Manford Lepofsky; name legally changed; born January 11, 1905, in Brooklyn, NY; died of a heart attack, April 3, 1971, in Roxbury, CT; son of Benjamin and Rebecca (Walerstein) Lepofsky; married Catherine Brinker (a radio actress), 1942; children: Anya L. Kelegian, Jacquelin L. Steinfield, Patricia L. Caldwell, Christopher Rebecca (daughter), Anthony Joseph, Manfred B., Jr., Rand B., Jeffrey R. Education: New York University, B.S., 1925. Hobbies and other interests: Stamp collecting, classical music.
CAREER: Writer and editor. Between 1925 and 1931, Lee worked for various motion picture companies as publicity man and advertising copywriter; full-time writer and editor, 1931–71. Lecture tours with Frederic Dannay, 1933–34; solo lecture tours, 1961–62. Roxbury, CT, justice of the peace, 1957–58; Roxbury Library Board, 1958–71.
MEMBER: Mystery Writers of America (co-founder and co-president, with Frederic Dannay), Crime Writers' Association (London, England), New York University Club.
AWARDS, HONORS: Mystery Writers of America, Edgar Allan Poe Annual Award, 1945, for best radio program, 1947, for outstanding contribution in the field of the mystery short story, 1949, to Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, for outstanding contribution in the field of the mystery short story; Special Book Award, 1951, Grand Master Award, 1960; Pocket Books, Silver Gertrude (signifying membership in Million Copy Club), Gold Gertrude (signifying membership in Five Million Copy Club); American Red Cross citation for outstanding national service, 1945; National War Fund citation for meritorious service, 1945; Youth Oscar Award, Youth United, 1949, as distinguished ex-Brooklynite; TV Guide Gold Medal Award, 1950, to the Ellery Queen TV series as "Mystery Show of the Year": Ellery Queen ranked third in Gallup Poll of Best Mystery Writers of All Time, 1950; Ellery Queen was ranked, in an international poll of experts, among the ten best active mystery writers, 1951; True magazine citation to Ellery Queen TV series, 1952; Edgar Allan Poe Ring, Mystery Writers of Japan, 1956; Grand Prix de Litterature Policiere, 1978, for And On the Eighth Day.
WRITINGS:
ALL WITH FREDERIC DANNAY UNDER JOINT PSEUDONYM ELLERY QUEEN; NOVELS
The Roman Hat Mystery, Stokes (New York, NY), 1929, reprinted, Mysterious Press (New York, NY), 1979.
The French Powder Mystery, Stokes (New York, NY), 1930.
The Dutch Shoe Mystery, Stokes (New York, NY), 1931.
The Greek Coffin Mystery, Stokes (New York, NY), 1932.
The Egyptian Cross Mystery, Stokes (New York, NY), 1932.
The American Gun Mystery, Stokes (New York, NY), 1933, reprinted, Ballantine, 1979, reprinted as Death at the Rodeo: The American Gun Mystery, J. Curley (South Yarmouth, MA), 1986.
The Siamese Twin Mystery, Stokes (New York, NY), 1933, reprinted, New American Library (New York, NY), 1979.
The Chinese Orange Mystery, Stokes (New York, NY), 1934.
The Spanish Cape Mystery, Stokes (New York, NY), 1935, reprinted, New American Library (New York, NY), 1979.
Halfway House, Stokes (New York, NY), 1936.
The Door Between, Stokes (New York, NY), 1937, reprinted, New American Library (New York, NY) 1979.
The Devil to Pay, Stokes (New York, NY), 1938, reprinted, New American Library (New York, NY), 1979.
The Four of Hearts, Stokes (New York, NY), 1938.
The Dragon's Teeth, Stokes (New York, NY), 1939.
Calamity Town, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1942.
There Was an Old Woman, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1943.
The Murderer Is a Fox, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1945, reprinted, Ballantine, 1976.
Ten Days' Wonder, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1948.
Cat of Many Tails, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1949.
Double, Double, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1950, reprinted, Ballantine, 1976.
The Origin of Evil, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1951.
The King Is Dead, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1952.
The Scarlet Letters, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1953.
The Glass Village, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1954.
Inspector Queen's Own Case, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1956.
The Finishing Stroke, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1958.
The Player on the Other Side, Random House (New York, NY), 1963.
And On the Eighth Day, Random House (New York, NY), 1964.
The Fourth Side of the Triangle, Random House (New York, NY), 1965.
A Study in Terror, Lancer Books (New York, NY), 1966.
Face to Face, New American Library (New York, NY), 1967.
The House of Brass, New American Library (New York, NY), 1968.
Cop Out, World Publishing (New York, NY), 1969.
The Last Woman in His Life, World Publishing (New York, NY), 1970.
A Fine and Private Place, World Publishing (New York, NY), 1971.
OMNIBUS VOLUMES
The Ellery Queen Omnibus (contains The French Powder Mystery, The Dutch Shoe Mystery, and The Greek Coffin Mystery), Gollancz (England), 1934.
The Ellery Queen Omnibus (contains The Roman Hat Mystery, The French Powder Mystery, and The Egyptian Cross Mystery), Grosset (New York, NY), 1936.
Ellery Queen's Big Book (contains The Siamese Twin Mystery and The Greek Coffin Mystery), Grosset (New York, NY), 1938.
Ellery Queen's Adventure Omnibus (contains The Adventures of Ellery Queen and The New Adventures of Ellery Queen), Grosset (New York, NY), 1941.
Ellery Queen's Mystery Parade (contains The Greek Coffin Mystery and The Siamese Twin Mystery), World Publishing (New York, NY), 1944.
The Case Book of Ellery Queen (contains The Adventures of Ellery Queen and The New Adventures of Ellery Queen), Gollancz (England), 1949.
The Wrightsville Murders (contains Calamity Town, The Murderer Is a Fox, and Ten Days' Wonder), Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1956.
The Hollywood Murders (contains The Devil to Pay, The Four of Hearts, and The Origin of Evil, Lippincott (Philadelphia, PA), 1957.
The New York Murders (contains Cat of Many Tails, The Scarlet Letters, and The American Gun Mystery), Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1958.
The XYZ Murders (contains The Tragedy of X, The Tragedy of Y, and The Tragedy of Z; also see below), Lippincott (Philadelphia, PA), 1961.
The Bizarre Murders (contains The Siamese Twin Mystery, The Chinese Orange Mystery, and The Spanish Cape Mystery), Lippincott (Philadelphia, PA), 1962.
(Editor, with Eleanor Sullivan) The Omnibus of Modern Crime Stories, Robinson Publishing (London, England), 1991.
SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS
The Adventures of Ellery Queen, Stokes (New York, NY), 1934.
The New Adventures of Ellery Queen, Stokes (New York, NY), 1940.
The Case Book of Ellery Queen, Bestseller 1945.
Calendar of Crime, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1952.
QBI: Queen's Bureau of Investigation, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1955.
Queens Full, Random House (New York, NY), 1965.
QED: Queen's Experiments in Detection, New American Library (New York, NY), 1968.
The Supersleuths Revisited, Davis (New York, NY), 1979.
More from the Sixties, Davis Publications (New York, NY), 1979.
Choice Cuts, Davis (New York, NY), 1979.
The Seventies, Davis (New York, NY), 1979.
The Grand Masters Up To Date, Davis (New York, NY), 1979.
Circumstantial Evidence, Davis (New York, NY), 1980.
Ellery Queen's Crime Cruise around the World: 26 Stories from Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Dial Press (New York, NY), 1981.
Ellery Queen's Circumstantial Evidence: Anthology Two, J. Curley (South Yarmouth, MA), 1987.
Ellery Queen's Secrets of Mystery: Anthology Two, J. Curley (South Yarmouth, MA), 1987.
Ellery Queen's Crime Cruise around the World: Anthology Two, Curley (South Yarmouth, MA), 1989.
Ellery Queen's Eyes of Mystery: Anthology Two, Curley (South Yarmouth, MA), 1990.
Ellery Queen's More Eyewitnesses, Curley (South Yarmouth, MA), 1991.
Ellery Queen's Other Faces of Mystery, Curley Large Print (Hampton, NH), 1994.
The Tragedy of Errors and Others (includes essays by others), Crippen & Landru (Norfolk, VA), 1999.
Also author of the following uncollected short stories: "Terror Town," 1957; "Wedding Anniversary," 1967; "Uncle from Australia," 1967; "The Three Students," 1971; "The Odd Man," 1971; and "The Honest Swindler," 1971.
PLAYS
The Adventure of the Murdered Moths and Other Radio Mysteries, Crippen & Landru (Norfolk, VA), 2005.
Numerous individual radio plays include, Danger, Men Working, 1936; The Adventure of the Frightened Star, 1942; The Adventure of the Meanest Man in the World, 1942; The Adventure of the Good Samaritan, 1942; The Adventure of the Mark of Cain, 1942; The Adventure of the Fire Bug, 1943; The Adventure of the Man Who Could Double the Size of Diamonds, 1943; The Adventure of the Blind Bullet, 1943; The Adventure of the One-Legged Man, 1943; The Adventure of the Wounded Lieutenant, 1944; The Disappearance of Mr. James Phillimore, 1944; Ellery Queen, Swindler, 1945; The Double Triangle, 1945; The Invisible Clue, 1945; The Adventure of the Murdered Ship, 1946; The Adventure of the Curious Thefts, 1946; The Adventure of the Mouse's Blood, 1947; The Adventure of the Last Man Club, 1968; and The Adventure of the Murdered Millionaire, 1968.
NONFICTION BOOKS ABOUT THE MYSTERY GENRE
The Detective Short Story: A Bibliography, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1942, reprinted, Biblo & Tannen, 1969.
Queen's Quorum: A History of the Detective-Crime Short Story as Revealed by the 106 Most Important Books Published in This Field since 1845, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1951, new edition, Biblo & Tannen, 1969.
In the Queen's Parlor, and Other Leaves from the Editor's Notebook (criticism), Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1957, reprinted, Biblo & Tannen, 1969.
NONFICTION BOOKS OF TRUE CRIME
Ellery Queen's International Case Book, Dell (New York, NY) 1964.
The Woman in the Case, 1966 published as Deadlier than the Male, Bantam (New York, NY), 1966.
EDITOR OF ANTHOLOGIES; WITH FREDERIC DANNAY; ALL UNDER PSEUDONYM ELLERY QUEEN
Challenge to the Reader, Stokes (New York, NY), 1938.
101 Years' Entertainment: The Great Detective Stories, 1841–1941, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1941.
Sporting Blood: The Great Sports Detective Stories, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1942, published in England as Sporting Detective Stories, Faber (London, England), 1946.
The Female of the Species: The Great Women Detectives and Criminals, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1943, published in England as Ladies in Crime: A Collection of Detective Stories by English and American Writers, Faber (London, England), 1947.
The Misadventures of Sherlock Holmes, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1944.
Best Stories from Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Detective Book Club, 1944.
Dashiell Hammett, The Adventures of Sam Spade and Other Stories, Spivak (New York, NY), 1944, published as They Can Only Hang You Once, Spivak (New York, NY), 1949, published as part of A Man Called Spade, Dell (New York, NY), 1945.
Rogues' Gallery: The Great Criminals of Modern Fiction, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1945.
Dashiell Hammett, The Continental Op, Spivak (New York, NY), 1945.
Dashiell Hammett, The Return of the Continental Op, Spivak (New York, NY), 1945.
Dashiell Hammett, Hammett Homicides, Spivak (New York, NY), 1946.
To the Queen's Taste: The First Supplement to 101 Years' Entertainment, Consisting of the Best Stories Published in the First Five Years of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1946.
Murder by Experts, Ziff-Davis Publications (New York, NY), 1947.
Dashiell Hammett, Dead Yellow Women, Spivak (New York, NY), 1947.
Stuart Palmer, The Riddles of Hildegarde Withers, Spivak (New York, NY), 1947.
John Dickson Carr, Dr. Fell, Detective, and Other Stories, Spivak (New York, NY), 1947.
Roy Vickers, The Department of Dead Ends, Spivak (New York, NY), 1947.
Margery Allingham, The Case Book of Mr. Campion, Spivak (New York, NY), 1947.
Dashiell Hammett, Nightmare Town, Spivak (New York, NY), 1948.
O. Henry, Cops and Robbers, Spivak (New York, NY), 1948.
20th Century Detective Stories, World Publishing (New York, NY), 1948, 2nd edition, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1964.
Dashiell Hammett, The Creeping Siamese, Spivak (New York, NY), 1950.
Stuart Palmer, The Monkey Murder and Other Hildegarde Withers Stories, Spivak (New York, NY), 1950.
The Literature of Crime: Stories by World-Famous Authors, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1950, published as Ellery Queen's Book of Mystery Stories, Pan, 1957.
Dashiell Hammett, Woman in the Dark, Spivak (New York, NY), 1952.
Dashiell Hammett, A Man Named Thin and Other Stories, Spivak (New York, NY), 1962.
Ellery Queen's 12, Dell (New York, NY), 1964.
Ellery Queen's Lethal Black Book, Dell (New York, NY), 1965.
Poetic Justice: 23 Stories of Crime, Mystery, and Detection by World-Famous Poets from Geoffrey Chaucer to Dylan Thomas, New American Library (New York, NY), 1967.
Erle Stanley Gardner, The Case of the Murderer's Bride and Other Stories, Davis (New York, NY), 1969.
Minimysteries: 70 Short-Short Stories of Crime, Mystery, and Detection, World Publishing (New York, NY), 1969.
Ellery Queen's Murder—in Spades!, Pyramid (New York, NY), 1969.
Ellery Queen's Shoot the Works!, Pyramid (New York, NY), 1969.
Ellery Queen's Mystery Jackpot, Pyramid (New York, NY), 1970.
Lawrence Treat, P as in Police, Davis (New York, NY), 1970.
The Golden 13: 13 First Prize Winners from Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, World Publishing (New York, NY), 1971.
Edward D. Hoch, The Spy and the Thief, Davis (New York, NY), 1971.
Ellery Queen's Best Bets, Pyramid (New York, NY), 1972.
Michael Gilbert, Amateur in Violence, Davis (New York, NY), 1973.
Stanley Ellin, Kindly Dig Your Grave and Other Stories, Davis (New York, NY), 1975.
Julian Symons, How to Trap a Crook and 12 Other Mysteries, Davis (New York, NY), 1977.
Japanese Golden Dozen: The Detective Story World in Japan, Charles Tuttle (Rutland, VT), 1978.
Secrets of Mystery, Davis (New York, NY), 1979.
Eyes of Mystery, Davis (New York, NY), 1981.
Eyewitnesses, Davis (New York, NY), 1982.
Maze of Mysteries, Davis (New York, NY), 1982.
EDITOR OF "ANNUAL MYSTERY ANTHOLOGY" SERIES; WITH FREDERIC DANNAY; ALL UNDER PSEUDONYM ELLERY QUEEN
Ellery Queen's 1960 Anthology, Davis (New York, NY), 1959.
Ellery Queen's 1961 Anthology, Davis (New York, NY), 1960.
Ellery Queen's 1962 Anthology, Davis (New York, NY), 1961.
Ellery Queen's 1963 Anthology, Davis (New York, NY), 1962.
Ellery Queen's 1964 Anthology, Davis (New York, NY), 1963.
Ellery Queen's 1964 Anthology, Mid-Year Edition, Davis (New York, NY), 1963.
Ellery Queen's 1965 Anthology, Davis (New York, NY), 1964.
Ellery Queen's 1965 Anthology, Mid-Year Edition, Davis (New York, NY), 1964.
Ellery Queen's 1966 Anthology, Davis (New York, NY), 1965.
Ellery Queen's 1966 Anthology, Mid-Year Edition, Davis (New York, NY), 1965.
Ellery Queen's 1967 Anthology, Davis (New York, NY), 1966.
Ellery Queen's 1967 Anthology, Mid-Year Edition, Davis (New York, NY), 1966.
Ellery Queen's 1968 Anthology, Davis (New York, NY), 1967.
Ellery Queen's 1968 Anthology, Mid-Year Edition, Davis (New York, NY), 1967.
Ellery Queen's 1969 Anthology, Davis (New York, NY), 1968.
Ellery Queen's 1969 Anthology, Mid-Year Edition, Davis (New York, NY), 1968.
Ellery Queen's 1970 Anthology, Davis (New York, NY), 1969.
Ellery Queen's 1970 Anthology, Mid-Year Edition, Davis (New York, NY), 1969.
Ellery Queen's 1971 Anthology, Davis (New York, NY), 1970.
Ellery Queen's 1971 Anthology, Mid-Year Edition, Davis (New York, NY), 1970.
Ellery Queen's 1972 Anthology, Davis (New York, NY), 1971.
Ellery Queen's 1972 Anthology, Spring-Summer Edition, Davis (New York, NY), 1971.
Ellery Queen's 1972 Anthology, Fall-Winter Edition, Davis (New York, NY), 1971.
Ellery Queen's 1973 Anthology, Spring-Summer Edition, Davis (New York, NY), 1972.
Ellery Queen's 1973 Anthology, Fall-Winter Edition, Davis (New York, NY), 1972.
Ellery Queen's 1974 Anthology, Spring-Summer Edition, Davis (New York, NY), 1973.
Ellery Queen's 1974 Anthology, Fall-Winter Edition, Davis (New York, NY), 1973.
Christmas Hamper, Davis (New York, NY), 1974.
Aces of Mystery, Davis (New York, NY), 1975.
Masters of Mystery, Davis (New York, NY), 1975.
Giants of Mystery, Davis (New York, NY), 1976.
Magicians of Mystery, Davis (New York, NY), 1976.
Champions of Mystery, Davis (New York, NY), 1977.
Faces of Mystery, Davis (New York, NY), 1977.
Who's Who of Whodunits, Davis (New York, NY), 1977.
Masks of Mystery, Davis (New York, NY), 1977.
Napoleons of Mystery, Davis (New York, NY), 1978.
The Supersleuths, Davis (New York, NY), 1978.
Wings of Mystery, Davis (New York, NY), 1979.
Scenes of the Crime, Davis (New York, NY), 1979.
Veils of Mystery, Davis (New York, NY), 1980.
Windows of Mystery, Davis (New York, NY), 1980.
Doors to Mystery, Davis (New York, NY), 1981.
EDITOR OF "QUEEN'S AWARDS" SERIES; WITH FREDERIC DANNAY; ALL UNDER PSEUDONYM ELLERY QUEEN
The Queen's Awards, 1946, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1946.
The Queen's Awards, 1947, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1947.
The Queen's Awards, 1948, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1948.
The Queen's Awards, 1949, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1949.
The Queen's Awards, Fifth Series, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1950.
The Queen's Awards, Sixth Series, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1951.
The Queen's Awards, Seventh Series, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1952.
The Queen's Awards, Eighth Series, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1953.
Ellery Queen's Awards, Ninth Series, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1954.
The Queen's Awards, Tenth Series, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1955.
The Queen's Awards, Eleventh Series, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1956.
The Queen's Awards, Twelfth Series, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1957.
The Queen's Awards, Thirteenth Annual, Random House (New York, NY), 1958, published in England as Ellery Queen's Choice: Thirteenth Series, Collins (London, England), 1960.
The Queen's Awards, 14th Mystery Annual, Random House (New York, NY), 1960, published in England as Ellery Queen's Choice: Fourteenth Series, Collins (London, England), 1961.
The Queen's Awards, 15th Mystery Annual, Random House (New York, NY), 1960.
The Queen's Awards, 16th Mystery Annual, Random House (New York, NY), 1961.
To Be Read before Midnight, Random House (New York, NY), 1962.
Ellery Queen's Mystery Mix #18, Random House (New York, NY), 1963.
The Queen's Awards Double Dozen, Random House (New York, NY), 1964, published in England as Ellery Queen's 19th Mystery Annual, Gollancz (London, England), 1965.
The Queen's Awards 20th Anniversary Annual, Random House (New York, NY), 1965.
The Queen's Awards Crime Carousel, New American Library (New York, NY), 1966.
The Queen's Awards All-Star Line-up, New American Library (New York, NY), 1967.
The Queen's Awards Mystery Parade, New American Library (New York, NY), 1968.
The Queen's Awards Murder Menu, World Publishing (New York, NY), 1969.
The Queen's Awards Grand Slam, World Publishing (New York, NY), 1970.
The Queen's Awards Headliners, World Publishing (New York, NY), 1971.
The Queen's Awards Mystery Bag, World Publishing (New York, NY), 1973.
Crookbook, Random House (New York, NY), 1975.
Crime Wave, Putnam (New York, NY), 1976.
Searches and Seizures, Davis (New York, NY), 1977.
A Multitude of Sins, Davis (New York, NY), 1978.
WITH FREDERIC DANNAY, UNDER JOINT PSEUDONYM BARNABY ROSS; NOVELS
The Tragedy of X, Viking (New York, NY), 1932, reissued under pseudonym Ellery Queen, Stokes (New York, NY), 1940.
The Tragedy of Y, Viking (New York, NY), 1932, reissued under pseudonym Ellery Queen, Stokes (New York, NY), 1941.
The Tragedy of Z, Viking (New York, NY), 1933, reissued under pseudonym Ellery Queen, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1942.
Drury Lane's Last Case, Viking (New York, NY), 1933, reissued under pseudonym Ellery Queen, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1946.
OTHER
The Adventures of Ellery Queen (radio scripts), 1939–48.
(With Eric Taylor) Ellery Queen, Master Detective (screenplay), 1940.
(Editor) Amazing Adventures of Lester Leith, J. Curley and Associates (South Yarmouth, MA), 1980.
Ellery Queen: Five Complete Novels, Avanel Books (New York, NY), 1982.
(Editor, with Eleanor Sullivan) Ellery Queen's Book of First Appearances, Davis (New York, NY), 1982.
(Editor, with Eleanor Sullivan) Ellery Queen's Lost Ladies, Dial (New York, NY), 1983.
The Best of Ellery Queen, Hale (London, England), 1983.
(Editor, with Eleanor Sullivan) Lost Men, Dial (New York, NY), 1983.
(Editor, with Eleanor Sullivan) Prime Crimes, Dial (New York, NY), 1984.
Ellery Queen's Crimes and Punishments, edited by Eleanor Sullivan and Karen A. Price, Dial (New York, NY), 1984.
Ellery Queen's Memorable Characters: Stories Collected from Issues of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, edited by Eleanor Sullivan and Karen A. Price, Dial (New York, NY), 1984.
The Best of Ellery Queen: Four Decades of Stories from the Mystery Masters, edited by Francis M. Nevins, Jr. and Martin H. Greenberg, Beaufort Books (New York, NY), 1985.
Ellery Queen's More Lost Ladies and Lost Men: Anthology One, edited by Eleanor Sullivan, J. Curley, 1989.
(Editor) Six of the Best: Short Novels by Masters of Mystery, Carroll & Graf Publishers (New York, NY), 1989.
Coauthor with Frederic Dannay under joint pseudonym Ellery Queen of short stories and articles for numerous magazines, including Cosmopolitan, Playboy, Argosy, Saturday Evening Post, Today's Family, and Redbook. Coeditor with Frederick Dannay under joint pseudonym Ellery Queen, Mystery League, 1933–34, and Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, 1941–71. Editor of "Ellery Queen's Anthology" series; with Frederic Dannay; all under pseudonym Ellery Queen; published in magazine format by Davis Publications, 1959–71.
ADAPTATIONS: Many Ellery Queen novels have been adapted for film and television.
SIDELIGHTS: Manfred B. Lee, Jr. wrote under the name Ellery Queen with his cousin, Frederic Dannay. Ellery Queen is a prominent name in the detective/mystery genre as author, anthologist, and founder of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. Writing in the National Review, S.T. Karnick noted that Queen "set the standard and form of the modern American crime story."
Ellery Queen was created in 1929 when Lee and Dannay wrote a mystery novel for a writing contest. They used the name Ellery Queen for the novel's protagonist, a clever young detective, as well as for their own pseudonym, reasoning that the public would more easily remember the name if it were used twice. Although their novel, The Roman Hat Mystery, did not win the contest, the firm of Frederick A. Stokes accepted it for publication. It sold well, and what Francis M. Nevins, Jr., writing in his book titled Royal Bloodline: Ellery Queen, Author and Detective, called "the most successful collaboration in the history of prose fiction" was on its way.
The Queen novels of the 1930s are complex, logically-solved puzzles containing, as Julian Symons noted in Mortal Consequences: A History from the Detective Story to the Crime Novel, "a relentlessly analytical treatment of every possible clue and argument. Judged as exercises in rational deduction," he continued, "these are certainly among the best detective stories ever written." Although praising the deductive complexity of the stories, some critics found these early mysteries too cold, favoring intellectual passions over emotional ones.
Queen's novels after that time had a variety of goals, concerning themselves less strictly with the mystery than did the earlier books. The Glass Village, for instance, is a political statement against the McCarthy witch hunts of the fifties. Calamity Town carefully delineates the varied customs and inhabitants of a small town. Other novels, like Ten Days' Wonder, create what Nevins, Jr. called "a private, topsy-turvy, Alice-in-Wonderland otherworld" in which the mystery is unraveled.
In addition to being successful novelists, Lee and Dannay are also known for their mystery anthologies. In over 100 anthologies, they gathered together not only the best of contemporary mystery fiction (most of which is taken from Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine) but hard-to-find classics of the genre as well. These anthologies have popularized the mystery field while preserving in print historically important examples of the form. Writing in the pamphlet Ellery Queen: A Double Profile, Anthony Boucher noted that "much though we may admire … Queen the writer, it is Queen the editor who is unquestionably immortal."
Another aspect of the Ellery Queen popularity lies in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, the largest-selling mystery magazine in the world, which Lee and Dannay founded in 1941. During a time when many popular fiction magazines have gone out of business, forcing mystery writers to abandon the short story in favor of the novel, Ellery Queen's has published and encouraged short mystery fiction. It has done much to keep the mystery and crime short story alive. "It is not too much to say," Symons wrote, "that the continuation of the crime short story as we know it, like its development during the past twenty years, seems largely dependent upon Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine."
Ellery Queen books have sold some 150,000,000 copies in numerous hardcover and paperback editions in America and abroad. A radio series and three television series have been based on the character and thirteen Queen novels have been made into movies.
The Tragedy of Errors and Others was published in 1999 and includes six uncollected stories by Queen, a synopsis of the last novel by the writing duo, and vari-ous tribute essays. The writing duo of Queen also wrote plays for a successful radio program featuring the fictional Queen. The Adventure of the Murdered Moths and Other Radio Mysteries, published in 2005, is a collection of fourteen radio plays featuring the detective and his cohorts. A Kirkus Reviews contributor commented that the plays "have a pleasantly retro patina, and even the slightest of them will give your brain a workout."
BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:
BOOKS
A Silver Anniversary Tribute to Ellery Queen from Authors, Critics, Editors, and Famous Fans (pamphlet), Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1954.
Barzun, Jacques and Wendell Hertig Taylor, A Catalogue of Crime, Harper (New York, NY), 1971.
Boucher, Anthony, Ellery Queen: A Double Profile (pamphlet), Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1951.
Contemporary Literary Criticism, Gale (Detroit, MI), Volume 3, 1975, Volume 11, 1979.
Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 137: American Magazine Journalists, 1900–1960, Second Series, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1994.
Haycraft, Howard, Murder for Pleasure: The Life and Times of the Detective Story, Appleton-Century (New York, NY), 1941.
Mott, Frank Luther, Golden Multitudes, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1947.
Nevins, Francis M., Jr., Royal Bloodline: Ellery Queen, Author and Detective, Bowling Green University Press (Bowling Green, OH), 1973.
Nevins, Jr., Francis M., and Ray Stanich, The Sound of Detection: Ellery Queen's Adventures in Radio, Brownstone Books (Madison, IN), 1983.
Richmond, John, and Abril Lamarque, Brooklyn, U.S.A., Creative Age Press (New York, NY), 1946.
St. James Guide to Crime & Mystery Writers, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1996.
Symons, Julian, Mortal Consequences: A History from the Detective Story to the Crime Novel, Harper (New York, NY), 1972.
Thomson, Henry Douglas, Masters of Mystery: A Study of the Detective Story, Collins (London, England), 1931.
Twentieth-Century Crime and Mystery Writers, 3rd edition, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1991.
PERIODICALS
Book World, August 18, 1974, review of Ellery Queen's Crookbook, p. 2.
Kirkus Reviews, August 1, 2005, review of The Adventure of the Murdered Moths and Other Radio Mysteries, p. 820.
Library Journal, August 1, 2005, Michael J. Rogers, review of The Adventure of the Murdered Moths and Other Radio Mysteries, p. 134.
National Review, March 6, 2000, S.T. Karnick, "Mystery Men," profile of author, p. 59.
New Republic, November 26, 1977, review of Ellery Queen's Champions of Mystery, p. 37.
New York Times Book Review, October 8, 1967, review of Ellery Queen's Poetic Justice, p. 63.
Observer, October 5, 1975, review of "Death Spins the Platter," p. 23.
Publishers Weekly, December 6, 1999, review of The Tragedy of Errors and Others, p. 57.
Spectator, January 1, 1977, review of Crime Wave, p. 36.
Times Literary Supplement, November 12, 1976, review of Four Men Called John, p. 1437.
Weekly Standard, October 10, 2005, Jon L. Breen, "The Ellery Queen Mystery: Why Is the Corpus No Longer Alive?," p. 41.
ONLINE
Ellery Queen Master Detective, http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/kirkland/266/eq/eqnovs.htm/ (December 1, 2005), "Ellery Queen: Master Detective."