Queen The Books

Ellery Queen had just written THE FINISHING STROKE, pretty much the last real Queen novel, whe he turned his attention to what must have become an annual chore, selecting the best stories fro the previous year's crop published in his magazine.

Queen would not publish another novek for years, and when he returned it was under slimy conditions in which hired out hack authors would write his noves for him, a move which brought in some needed revenue but wound up sullying the brand name forever, and muddying what had been an nonorable contributionto detective fiction with a number of not good, not bad books that fairly radiated question marks like wriggling worms.

In the meantime, however, he kept churning out hese anthologies, and this one is one of his best. Stories by John Collier and Ray Bradbury remind us that EQMM was not all about who killed Colonel Mustard with a knife in the pantry; there was always room for fantasy, the baroquer the better. Clayton Rawson's "Miracles--All in a Day's Work" is sort of an average story, but who can resist the "Great Merlini" once he starts wih the mystification? Queen had a weakness for the literary so he made a big deal about having a story by THE Somerset Maugham, yawn, and I ever understood exactly why Stanley Ellis is supposed to be so great. (Maybe it was the austere "only one story a year" thing, very modernist.)

Queen saves the best for last, literally, and the fina four stories are each one famtastic. "Then They Come Running" is by the too little remembered Herbert Brean, a thoroughly worked up private eye story of a missing husband in a John Cheever cul de sac. William E. Barrett, who wrote THE LILIES OF THE FIELD, here contributes a story called "The Lady or the Murderer?" (sort of the stupid kind of title that busybody Queen often insisted on renaming the stories he bought) but it's a tough little noir story of a Grace Kelly ice blonde and the man she has her hooks in, the DA who tried her for murder but couldn't secure a conviction. Agatha Christie's famous late story "The Dressmaker's Doll" found its first book publication in EQ's 14th MYSTERY ANNUAL. It's a story that still gives me shivers even to think of it. Finally, Rosemary Gibbons (who?) wrote the best First Story of the Year and it is a genuine heartbreaker with a social twist, a reworking of the notorious Emmett Till case told from a child's point of view with a cold brutality and shock that would do credit to Stephen King. Whatever happened to Rosemary Gibbons, I'll have to look her up now. This one story is worth a hundred Stanley Ellins.

This is NOT a monthly magazine; it's a semi-annual anthology that happens to look like a magazines!

CONTENTS:


Novella
1963 Murder de Luxe Hugh Pentecost
Novelettes
1939 Death on the Air Ngaio Marsh
1937 Goodbye, New York Cornell Woolrich
In the Fog Richard Harding Davis
Short Stories
1936 Crime Without Passion Ben Hecht
1964 C as in Clue Lawrence Treat
1922 The Portrait Aldous Huxley
1961 Cop's Day Off Helen Nielsen
1954 The Thief Who Played Dead Gerald Kersh
1957 Case of the Murderer's Bride Erle Stanley Gardner
1960 A Neat and Tidy Job George Harmon Coxe
1957 Bull in a China Shop C. B. Gilford
1956 A Toy for Jiffy Roy Vickers
The Expense of Justice Leo Tolstoy
1957 Hit-and-Run The Lockridges
1947 Mystery of the Westmacott Bullet Vincent Cornier
1945 Case of the Pinchbeck Locket Eric Ambler
1957 The Six Mistakes Holly Roth
1952 Another Pair of Queens Ellery Queen

This book contains 2 short novels...Counterfeit for Murder by Rex Stout & Volcano in the Mind by Hugh Pentecost. 2 novelets...The House in Goblin Wood by John Dickson Carr & The Missing Sister Case by Ross MacDonald.
13 short stories...
Such a Nice Man by Christianna Brand,
Invitation to a Murder by Josh Pachter,
No Time to Lose by David Ely,
The House of the Shrill Whispers by John Breen,
Golden Tuesday by Celia Fremlin,
Wynken, Blynken and Nod by William Brittain,
Hunting Season by Jerrold Phaon,
Inspector Maigret Thinks by Georges Simenon,
The Last Sassetta by Haskell Barkin,
The Theft of the Satin Jury by Edward Hoch,
The Murderer by Joel Townsley Rogers,
Hong Kong or Whatever by Florence Mayberry,
The Little Spy by Ellery Queen.

Ellery Queen has gathered a bunch of great short mysteries to be enjoyed when you have a spare minute. A must have for any collector of Ellery Queen or any one that likes a quick mystery.

This is a great book of short stories about elves, fairies, and other mythical creatures. It includes some well known stories, and others I haven't found anywhere else. Well done illustrations. A childhood favorite!

everything about of life the Emerald quee

As an elementary school teacher and youth counselor at my church, I'm always in search of books written for girls with a strong heroine. The Gifted Girls books are amongst the better ones out there for this reason. These girls are not physically or mentally stronger. In fact, they are the most unlikely heroines. What makes them strong in the end is their faith. And believe me, their faith will be tested with obstacles they must overcome in these books. Though these books are not produced as beautifully as some books out there, the stories are always entertaining and faith-affirming. In the spirit of paperbacks printed in the 1950s, these books focus on story more than appearance, which matters much more to me. I highly recommend this Emily Cobbs Series about a girl from the 1900s England. Besides being imaginative, this 2-books collection is truly inspiring. Even I enjoyed it, and I am in my thirties.

One day, the emperor's favorite cat (a yellow-colored feline named "Mustard") decides to hide. When the Emperor can't find him, he enacts a "ban" on the color yellow because he is so upset that Mustard is gone. Of course, Mustard isn't gone, on each page you can find the cat hidden amongst the scenery. Great fun for pre-readers as well as early readers as everyone can "search" for Mustard on their own. Be forewarned, after reading this, the little ones will develop a fondness for hide-and seek so they can "be like Mustard!"

This book is for those who are really into this era of high style early English furniture. The scholarship and reseach of many sources not extensivly used before has updated the chronology of this era. This research and the resulting book has laid to rest many earlier misconceptions used to date this furniture. A book that really adds to the knowledge base.

Some may be a bit nervous with this updating but it is based on real reseach and therefore is a good read for those who really love these styles of English furniture.

This had to be the saddest so far of the Plantagenet Saga - even all the earlier story were sad nothing is as sad as Joan of Arc and Katharine of Valois. I did not know that the English was responsible for the death of Joan of Arc. She was surely a remarkable young woman and very important to the French people trying to win the war. Her life and death galvanized the French people. They couldn't lose after her saintly death. Shame on the English!

The second woman was Katharine of Valois who was the widow of Henry the 5th. When Henry died his son Henry (VI) was only nine months old. Katharine was happy being able to take care of the baby King but of course one day as it is with all boy Kings they must go and be trained by men. It made Katharine sad but she had a good friend, the Squire Owen Tudor, who helped her get through it. Of course they fall deeply in love and get secretly married. They are left alone happy for a long time, long enough for them to have 4 children. When it was found out that Owen and Katharine were married, Owen was arrested and the children were taken away and Katharine was sent to a convent, supposedly for her health. She is so broken hearted that she eventually dies the same day that Owen breaks out of prison to come and get her.

I cried for both women, it was so tragic.

Now, the just desserts. The third woman was Eleanor of Gloucester who was married to Henry VI's uncle. He was second to the throne should Henry die without a heir. Eleanor was doing everything in her power to make sure that that was going to happen even going so far as seeking help from a witch and soothsayers. The witch and soothsayers eventually are arrested and the authorities find evidence that someone had hired them to help get rid of the King. It finally comes out that it is Eleanor of Gloucester - thus begins her downfall. All the accompliances are sentenced to death but because Eleanor is "royalty" she is sent away to a castle imprisoned for the rest of her life. Terrible for her because she lived for the intrigue and the Court. Hence, just desserts.

This book was great, it can stand by itself but is better understood as part of the series.