Golden Age of Detective Fiction

Scutney Bluefield acquires the empty Bijou theatre in Wrightsville with plans to breathe new life into it. He spearheads the production of The Death of Don Juan and enlists washed-up Equity actor Mark Manson for the lead role. However, Manson sustains an injury, prompting a frantic search for a replacement. Enter Foster Benedict, known for his penchant for alcohol and young women. Benedict’s performance deviates wildly from the script, including inappropriate advances towards the leading lady, Joan Truslow. Just as the second act is about to commence, Benedict is found stabbed in his dressing room. As he dies, he is asked by Ellery Queen who his killer is, and he fingers Joan Truslow with his cryptic last words.

The Review

I loved this short story! It had fleshed-out characters, lots of slapstick, and broad humor throughout the mystery. Scutney Bluefield is the definition of a man with more money than brains, and when he buys the Bijou theatre to put on his pet project, The Death of Don Juan, he is beset by problem after problem—mostly of his own making.

Mark Manson and his reputation add an air of respectability to this slap-dash community theatre play. Still, when he’s out of the production, Foster Benedict, famous lech, oozes into the theater minutes before his first line. Despite the casting issues, the play had been going well, but Benedict plays his character for full-bodied laughs and openly gropes his leading lady on stage.

After Benedict is found stabbed, many believe Truslow killed him in a fit of revenge for a failed love affair when she was a teen. Ellery Queen is Johnny on the spot, being in town and watching the production, and is asked to investigate.

Queen interrogates the players and uncovers that many of them, including Truslow and her hot-tempered, on-and-off-off-again boyfriend, have had a bad past with the unsavory Benedict. However, they are exonerated by the Queen’s meticulous reconstruction of the timeline and teeth marks on the knife, which don’t match their bite.

To catch this killer, Queen leaves Truslow alone on stage as bait for the killer to murder until he springs his trap.

It’s a fun romp that motors along quickly with delightful characters. The killer is a little apparent, but the whole mystery is entertaining. This is good if you want to dip your toes in the Ellery Queen short story genre.

Ellery Queen Detective Series Reviews

Ellery Queen Detective # 9: The Spanish Cape Mystery (1935)

Ellery Queen Biography

Ellery Queen is the pseudonym of Frederic Dannay and Manfred Lee. They created the character of Ellery Queen, a mystery writer and amateur detective, who featured in many of their novels.

Frederic Dannay (1905–1982) was born Daniel Nathan, and Manfred Lee (1905–1971) was born Emanuel Benjamin Lepofsky. They adopted the joint pseudonym Ellery Queen in 1929 when they began writing together. They also created a character within their stories named Ellery Queen, who was a mystery writer and amateur detective.

Under the pen name of Ellery Queen, Dannay and Lee wrote numerous novels, short stories, and radio plays. Their works were known for their intricate plots, clever puzzles, and fair play clueing. The Ellery Queen mysteries became immensely popular, and the character of Ellery Queen became iconic in the genre of detective fiction.

Outside of their collaborative work as Ellery Queen, Frederic Dannay and Manfred Lee were also involved in editing mystery anthologies and promoting the genre. They were instrumental in founding and editing Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, which remains a respected publication in the mystery genre to this day.