Golden Age of Detective Fiction

John Carroll, an estate lawyer, embezzled $20,000 from one of his clients to pay off his brother-in-law’s debts. Fellow partner in the firm Meredith Hunt finds out and tells Carroll he has 48 hours to settle the account or face the police, disbarment, and the ruin of his family.

Hunt is found shot the following day with Carroll’s pistol and their mountains of evidence against him, and he’s one breath away from the electric chair when he finally produces an alibi- he spent the night of the murder with Hunt’s wife, Felicia. There’s a notarized statement alibiing him. However, on the eve of the trial, Felicia is found dead, murdered in her cottage.

The Review

The Case Against Carroll is Ellery Queen at their very best. The evidence against John Carroll is damning, and every time there might be a break in the case in Carroll’s favor, it is snatched brutally away. Ellery Queen masterfully ratchets up the suspense until a super climactic twist ending.

The Case Against Carroll brilliantly used Inspector Queen and Ellery Queen. Inspector Queen, suspicious, dogmatic, and ultimately bound by his duty as a police officer, conflicts with Ellery Queen. He wants to do more to help John Carroll, but eventually, the case is out of his hands.

Inspector Queen hopes that Ellery Queen has more freedom as a private investigator and a better aptitude for solving impossible cases and is dismayed when Ellery solves the case. Still, after talking to John Carroll in his jail cell, he does not reveal what he knows.

As the minutes tick down to Carroll’s execution, an explosive and heartbreaking conversation happens between father and son. Inspector Queen pleads with his son to tell what he knows to the governor before it’s too late, and Ellery breaks his vow of silence to John Carroll.

The Case Against Carroll pits the limits of their professions and puts their different moral dilemmas at the fore, leaving the reader to wonder if this will be the case that causes them to bend or break.

The Case Against Carroll has a perfect twist ending that serves the story well and made me want to re-read it once the mystery has been recontextualized.

There are a lot of good elements to the story: a disabled wife with good characterization, well-drawn supporters of John Carroll, and the hope and goodwill of his friends, which slowly turns to fear and despair during the thorough police investigation and the agonizing trial.

The Case Against Carroll is a fantastic starting point for readers who haven’t read Ellery Queen mysteries before and is captivating for diehard fans.

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.