Chapter 31 Explanation of this article and "Country Name" series

It was written by Ellery Queen in 1932. As is well known, Ellery Quinn was three years after Van Dyne.With his debut novel in 1929, he landed in the world of detective novels in the form of a comet.In addition to the two of them, Darcylu Hamet, who is respected as the ancestor of the cruel school, also came out in 1929 with "The Harvest of Blood".That is to say, in this era, American detective novels, which have long followed the footsteps of British novels, began to rise. After Van Dyne's death, Darcylu Hammett also stopped writing.Ellery alone remains active creatively in EQMM Magazine.

In the first ten years, Ellery wrote a set of nine articles in a series of books mainly with country names, plus an article published in a magazine titled "The Door of the Compartment" and originally titled "The Mystery of the Japanese Fan". , a total of ten articles. His works are colorful and unique in style. Compared with the older generation of writers, he is not inferior at all. Therefore, not only has he been loved by the world, but he has also maintained a high standard.His "The Tragedy of Y" and this novel are rated as comparable to Van Dyne's "The Bishop's Murder".Van Dyne once said: "If the structure of a long detective novel is to make readers feel profound and interesting, it is not easy, but Ellery has made an amazing breakthrough in this aspect." His suggestion.

The name Ellery Quinn was, in fact, the pseudonym shared by two cousins, Mambrett Lee and Frederick Danie.Both of them were born in the United States in 1909.Ellery Quinn is one of their clever and sharp detectives, who is quite appreciated by readers.In view of this, the two wrote many works together, such as "The Mystery of French White Powder", and when their masterpiece came out, Ellery Quinn had become a well-known great writer and great detective. Here are the ten famous works of reasoning: 1. The Mystery of the Roman Hat 2. The Mystery of the French White Powder (The Mystery of the Powder in Frankie's Apartment)

3. The mystery of Dutch shoes 4. The Mystery of the Greek Coffin 5. The Mystery of the Egyptian Cross 6. The American Gun Mystery 7. The Secret of the Siamese Twins (The Mystery of the Twins) 8. The Mystery of Chinese Oranges 9. The Mystery of the Spanish Shawl 10. The mystery of the Japanese fan (the door of the compartment) Of the above ten works, the third and fifth works are the most praised.This kind of country name series is not only consistent in the title, but also maintains a high level of excitement in the content, and breaks through the stereotypes of American detective novels.

Ellery's work is similar to Van Dyne's, but this is not plagiarism, but another challenge.A writer without real skills would never dare to make such a bold attempt. It can be seen that Ellery's affirmation of his own writing is also his challenge to his predecessors. These books have a common feature, that is, "challenge the readers".The author provides readers with the key to solving the puzzle before the whole case is over, so that readers can use this to find out the culprit and fight wits with the author.Therefore, his novels must have a reasonable and well-organized structure, and readers must have an immersive feeling.This will not only give readers a sense of participation, but also a wonderful way to create climaxes in the case.Like in this case, from Megara's pipe to the unlabeled blue bottle dropped in the mountain hut, isn't Ellery's reasoning admirable?

Ellery is really extraordinary, not only creating the tension of traditional detective novels, but also creating many different types of characters that are lifelike.Like in this novel, the love between the lovely old police officer and his beloved son; Professor Adori, who is old but has a heart of a child, and the irascible Bonn police officer are all quite humane. The author uses his His brilliant pen not only handles cases with big themes, but also reveals his relaxed and humorous side.This is a breakthrough and an innovation. I believe that this type of mystery novel will have more and more readers.