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Ellery Queen |  |
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Frederic Dannay and Manfred Lee |
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The Egyptian Cross Mystery |
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Ellery Queen | |
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Frederic Dannay and Manfred Lee |
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The Egyptian Cross Mystery |
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First hardback published in the USA by Frederick A Stokes Company, 1932. Pocket Books US paperback published 1943.
There are several types of detective novel. Those featuring private investigator Ellery Queen are "solvable by the reader" - so much so that, towards the end, there is a formal "Challenge To The Reader", stating that all the relevant information is now available, and the reader should be able to deduce the full solution of the crime(s) by applying logic. For my taste, this is too much of a gimmick, and, within this sub-genre of crime novels I much prefer the Lord Peter Wimsey stories of Dorothy L Sayers. Ellery Queen the character is also, supposedly, the author - although the story is told in third person, and often relates events not involving that gentleman. Dannay and Lee created Ellery Queen in the 1920s, and the series of novels rapidly became very successful, eventually spawning not just a mystery magazine, short stories, radio drama and TV shows but also an eponymous award by the Mystery Writers of America.
To sum up the story, I may as well quote from the book's introduction:
| The investigation of these appalling murders was one of my friend's last jobs. It is the fifth Ellery Queen case to be presented to the public in fiction form. It is composed of extraordinary elements: a peculiar and unbelievable concoction of ancient religious fanaticisms, a nudist colony, a seafarer, a vendettist from the hotbed of Central European superstition and violence, an oddly mad "reincarnated god" of Pharaonic Egypt . . . on the surface a potpourri of impossible and fantastic ingredients; in actuality the background of one of the most cunning and horrible series of crimes in modern police annals. |
In my view, the story is actually rather better than that sensationalist description might suggest. Even so, some of the ingredients - and some characters and sub-plots - seem to have been introduced as much to distract as to enlighten. The nudism is treated ambiguously. While it is clear that nice people don't go nude in company (a point emphasised when two male characters wear "bathers" to share the pleasures of a private indoor pool), the nudists are regarded as misguided rather than perverse. When the investigators visit the colony, all the residents are covered up, and nudity is only mentioned in accounts of previous visitors. The publishers of the 1960 edition have clearly decided not to bother reading the book, and the blurb piles false sensation upon false sensation:
| The island was a magnet for every seeker of kinky kicks and far-out thrills. A weird bearded prophet had made it the home of a new religion - one that worshipped the sun, called clothing a crime and recognized no vice save that of inhibition. |
In The Egyptian Cross Mystery you'll find no "kinky kicks" or "far-out thrills". If you like pre-WWII detective fiction you'll probably enjoy this book - and you probably know about Ellery Queen already. If not, there's nothing outstanding here to make me urge you to suspend your dislike. I suspect Printer's Error will prove to be a more interesting 1930s detective thriller involving nudism, and the post-war offerings from Richard S Prather, Leslie Charteris, John Ball and Gillian Linscott are all, in my view, superior. These later works all treat nudism/naturism far more fully and interestingly. On the other hand, it is far easier to pick up Ellery Queen books second hand - you pays your money and you takes your choice. Have a look at the extracts to get an idea of the writing style.
| Nudity | Naturist nudity | A good read? |
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Last updated 2003 December 29.
Images Copyright © various authors, photographers, graphic artists, illustrators and publishers.
Other content Copyright © author Tim Forcer
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