The Roman Hat Mystery by Ellery Queen is the debut novel in the series, featuring the detective Ellery Queen and his father, Inspector Queen. The story revolves around the murder of a sleazy lawyer, Monte Field, during a Broadway show at the Roman Theater. The setting in the 1920s, the missing top hat of the victim, and the intricate plot involving various suspects from the theater's audience and cast create a classic mystery atmosphere. The book is known for its fair play approach, providing readers with all the clues needed to solve the murder before the big reveal, along with Ellery Queen's signature Challenge to the Reader.
The writing style of The Roman Hat Mystery is described as reflective of its time, with elements that may be considered dated by modern standards, such as racial references and character portrayals. The authors, Dannay and Lee, were still honing their craft when they wrote this novel, evident in the detailed list of characters, theater map, and the Challenge to the Reader included in the foreword. Despite some criticisms of the plot's memorability and character development, the book offers an engaging mystery that showcases Ellery Queen's logical deduction skills and sets the stage for the series to come.
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The book contains outdated depictions and references to race, class, and gender issues that may be considered offensive by contemporary readers.
From The Publisher:
A murder in a crowded Broadway theater presents a full house of suspects-the first in this classic mystery series starring Ellery Queen! Despite the dismal Broadway season, Gunplay continues to draw crowds. A gangland spectacle, it's packed to the gills with action, explosions, and gunfire. In fact, Gunplay is so loud that no one notices the killing of Monte Field. In a sold-out theater, Field is found dead partway through the second act, surrounded by empty seats. The police hold the crowd and call for the one man who can untangle this daring murder: Inspector Richard Queen. With the help of his son Ellery, a bibliophile and novelist whose imagination can solve any crime, the Inspector attacks this seemingly impenetrable mystery. Anyone in the theater could have killed the unscrupulous lawyer, and several had the motive. Only Ellery Queen, in his debut novel, can decipher the clue of the dead man's missing top hat.
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About the Author:
Ellery Queen was a pen name created and shared by two cousins, Frederic Dannay (1905-1982) and Manfred B. Lee (1905-1971), as well as the name of their most famous detective. Born in Brooklyn, they spent forty-two years writing, editing, and anthologizing under the name, gaining a reputation as the foremost American authors of the Golden Age "fair play" mystery. Although eventually famous on television and radio, Queen's first appearance came in 1928, when the cousins won a mystery-writing contest with the book that would eventually be published as The Roman Hat Mystery. Their character was an amateur detective who uses his spare time to assist his police inspector uncle in solving baffling crimes. Besides writing the Queen novels, Dannay and Lee cofounded Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, one of the most influential crime publications of all time. Although Dannay outlived his cousin by nine years, he retired Queen upon Lee's death.
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