Ellery Queen, perhaps as famous as any fictional detective after Sherlock Holmes, was created by cousins Frederic Dannay and Manfred Lee over lunch one day in 1929. This led to more than 40 novels, a film series, a long and convoluted run on radio, and various runs on TV. For an initial $350 fee, Dannay and Lee would write one mystery per week, allowing both the guest armchair detective and radio listeners the opportunity to solve the mystery themselves, before the famous sleuth did.
This new publication includes a detailed account covering the lives of the creators, the how and why they moved llery Queen into radio, and a detailed history of the series during its long run on the airwaves (1939-48). Included in the chapters are reminiscences taken from interviews and correspondence with the creators themselves; with mystery writer and critic Anthony Boucher, who collaborated on more than 70 of the later radio adventures of the master detective; and with three of the actors who played Ellery over the years.
Includes an introduction by Larry Dobkin, who played Ellery Queen for a short time on the radio! Includes a detailed broadcast log with a chart showing various time slots, networks, sponsors, and competition. Brief biographies of cast and production crew. Capsule biographies of more than 350 personalities who appeared on the program as guest armchair detectives. A week-by-week log giving principal actors, announcer, director, composer-conductor, sponsor, script writer(s), plot synopsis, and much more. Appendices covering subjects like the early episodes of The Shadow that Dannay and Lee wrote without credit in order to learn the craft of radio writing, and other Ellery Queen incarnations on the radio.
