Ellery Queen

Ellery Queen was the shared pseudonym of American cousins Frederic Dannay and Manfred Bennington Lee, who became one of the most influential writing teams in the history of detective fiction.

They created the character Ellery Queen, an amateur detective and mystery writer who investigates crimes alongside his father, Inspector Richard Queen of the New York City Police Department. The series began with The Roman Hat Mystery in 1929 and continued for several decades.

Among their best-known novels are The French Powder Mystery, The Dutch Shoe Mystery, The Greek Coffin Mystery, The Egyptian Cross Mystery, and The Chinese Orange Mystery. Their early books became particularly famous for complex puzzles, carefully planted clues, and “challenge to the reader” endings that invited readers to solve the mystery before the final revelation.

Beyond the novels, the Ellery Queen name became closely associated with detective fiction through short stories, radio and television adaptations, and Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, founded by Dannay in 1941.