Another Look: “The Dutch Shoe Mystery”

Warning: Artistic inspiration drawn from book titles may vary.



Left: The Dutch Shoe Mystery, by Ellery Queen (Pocket, 1952); cover illustration by George Mayers. Right: The Dutch Shoe Mystery, by Ellery Queen (Pocket, 1958); artwork by Jerry Allison. Published originally in 1931, this was the third whodunit starring author-sleuth Queen and his father, Inspector Richard Queen of the New York Police Department. It followed The Roman Hat Mystery (1929) and The French Powder Mystery (1930).

Although I often choose these cover pairings at random, that was not the case here. Today’s picks were inspired by news that “The American Mystery Classics Book Club”—linked to Otto Penzler’s publishing line of that same name, which last year released a fresh edition of The Dutch Shoe Mystery—“will be meeting on Zoom on February 1st at 6:30 p.m. EST to discuss [this] puzzling tale of murder in the hospital …” The event will be free to the public, and feature a special guest: Richard Dannay, the son of Ellery Queen co-creator Frederic Dannay. Simply drop an e-mail note to charles@penzlerpublishers.com to RSVP.

Bennett’s Beauties: “The Finishing Stroke”

Part of a month-long celebration of Harry Bennett’s artistic skills.


The Finishing Stroke, by Ellery Queen (Pocket, 1963).

Because I Needed a Queen Fix …

Halfway House, by Ellery Queen (Pan, 1959).
Illustration by Sam Peffer.

READ MORE: “Halfway House (1936), by Ellery Queen” (Dead Yesterday).

Rap Party: “Ten Days’ Wonder”

This month marks a full 10 years since I launched my award-winning crime-fiction blog, The Rap Sheet. The actual date on which that anniversary becomes official is May 22—now 10 days away. As part of the celebration, I’ve decided to count down each day between now and then using a series of handsome vintage covers.

Let’s begin with Clark Hulings’ beautifully painted cover for the 1957 Pocket paperback edition of Ten Days’ Wonder. The 19th novel to feature New York City amateur sleuth Ellery Queen, it was written by cousins Manfred B. Lee and Frederic Dannay under the Queen pseudonym, and originally saw print in 1948.



One down, nine more to go ...

FOLLOW-UP: “The Rap Sheet: 10 Years in the Making,” by J. Kingston Pierce (The Rap Sheet).

Long Live the Queens!

Much of my time lately has been devoted to working on a crime-fiction encyclopedia project, writing about the two Brooklyn-born cousins--Manfred B. Lee and Frederic Dannay--who penned dozens of 20th-century American mystery novels under their joint pseudonym, Ellery Queen. So it seems appropriate that my latest gallery of covers should concentrate on their published efforts.

Ellery Queen was once a famous name in crime-writing circles. Hundreds of editions of the cousins’ books (some of them carrying alternative titles) have been produced since the first novel carrying that byline, The Roman Hat Mystery, appeared in 1929. To catalogue every one of those book fronts would be a monumental, if not impossible task. Instead, I’d just like to share some of my favorites, with artwork provided by such masters as Arthur Sussman, Harry Bennett, Frank McCarthy, and Sam Peffer. Also James Meese, who supplied the mysterious and seductive illustration that decorated Cardinal Books’ 1960 paperback edition of The Greek Coffin Mystery (1932), shown at the top of this post.

Click on any of the images below for an enlargement.

Finally, here’s Dell Books’ 1946 “mapback” edition of The American Gun Mystery (1933), with front illustration by Gerald Gregg and a rear-cover map of the crime scene by Ruth Belew.



READ MORE: “The Rap Sheet: Calamity Town by Ellery Queen,”
by J. Kingston Pierce (Kirkus Reviews).