The Origin of Evil (1951)

by Ellery Queen

Other authors: See the other authors section.

Series: Ellery Queen (23)

Members	Reviews	Popularity	Average rating	Mentions
220	7	123,798	(3.32)	4
Having escaped New York with the hopes of finishing his latest mystery novel in peace in Los Angeles, Ellery Queen is shocked when a knock on his door lands him right in the middle of yet another mystery. Leander Hill, a prominent Hollywood jeweler, recently died of a heart attack after receiving a package containing a dead dog, a sight that literally frightened him to death. Hill's daughter is convinced the act was premeditated murder and enlists Queen's help to catch the killer. Now Queen must harness all of his skills to prevail over this unscrupulous mind.… (more)

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First edition good

dgmathis | Mar 16, 2023 |

A dead dog killing anybody struck Ellery as worth a tentative glance. And there was something about the girl - a remote, hardened purpose - that interested him. "Sit down again. She betrayed herself by the quick way in which she came back to the pony skin chair, by the way she folded her tense hands and waited. "How exactly, Laurel, did a dead dog 'kill' your father?" "It murdered him."

taurus27 | Dec 26, 2021 |

Hate, greed and murder and wonderful cover design - woman in red underwear.

jon1lambert | Oct 19, 2009 |

Reviewed Sept 1999

One of the best of Queen’s. Usually the ending is so difficult to understand as it may deal with something like proofreaders marks, this ending was difficult but I’m proud to say it was strange and I understood it. Queen’s descriptions of people and places almost equaled those in “The Great Gabsby.” This was well written, many turns and twists and an intelligent ending. I quick night’s read. (

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sgerbic | May 8, 2008 |

This is a pb copy of a book which I also have as one of a set in a hardback collection of Queen's Hollywood adventures. (

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antiquary | Nov 2, 2015 |

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» Add other authors (6 possible)

Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Ellery Queen	—	primary author	all editions	calculated
Barcilon, Roger	Cover artist	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Finzi, Nora	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed

▾Series and work relationships

Belongs to Series

Ellery Queen (23)

Belongs to Publisher Series

I classici del giallo [Mondadori] (200, 844)

DuMont's Kriminal-Bibliothek (1118)

Prisma detectives (439)

Serie gialla [Garzanti] (11)

Vampiro (80)

Is contained in

The Hollywood Murders by Ellery Queen

There Was an Old Woman & The Origin of Evil by Ellery Queen

▾Awards and Honors

Distinctions

Anthony Boucher's Best Crime Fiction of the Year (1951)

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▾Common Knowledge

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Canonical title

The Origin of Evil

Original title

The Origin of Evil

Alternative titles

Original publication date

1951

People/Characters

Ellery Queen

Important places

Important events

Related movies

Epigraph

Dedication

First words

Ellery was spread over the pony-skin chair before the picture window, huarachos crossed on the typewriter table, a ten-inch frosted glass in his hand, and the corpse at his feet.

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Last words

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

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▾Book descriptions

Having escaped New York with the hopes of finishing his latest mystery novel in peace in Los Angeles, Ellery Queen is shocked when a knock on his door lands him right in the middle of yet another mystery. Leander Hill, a prominent Hollywood jeweler, recently died of a heart attack after receiving a package containing a dead dog, a sight that literally frightened him to death. Hill's daughter is convinced the act was premeditated murder and enlists Queen's help to catch the killer. Now Queen must harness all of his skills to prevail over this unscrupulous mind.

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