The Tragedy of Z

A pretty good, vividly written mystery novel from the early 1930s (here, in a reprint as part of a series). it's slightly misleading to call this a Drury Lane case, since the retired actor shows up very little in the early 1/3rd of the book, and only sporadically in the second 1/3rd. Most of the book features Patience Thumm, the daughter of one of the characters from the first two books in the series. She's a modern woman, and Queen lets us know it. A bit ad nauseum, to the detriment of the character. Still, the mystery, which involves a series of murders involving a corrupt political ring in a fictional upstate New York county, is decent, and the devil in the solution is in the details -- in fairness, the clues are notable, but it's show more the weaving of them together that's the key. Generally recommended, though not as good as the first book in the series; there's little with Lane's background of acting in it, though Lane is presented as a decade older and much sicker in this book. show less

This is a fine example of the Golden Age detective story at its best (or worst, as the genre's detractors would no doubt say). A series of murders of some rather dubious politicians seem to implicate a broken-down old ex-convict; the most intriguing part of the crime is the appearance of sawn-up pieces of a toy chest with cryptic letters on them. Ross's detective, the deaf ex-actor Drury Lane, stages a highly melodramatic scene at the very end in which the true criminal is revealed, which is enjoyable but extremely implausible. A strong candidate for re-printing by some enterprising firm, IMHO.

This is the third in the Drury Lane series (the Tragedies of X,Y &Z). Drury Lane is a blind, retired stage actor and a good friend of (the fictional) Ellery Queen. This was published in 1933, is melodramatic but oh-so-elegant.

The mystery is fairly clued, but very difficult. I don’t think I’ve ever solved a novel-length Ellery Queen. 3½ stars

This is a fine example of the Golden Age detective story at its best (or worst, as the genre's detractors would no doubt say). A series of murders of some rather dubious politicians seem to implicate a broken-down old ex-convict; the most intriguing part of the crime is the appearance of sawn-up pieces of a toy chest with cryptic letters on them. Ross's detective, the deaf ex-actor Drury Lane, stages a highly melodramatic scene at the very end in which the true criminal is revealed, which is enjoyable but extremely implausible.