Status Updates From The Roman Hat Mystery (U)

That is A LOT of snuff.

Every line out of Ellery's mouth is extremely smug and patronizing.

Ellery comes off a a snarky bully rather than a genius.

I have problems with Djuna.

Man really struggling to stay interested. Mystery isn't interesting and everything just feels dry.

Also can't help but keep thinking about why Ellery is allowed to even be there.

Struggling with this one. Feels dry and more like a police procedural than I expected. Also didn't know I would miss the first person point of view from classic Christie or Doyle mysteries.

Lastly the dialog is a little hard for me to understand sometimes.

In progress -

I've read several books in this series. Some were quite good, others less so. I'm afraid this isn't impressing me so far. The pace is excruciatingly slow, in fact early on Ellery wastes a number of pages retelling exactly what we just read. Then there are the "of its time" elements that range from annoying stereotypes to animal cruelty.

Okay, this story has yet to gain any real traction. I'm just not a fan of the Queens or their method of mystery solving.

The side characters are so unappealing and the mystery is getting so again

So Queen is a 'detective with a heart of gold' and he was pained by one of his suspect's reaction. And the reaction of her fiance made him blush in shame.

Eh...

Very slow and ponderous at first but is beginning to get more exciting

ch 4 finished

onto ch 5

pg 24/120 look on right

“I’m sort of itching to see what’s what,” said Cronin finally, in a hushed voice.
“I’m rather afraid to look,” retorted the Inspector.
“Mene mene tekel upharsin,” laughed Ellery. “In this case it might be interpreted as ‘the handwriting on the panel.’ Examine on, Macduff!”

[Aramaic the writing on the wall during Belshazzar's Feast in Daniel 5:25-28]

It is the peculiar gift of the truly great detective that he can apply to the inexorable rules of logic three catalyzers: an abnormal observation of events, a knowledge of the human mind and an insight into the human heart.

“Whatever the business deal was,” said the Inspector sententiously, “you may be sure, my son, it was an evil one.”
“An evil one?” inquired Ellery in a serious tone.
“Money’s the root of all evil,” retorted the Inspector with a grin.
Ellery’s tone did not change. “Not only the root, Dad—but the fruit, too.”

Once young Jean C. ----- came to me after a month of diligent investigation on a difficult assignment. He wore a forlorn expression. Without a word he handed me a slip of official paper. I read it in surprise. It was his resignation.
‘Here, Jean’ I cried. ‘What is the meaning of this?’
‘I have failed, M. Brillon,’ he muttered. ‘A month’s work gone to the devil. I have been on the wrong track. It is a disgrace.’

Ellery Queen towered six inches above his father’s head. There was a square cut to his shoulders and an agreeable swing to his body as he walked. He was dressed in oxford gray and carried a light stick. On his nose perched what seemed an incongruous note in so athletic a man—a rimless pince-nez. But the brow above, the long delicate lines of the face, the bright eyes were those of a man of thought rather than action.

Why the police let the young girl leave the murder scene, even tho her pouch was found in the murdered bag is beyond me ...

Learned what a Prince-nez (kind of glasses) and an usherette is :D

Yay, reading an english novel printed in 1969 ... i don't understand anything :D (but Heiji from Detective Conan related to that author, soo.... )

JFC the descriptions of Djuna.

The reason for reading Ellery Queen: Heiji's favorite author

The version of the book I'm reading is part of a volume titled "The Ellery Queen Omnibus", which was published ca. 1832 and, along with The Roman Hat Mystery, also includes The French Powder Mystery and The Egyptian Cross Mystery.

Read this since everyone in my discord book club unanimously trashed this (for pacing esp)

So far this read like Meitantei Conan, ie the weakest link being the unrealistic and annoying female characters rated based on how attractive they are or aren’t to male characters

mjustes@earthlink.com

Chapter 21/23

Chapter 17

this is starting to pick up so interestingly!!
ellery's personality keeps me thoroughly entertained and i cannot deny that i adore him. however, if i was right about the culprit, i will be a tad disappointed. this book definitely improved as i progressed though, so im quite happy about that

im starting to enjoy ellery's personality so this makes this book a lot more enjoyable to read. however, if my guess for the murderer's identity is correct, this will not achieve the rating i expected.

so far, ellery seems exactly as i imainged and hoped he'd be, in terms of character writing and observation skills
i fear that my thoughts of being disappointed by how this book turns out will be incorrect!

i have high expectations for ellery queen, and i honestly fear disappointment greatly. so far, i do not really have much to say, aside from the fact that i find this writing style to be a bit odd; it's just a bit peculiar, but like usual murder mysteries. i hope it will not disappoint