Tue 5 Dec 2023
Diary Review: ELLERY QUEEN’S MYSTERY MAGAZINE July 1967.
Posted by Steve under Diary Reviews , Magazines[8] Comments
ELLERY QUEEN’S MYSTERY MAGAZINE – July 1967. Overall rating: ***½
CHARLOTTE ARMSTRONG “The Second Commandment.†Short novel. A minister’s wife falls to her death while answering a “call of nature†along the highway. Afterward the minister discovers he can no longer love all his neighbors. Fine personal point of view, but fails as a mystery story. (4)
AGATHA CHRISTIE “At the Stroke of Twelve.†First appeared in The Sketch, 10 OctobeR 1923, as “The Kidnapping of Johnnie Waverly.†Poirot deduces a man has kidnapped his own son, but then he has all the clues. (3)
JOHN DICKSON CARR “The Lion’s Paw.†First appeared in The Strand Magazine. July 1938, as “Error at Daybreak†by Carter Dickson. Colonel March. A fake suicide attempt is mistaken for a mysterious murder on a deserted hearth. (3)
CORNELL WOOLRICH “Divorce – New York Style.†Serial, part 2 of 2. The girl in a staged hotel room bit dies in the bed, end of Part 1. Scene two in the police station is disappointing. (3)
DENNIS M. DUBIN “Elroy Quinn’s Last Case.†First story. Elroy stops a plot designed to disrupt international relations. Clever! (5) [Note: the author’s only work of short crime fiction.]
ELLERY QUEEN “The President Regrets.†Puzzle story with presidential names. (2)
SHIRLEY WALLACE “The Tiger’s Cub. First story. A man defends his son. (3) [Note: The author’s only work of short crime fiction.]
CELIA FREMLIN “The Special Gift.†An amateur authors’ club meets a man with a strange deadly dream (3)
GUY CULLINGFORD “Something to Get at Quick.†Juvenile delinquency and a stabbing in London. (4)
MIRIAM ALLEN deFORD “The Impersonation Murder Case.†An actor discovers that he is the fall guy in a murder investigation. Sorry, I don’t Believe It. (3)
JOAN RICHTER “Intruder in the Maize.†An arrogant man in Africa should not deal with poison. One bad flaw. (2)
BRIAN HAYES “Security Risk.†First appeared in The (London) Evening News, 19 April 1961. A test works beautifully. (4)
LAWRENCE TREAT “B As in Burglary.†Bankhart of the Homicide Squad is led to the stolen jewels by the murderer’s daughter, and the romance is over. (4)
December 6th, 2023 at 7:23 am
I was far less critical than you in 1967. To my mind then (and now), everything Charlotte Armstrong wrote was golden. Add to the mix Carr, Queen, Woolrich, Fremlin, deFord, Treat, and Cullingford and you have a lineup that is hard to best — and one typical of EQMM of the day, thanks to editor Fred Dannay and managing editor Clayton Rawson. The Dubin and the Wallace stories are from the “Department of First Stories” and thus may not have been pseudonymous as one might believe. Added fillips to the issue were Anthony Boucher’s ever-perceptive mystery review column and a short poem from Don Benson.
It seems as though every year for the past 84 years has been the hey-day of EQMM, but for someone with my reading tastes, 1967 was a very, very good year.
December 6th, 2023 at 3:03 pm
Jerry
I was thinking the same thing as I was retyping this old review so I could post it here. A roster of really good writers in this issue, that’s for sure. And don’t think a three star rating is bad. It’s means, as I recall, a story that was entertaining without being one that I’d remember for very long — or nominate for a Best of the Year anthology.
Whereas in the single issue of EQMM I read this year, there was only one story, maybe two, that I read all the way through. Meaning no disrespect to the authors. Their stories did get published, and mine never even got written.
December 6th, 2023 at 12:19 pm
EQMM did seem to put out a lot of Pretty Good issues, as did AHMM and THE SAINT in the ’60s, with MSMM and certainly the remains of MANHUNT trending a bit worse, albeit THE SAINT was probably the hardest to read due to atrocious printing (at its worst). LONDON MYSTERY SELECTION pretty good as well. Hard to be upset, but only s few stories likely to blow one’s doors off in any given issue…writers such as Joe Gores mostly publishing elsewhere (given so many skin magazines interested in fictiotn still, and the likes of John D. MacDonald still placing most of their shorter work with the big slicks).
December 6th, 2023 at 3:06 pm
All in all, issues of EQMM in the 60s, including this one, seemed to consist of a very happy mixture of oldies with brand new ones, with the emphasis on detective tales, unlike the other magazines you mention, which consisted more of crime stories, which never thrilled me as much as was intended.
December 7th, 2023 at 8:09 am
I agree with Jerry. The EQMM issues in 1967 were excellent. And I also agree with “a very happy mixture of oldies with brand new ones, with the emphasis on detective stories.” Crime stories are easier to write, but don’t satisfy me as much as good detective stories do.
December 7th, 2023 at 11:32 am
Somewhere Back In Time …
I might have mentioned the old saw:
“You pays your money and you takes your choice.”
That was what attracted me to EQMM when I was in high school – Fred Dannay prided himself on casting a wide net, and if some stories weren’t exactly in standard mode … well, here’s another one on the next page.
And if you were “daring” enough, you learned about new things and styles – you became educated (after a fashion).
All these years afterward, as EQMM has evolved into the 21st Century – same deal, really …
I got into EQMM in 1965; in 2023, I’m still into it – and I have no regrets at all.
December 7th, 2023 at 11:47 am
Yes, I’m happy it’s still around today, too. The people in charge must be doing something right!
December 9th, 2023 at 12:16 am
Worthy collection, but one of those “indifferent” isues, though indifferent for EQMM is a high standard for anyone else.