This is significant, and people are drawn to it for that very reason, but it is far from being his best novel. The Roman Hat Mystery was Ellery Queen’s first novel. Certainly there have been other toxicologists hired by New York (and other cities), but special attention is paid to Goettler because he was first, and that novelty has survived. Goettler (later spelled Gettler), the first professional toxicologist detective, prototyped nearly every fictional detective in his wake. For instance, in July he shocked many by declaring that a famous aviator, Wilmer Stults, was drunk when he crashed his airplane. Goettler was still making headlines in 1929. Goettler himself is an interesting historical figure, and is one of the subjects of Deborah Blum’s The Poisoner’s Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York (2010). Stokes Company in August, 1929.Īn interesting side note is that prominent thanks were given to Professor Alexander Goettler (1883-1968), chief toxicologist of the City of New York, appropriate since the victim was poisoned. Ellery Queen’s first book, The Roman Hat Mystery: A Problem in Deduction, was published by the Frederick A. The cousins were paid $200 (as opposed to the $7,500 award presented to Isabel Briggs Myers). Colliers was bought by another company, which gave the award to another novel (written by Isabel Briggs Myers, who published two mysteries, and later found fame, with her mother, as the originator of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator personality inventory), but Stokes still wanted to publish the Ellery Queen novel. They won a mystery-novel writing contest sponsored by Colliers and the Frederick Stokes Company. The basic story is that two cousins in their early twenties created the pseudonym of Ellery Queen, and wrote a novel about the adventures of Ellery Queen. Nevins, Ellery Queen: The Art of Detection (Perfect Crime, 2013). Also, there is a new biography of the cousins by Francis M. The story of Ellery Queen has been repeated quite often, and can be found on several websites.

The roman hat mystery