There’s a bit of racism in this book and I did not like it! Djuna, Queen’s servant/butler is called an imp or a monkey and his Turkish traits are made fun of – nope, not acceptable! (Given that the book was first published in 1929, was this to be expected?) The lad seemed so obsessed about acquiring a rare Falconer’s and this makes his dad annoyed at times. His deductive skills are pretty appreciable but I liked Ellery better.

I might read a book or two more and then decide if the father-son duo make it to my list of favourite sleuths. The father-son duo hit roadblocks, one after the other, and as the story ends, they almost give up! Since this is the first book in this series, I will not comment more on the characters. He cannot seem to get the mystery of the missing hat off his mind. There’s quite a hullabaloo with the hat – pappa Q is frustrated. Thomas Velie calls Field “ One of the crooked-est lawyers in town.” So, who would have wanted to kill this man and why? A theatre might be a good place for murder – with low lighting and no witnesses – but why did the murderer take the dead man’s hat? It took me some time to get used to their ‘antics’ but as the story ended, I was pretty much impressed by pappa Q’s deductive skills.Ĭoming back to the story, the dead man is a lawyer named Monte Field. Their logic of deduction is different and so their method of sleuthing.

Queen and Ellery, the father-son duo are way different from Holmes-Watson or Poirot-Hastings pair. Though this is a bit out of my comfort zone, I really enjoyed the story. This also happens to be my first American Mystery read! Having heard a lot of praises about this detective series, I decided to give it a try with the first book in this series and I am not disappointed.

The Roman Hat Mystery is my first Ellery Queen read and surely won’t be the last. Inspector Queen and his son Ellery are called to the scene of the crime. Also, the dead man’s silk hat is nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, well-known socialite’s purse is found in the dead man’s coat. The seats next to and in front of him are empty and the ticket stubs for the same aren’t found anywhere. He reeks of alcohol and it seems that the poison was mixed in his drink. The Roman Hat Mystery is the first book in the Ellery Queen Detective series.Ī man is found dead in the Roman Theater.

The Roman Hat Mystery by Ellery Queen