ELLERY QUEEN'S LOST LADIES

by Ellery--Ed. Queen ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 1, 1983

A so-so gathering of 26 stories, mostly from the Fifties and Seventies. There's a disappointing Shirley Jackson creeper from 1952, a solid Stanley Ellin entry (""The Betrayers"") from 1953, and--from Ellery Queen him(them)-self, an okay twist-solution item of 1951 vintage. From more recent years, Isaac Asimov is represented by one of his imitation-Queen gimmick stories in the Black Widowers series (""The Cross of Lorraine,"" anthologized before in Casebook of the Black Widowers and elsewhere). And, in a slightly more substantial vein, Jeffry Scott and Ursula Curtiss do variations on wife-killing--while Joyce Harrington's ""The Tomato Man's Daughter"" offers a sliver of dark psychology (possessive father, shotgun marriage, homicidal mania). Undistinguished fare, but with flickers of interest.

Pub Date: July 1, 1983

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Dial

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1983

Categories: FICTION