Customer Reviews

The Tragedy of Y: A Drury Lane Mystery

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I came across this book from another mystery book, which ranks the former as the best. Curiously, I got one and started challenging myself with full attention and judgement. I had to admit I failed.. when I saw Druly Lane finally pushed himself out of the case. Highly recommended.. it's OUT of my expectation, but it's GREAT!!

A bit dated in some ways, but the plot is one of the most ingenious ever concocted, and the story has an emotional edge that stays with it even after two-thirds of a century.

I looked for this book because it was recommended as a 'classic' with an exceptional plot. I was not disappointed, though in these days the murderer would not come across as such a shock as in the past. It is tragedy to see the same thing happens in the real world today with much more blatant intention (sigh !) I was still confused by the ending of the story - I know who the murderer of the murderer was, but 'how' was the poison slipped into the drink ?

I anticipated, as possibilities, the two alternative conclusions, one proposed by Inspector Thumm and the other by District Attorney Bruno. But both were logically flawed and disproved by Drury Lane. I failed to see the actual solution, but Drury Lane's meticulous analysis clearly demonstrated that the abundant clues pointed to a single answer.

I recently read (and reviewed) Ellery Queen's remarkable "The Tragedy of X" and I immediately went in search of "The Tragedy of Y". The eccentric retired Shakespearean actor, Drury Lane, introduced in X, again assists the New York police department in their investigation of a puzzling series of deaths. The tone is more dark and somber than in X and the mystery even more puzzling. The final twist was unsettling.

The notorious Hatter family in New York had been named the Mad Hatters by an imaginative reporter. The name fit. Given our cultural progress in the last several decades, today this dysfunctional family might have even qualified for a tasteless TV series. The story begins with an apparent suicide of York Hatter, or what at least appears to be the body of York Hatter. From the beginning we have uncertainty.

This story was classic Ellery Queen writing as Barnaby Ross. Some events appear a bit fantastical, but never actual fantasy. Y was written in 1932 and we readers today encounter situations that seem odd and dated. The medical practice is old fashioned and the medical science is suspect. A young woman takes a relaxing walk, alone, in a park at 10:30 PM. A servant is paid a remarkably large sum, $75 per week, to work in an uncomfortable situation. A watch has a radium dial. A pair of men's white oxfords is a clue. And Ellery Queen provides us with an occasional vocabulary exercise: chirography, eremitic, invertible, saturnine.

There are two more Drury Lane mysteries - The Tragedy of Z and Drury Lane's Last Case. I don't expect that they will be easy to find, but I am sure that the effort will be worthwhile.