The existence of that little house on the Delaware River was a closely guarded secret. It was perhaps better described as a non-descript shack, about midway between New York and Philadelphia. It was used by an itinerant traveling salesman named Joe Wilson simply as a place to change his clothes. What made it a necessarily hidden secret was the fact that Wilson was using it as a private hiding place where he could switch from one identity to another. It was his brother-in-law, Bill Angell, who found Wilson’s body lying on the floor of that shack in New Jersey. But it was Bill’s friend, Ellery Queen, who discovered the truth behind that shack – and the secret life of Joe Wilson, which really spanned two different worlds. And it was going to be up to Ellery Queen to figure out who really killed Joe Wilson and why. You'll find details in Halfway House, written in 1936 by Ellery Queen and starring the detective Ellery Queen. It's the subject of this week's audio review on the Classic Mysteries podcast, with additional details about both Ellery Queen the author and Ellery Queen the fictional character, and you may listen to the complete review by clicking here.
When Bill Angell walked into that rundown house near the Delaware River and found his brother-in-law, Joe Wilson, dying, the first thing he did was to call Ellery. At that point, nobody knew about Joe’s secret. The police, however, had a good deal to say about it – and the eventual outcome of their interest was to arrest someone for the murder. And that, of course, led to a fiercely disputed trial – and Queen is careful to include virtually the entire trial, based on court transcripts. But Ellery (and Bill) are far from satisfied. And it is in a proliferation of small clues – clues carefully shared with the reader – that this case will eventually be solved.
Ellery Queen is generally regarded as one of the creative giants of the American detective story, and Halfway House helps to understand that rating. It's widely available and highly recommended.
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