Racism from left field, built right into the heart of the solution to the mystery. I recently read Clarence Dane & Helen Simpson's "Enter Sir John", whose solution is based on essentially the same issue ... and where it is treaded *so* much better and with so more empathy than in Ellery Queen's book -- I really had to do a double take there. Yech. That was truly unexpected and disappointing (particularly as the character named Ellery Queen is billed as such a widely-read intellectual and humanitarian).
The Ellery Queen series gets a second chance nevertheless, hoping this really was a singular slip in the first novel -- and to be at least marginally more benevolent to the author(s), the way the issue is presented in "The Roman Hat Mystery" *would* have been very much in synch with mainstream opinion at the time, whereas the Dane / Simpson treatment in "Enter Sir John" was probably at the very least unusually empathetic for its time. (Also, racism-driven motive aside, the solution of the Ellery Queen book actually provides at least one unusual, cleverly-done wrinkle, and whenever the book just focused on being a mystery instead of trying to be something else in addition, the writing was OK.) So maybe there's hope just yet. But we're clearly in "two strikes and you're out" territory.
Oh, wow. Good to know. You know, even when sort of giving authors credit for writing at their time and representing common opinions of their time, it just doesn't make reading about it any more pleasant. So, I'll not rush to The Roman Hat Mystery anytime soon.
By the way, I've been wondering - What is the "Roman Hat" referred to in the title?
It's a top hat worn by the victim while attending a show at the Roman Theatre in New York.
And yes, you're right about racism in books, even if it just shows up as a thing germane to the time of the writing. And even that comes in layers -- it's bad enough if / when Christie and Sayers casually trot out racial stereotypes with regard to minor / supporting characters (who may or may not actually be intended to be portrayed sympathically), but to see it built right into the solution -- i.e., the heart -- of a mystery and treated completely as a matter of course, without the slightest bit of empathy, that really did take my breath away. Particularly after having seen it treated so very much differently in the Dane / Simpson book ... which was published almost exactly at the same time (just one year prior) -- and which I enjoyed not only on account of this, but also on account of the writing -- it's very obvious why Sayers would have been friends and intellectual soul mates with both of them.
The Ellery Queen series gets a second chance nevertheless, hoping this really was a singular slip in the first novel -- and to be at least marginally more benevolent to the author(s), the way the issue is presented in "The Roman Hat Mystery" *would* have been very much in synch with mainstream opinion at the time, whereas the Dane / Simpson treatment in "Enter Sir John" was probably at the very least unusually empathetic for its time. (Also, racism-driven motive aside, the solution of the Ellery Queen book actually provides at least one unusual, cleverly-done wrinkle, and whenever the book just focused on being a mystery instead of trying to be something else in addition, the writing was OK.) So maybe there's hope just yet. But we're clearly in "two strikes and you're out" territory.
By the way, I've been wondering - What is the "Roman Hat" referred to in the title?
And yes, you're right about racism in books, even if it just shows up as a thing germane to the time of the writing. And even that comes in layers -- it's bad enough if / when Christie and Sayers casually trot out racial stereotypes with regard to minor / supporting characters (who may or may not actually be intended to be portrayed sympathically), but to see it built right into the solution -- i.e., the heart -- of a mystery and treated completely as a matter of course, without the slightest bit of empathy, that really did take my breath away. Particularly after having seen it treated so very much differently in the Dane / Simpson book ... which was published almost exactly at the same time (just one year prior) -- and which I enjoyed not only on account of this, but also on account of the writing -- it's very obvious why Sayers would have been friends and intellectual soul mates with both of them.