''Ten Days' Wonder'' is a

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

that was published in 1948 by

Ellery Queen Ellery Queen is a pseudonym created in 1929 by American crime fiction writers Frederic Dannay and Manfred Bennington Lee and the name of their main fictional character, a mystery writer in New York City who helps his police inspector father solve ...

. It is a

mystery novel Mystery is a fiction genre where the nature of an event, usually a murder or other crime, remains mysterious until the end of the story. Often within a closed circle of suspects, each suspect is usually provided with a credible motive and a re ...

primarily set in the imaginary town of Wrightsville, United States.

Plot summary

Howard Van Horn, son of millionaire Diedrich Van Horn, comes to Ellery Queen with the request that Ellery investigate what Howard has been doing during a recent bout with amnesia. The trail leads to the small New England town of Wrightsville and what seems to be a love triangle with Howard's stepmother, the beautiful young Sally, from the "wrong side of the tracks" in class-conscious Wrightsville. A series of small and unusual crimes over the next nine days seem to be committed by Howard during amnesiac blackouts, and Ellery Queen suddenly realizes the bizarre pattern that underpins the series of crimes.

Literary significance & criticism

(See

.) After many popular mystery novels, a radio program and a number of movies, the character of Ellery Queen was at this point firmly established. This novel is the third to take place against the setting of the imaginary New England town of Wrightsville (following ''

Calamity Town ''Calamity Town'' is a mystery novel by American writers Manfred B. Lee and Frederic Dannay, published in 1942 under the pseudonym of Ellery Queen. It is set in the fictional town of Wrightsville, a place that figures in several later Queen book ...

'' and ''

The Murderer is a Fox ''The Murderer Is a Fox'' is a novel that was published in 1945 by Ellery Queen. It is a mystery novel primarily set in the imaginary town of Wrightsville, US. Plot summary Ellery Queen investigates a murder that took place a number of years ago ...

'') and, as is common in the Wrightsville novels, depends more on characterization, atmosphere and the observed minutiae of small-town American life than many other Queen novels; this novel less so, because of the necessity to make characters and events fit into the underlying format. "The town with its gossip and cliques is well done ... ne ofthe complex and mundane mysteries ... favored by the ingenious authors." "All Wrightsville murders are well written as more attention is given to character development and humor. The way some Wrightsville stories interlink only adds to the fun ... This is the era wherein Ellery Queen experiments with minimalism as his work is stripped down to its most fundamental features. ... The more fallible side to Ellery is especially emphasized. Nowhere else is the limitation of reason better shown than in ''Ten Days' Wonder''. Ellery went through the turmoil of extreme self-doubt, almost giving up on being a detective ... and another double-twist ending. Brilliant portrayals, be it a little far-fetched." "(Ellery's) exploits took place more frequently in the small town of Wrightsville, where his arrival as a house guest was likely to be the signal for the commission of one or more murders. Very intelligently, Dannay and Lee used this change in locale to loosen the structure of their stories. More emphasis was placed on personal relationships, and less on the details of investigation. ... In later stories, however, fantastic ingenuity takes over at the expense of characterization, as in ''Ten Days' Wonder'' ... One can admire the ingenuity, and yet sense that there is something wrong about the way in which Queen is turning back to Van Dine and abandoning the possibilities glimpsed in the first Wrightsville books." Symons, Julian, ''Bloody Murder (From the Detective Story to the Crime Novel: A History)''. London: Faber and Faber 1972, with revisions in Penguin Books 1974. . Page 157 ''et seq''." The book was made into the 1971 film '' Ten Days' Wonder'' directed by

Claude Chabrol Claude Henri Jean Chabrol (; 24 June 1930 – 12 September 2010) was a French film director and a member of the French New Wave (''nouvelle vague'') group of filmmakers who first came to prominence at the end of the 1950s. Like his colleagues a ...

and starring

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...

Anthony Perkins Anthony Perkins (April 4, 1932 – September 12, 1992) was an American actor, director, and singer. Perkins is best remembered for his role as Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's suspense thriller ''Psycho'', which made him an influential ...

and

Marlène Jobert Marlène Jobert (born 4 November 1940) is a French actress and author. Life and career Jobert was born in Algiers, Algeria, to a Sephardic Jewish and Pied-Noir family, the daughter of Eliane Azulay and Charles Jobert, who served in the French A ...

as Van Horn father, son and wife/stepmother (their first names changed to Theo, Charles and Helene), and

Michel Piccoli Jacques Daniel Michel Piccoli (27 December 1925 – 12 May 2020) was a French actor, producer and film director with a career spanning 70 years. He was lauded as one of the greatest French character actors of his generation who played a wide vari ...

as "Paul Regis", who (there is no character named Ellery Queen) is the principal investigator.

Footnotes

External links

"Ellery Queen ''is'' the American detective story."
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ten Days' Wonder 1948 American novels American novels adapted into films Novels by Ellery Queen Fiction about amnesia