Book description
Stanley Ellin's first short story, 'The Specialty of the House', about
a New York restaurant with a special gourmet menu, was published in
Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine
in 1948 and caused an immediate sensation, winning him a special Ellery
Queen Award. 'The House Party' and 'The Blessington Method' subsequently
both won Edgar Awards. Stanley Ellin, who was made a Grand Master of the
Mystery Writers of America in 1980, is acknowledged as one of the great
masters of the 20th-century short story, and this volume brings together
the best of his work in the genre. Stanley Ellin was born in Brooklyn,
New York, and educated at Brooklyn College. He worked as a teacher, a
steelworker and a dairy farmer and served in the US Army in World War
Two before becoming a full-time writer in 1946. His first published
short story, The Speciality of the House
, won him a special Ellery Queen Award. He won two Edgar Awards for
short stories, as well as one for The Eighth Circle
, and the Grand Prix de la Littérature Policière for Mirror, Mirror
on the Wall
. In 1980 he was made a Grand Master of the Mystery Writers of America.
