Stanley Ellin Biography and List of Works

American mystery writer, one of the modern masters of the genre. Despite his achievements in the novel, Ellin is best known for his short stories, beginning with the 'The Specialty of the House' (1948). The story about a New York restaurant with a special treat for gourmets was an immediate sensation. It was later dramatized on the television series 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' as many other Ellin's tales. Often Ellin's short stories deal with ethical problems, as in the 'Question'. The narrator is an executioner or 'electrocutioner,' as he likes to be called, and takes a pride in what he is doing for the state.

  "Well, you ought to make up your mind one way or the other,' I told him. 'I'd hate to think you were like every other hypocrite around who says it's all right to condemn a man to the electric chair and all wrong to pull the switch.'
   'Do I have to be to one to pull it?' he said. 'Do you?'
(from 'The Question')

Ellin was born in Brooklyn, New York. He was educated at Brooklyn College, receiving his B.A. in 1936. Next year he married Jeann Michael; they had one daughter. Ellin worked as a teacher, steelworker, a dairy farmer, and served in the United States Army from 1944 to 1945. In 1946, encouraged by his wife, Ellin became a full-time writer. 'The Specialty of the House' appeared in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine in May 1948. In the story Laffler, a gourmet, goes with his assistant for a dinner at an exclusive restaurant. The kitchen is what Laffler wants to see - which is a great mistake.

In 1954 Ellin received Edgar Allan Poe Award from the Mystery Writers of America for the short story 'The House Party', a suburban story with an element of fantasy. Two years later he was awarded for the short story 'The Blessington Method', a comment on the social rights of the elderly, and in 1958 for novel THE EIGHT CIRCLE, which was an attempt at a long, serious novel about a modern private detective. The title was derived from Dante's Inferno, referring to the dwelling of, among others, the liars, hypocrites, thieves, and pimps. However, Ellin left the protagonist, Murray Kirk, and concentrated on short stories. Ellin's exploration of macho self-hatred and violence, MIRROR, MIRROR ON THE WALL, won in 1975 Le Grand Prix de Littérature Policière. H.R.F. Keating selected it in 1987 for his list of the one hundred best crime novels.

As a novelist Ellin made his debut with DREADFUL SUMMIT (1948). It dealt with father-son relationship, as a sixteen-year-old boy obtains a gun and sets out to avenge his father's beating and humiliation. The action is squeezed into twenty-four hours. MYSTERY STORIES (1956) was hailed by Julian Symons as 'the finest collection of stories in the crime form published in the past half century.' It included such works as 'The Cat's Paw,' 'The Orderly World of Mr. Appleby,' in which the most important thing in the protagonist's life is his antique and curio shop, 'Broker's Special,' and 'The Moment of Decision', in which a dispute between neighbours leads to a fatal decision. Ellin's Edgar-winning short story 'The Blessington Method' gave the title for the second book. After his third collection, KINDLY DIG YOUR GRAVE (1975), Ellin published in 1979 his complete mystery tales 1948-1978. Ellin's last story was 'Unacceptable Procedures' (1985), which questioned the morals of economic development. Ellin was a member of Mystery Writers of America and its past president. He died of a heart attack on July 31, 1986 in Brooklyn. His works were a long time out of print, until Foul Play Press reprinted two of his novels in 1996.

In his novel STRONGHOLD (1975) Ellin explored his own religious background and portrayed a family of non-violent Quakers at the mercy of four murderous criminals. Ellin's private eye hero John Milano appeared first in STAR LIGHT, STAR BRIGHT (1979), in which Milano tried to prevent the murder of a renowned mystic guru who begins to receive threatening letters.

The second John Milano book, THE DARK FANTASTIC (1983), was rejected by Random House because of its insufficient political correctness in dealing with racial problems and attitudes in New York. For most of the readers it was clear, that the author did not share the racist, hate-filled opinions of his character, Professor Kirwan. In the psychological thriller with international intrigue, HOUSE OF CARDS (1963), former prize fighter Reno Davis, an American at loose ends in Paris, takes a job as guardian of young Paul de Villemont, son of an aristocratic family in decline. In the barred de Villemont mansion Reno becomes involved with Paul's beautiful, neurotic mother. Reno discovers a right-wing group, which then pursues him throughout Europe.

For further reading: Conversations with Writers II, ed. by Stanley Ellin et al (1978); Twentieth Century Mystery and Crime Writers, ed. by John M.Reilly (1985); 1001 Midnights by Bill Pronzini and Marcia Muller (1986); St. James Guide to Crime & Mystery Writers, ed. by Jay P. Pederson (1996); Encyclopaedia Mysteriosa by William L. DeAndrea (1997)

Other film adaptations: Nothing but the Best (1964), dir. by Clive Donner, starring Alan Bates and Denholm Elliott, was a British film version of Ellin's short story 'The Best of Everything.'

Dreadful Summit, (1948)