click on cover to go back

A Study in Terror (1966)

Ellery Queen and Sherlock Holmes-Undisputed masters of analytical deduction - their talents and methods strikingly, almost uncannily, alike. Through the strange interlocking of events past and present, two celebrated detectives meet to focus their razor-sharp intellects, their brilliant powers of observation on the mystery of... Jack the Ripper. History's most depraved murderer, his victims were the whores of Whitechapel. Lurking in narrow, fog-shrouded alleys, he crept forth night after night to murder and mutilate. Eluding Scotland Yard's most heroic efforts to track him down, the Ripper continued to satisfy his unnatural appetites, unrestrained and unidentified!

Frederic Dannay and Derek Ford (1933-1995) got the writing credits for the movie ' A Study in Terror' (aka 'Fog' 1965).While Conan Doyle never addressed the problem of the Ripper in any of his Sherlock Holmes stories (despite many letters asking him to do so), his followers have done it several times. Holmes appears in center stage in Ellery Queen's 'A Study in Terror'. The story was also published in Argosy (Aug '91) as  the Adventure of the Surgeon's Kit.  The 'Holmes' story of the movie was rewritten by Paul W. Fairman and then Ellery Queen added a second solution that trumps the great Holmes! 

A Study in Terror - cover Lancer Paperback,1969A Study in Terror - cover Lancer Paperback,1969 variationSherlock Holmes versus Jack the Ripper - cover Victor Gollancz
A Study in Terror - coverA Study in Terror - cover Large Print Softcover edition, G.K. Hall & Co. , 2001A Study in Terror - cover

As such the novel is, in actuality, two novels in one. Ellery Queen (the character) is given an unpublished manuscript by a woman who asks that Ellery use his powers of deduction to clear the man Holmes names as the Ripper.  The  Watson manuscript is interwoven with Ellery's as he reads through the book. This evoces mixed feelings"..One reason why the book is so unsatisfactory is the denouement in which six of the principal characters are killed, murdered, or commit suicide in a little over four pages. One impales himself on his sword stick; four more are burned to death; and the sixth is stabbed by somebody pretending to be Jack the Ripper" (Rumbelow, Donald. Jack the Ripper: The Complete Casebook. Revised, 248). Critics accused EQ of taking this job just for the money and based on both movie and book we have to say the money seems well-spent, as it remains a clever, creative pastiche.
The Watson manuscript details Holmes tracking the killer and eventually discovering him. Working from text only Ellery deduces otherwise. Unlikeliness aside, the main problem of this novel is that it purports to be giving a solution to the puzzle. As such, it should follow the constraints of the evidence as we know it. This does not happen as victims are introduced haphazardly and the murders do not take place in the correct sequence. A petty point, to be sure, but one that invalidates its authority. The story is an amusing read but unsatisfying for both Ellery Queen and Sherlock Holmes fans. Holmes lacks Doyle's touch and there is not enough of Queen to bear mentioning.


Sherlock Holmes contre Jack l'Eventreur - cover French edition J'ai Lu, Paris, Nr.2607, 1989Sherlock Holmes contre Jack l'Eventreur - cover édition stock, 1968Sherlock Holmes und Jack the Ripper - coverSherlock Holmes und Jack the Ripper - cover Dumont's Kriminal-Bibliothek, 2000
Sherlock Holmes gegen Jack the Ripper - German cover Ullstein BucherUno studio in Nero - cover Italian edition Il giallo Mondadorio n.949Uno studio in Nero - cover Italian edition,I classici del giallo N°.339Sherlock Holmes contra Jack, O Estripador - Brazilian edition, Livros do Brasil, 1997

A study in terror Translations:
Danish: En studie i mord  
Dutch/Flemish: none  
French: Sherlock Holmes contre Jack l'Eventreur  
German: Sherlock Holmes gegen Jack the Ripper  
(aka Sherlock Holmes und Jack the Ripper)  
Italian: Uno studio in nero  
Japanese: kyoufunokenkyuu  
Norwegian: En studie i mord  
Portuguese: Sherlock Holmes contra Jack O Estripador  
Russian: НЕИЗВЕСТНАЯ РУКОПИСЬ ДОКТОРА УОТСОНА  
Swedish: En studie i skräck - Ellery Queen och Sherlock   Holmeslöser mysteriet med Jack Uppskäraren  


En studie i skräck - cover Swedish edition, Läsa Bra, 1979En Studie I Mord - cover Danish versionНЕИЗВЕСТНАЯ РУКОПИСЬ ДОКТОРА УОТСОНА - Cover Russian edition, 2005 (Also includes The French Powder Mystery)A Study in Terror - Japan

previous indepth review... b a c k   t o  Q  B  I next indepth review...


Copyright
© MCMXCIX-MMVII   Ellery Queen, a website on deduction. All rights reserved.