Patrick Quentin

Patrick Quentin, Q. Patrick and Jonathan Stagge were pen names under which Hugh Callingham Wheeler (19 March 1912 – 26 July 1987), Richard Wilson Webb (August 1901 – December 1966), Martha Mott Kelley (30 April 1906 – 2005) and Mary Louise White Aswell (3 June 1902 – 24 December 1984) wrote detective fiction. In some foreign countries their books have been published under the variant Quentin Patrick. Most of the stories were written by Webb and Wheeler in collaboration, or by Wheeler alone. Their most famous creation is the amateur sleuth Peter Duluth. In 1963, the story collection The Ordeal of Mrs. Snow was given a Special Edgar Award by the Mystery Writers of America.

History

In 1931, Martha Mott Kelley and Richard Wilson Webb collaborated on the detective novel Cottage Sinister. Kelley was known as Patsy (Patsy Kelly was a well-known character actress of that era) and Webb—an Englishman (born 1901 in Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset) who worked for a pharmaceutical company in Philadelphia—was known as Rick, so they created the pseudonym Q. Patrick by combining their nicknames—adding the Q "because it was unusual".

Webb and Kelley's literary partnership soon ended, with Kelley's marriage to a Stephen Wilson. Webb continued to write under the Q. Patrick name, while looking for a new writing partner. Although he wrote two novels with the journalist and Harper's Bazaar editor Mary Louise Aswell, he would find his permanent collaborator in Hugh Wheeler, a Londoner who had moved to the US in 1934.

Wheeler's and Webb's first collaboration was published in 1936. That same year, they introduced two new pseudonyms: Murder Gone to Earth, the first novel featuring Dr. Westlake, was credited to Jonathan Stagge, a name they would continue to use for the rest of the Westlake series. A Puzzle for Fools introduced Peter Duluth and was signed Patrick Quentin. This would become their primary and most famous pen name, even though they also continued to use Q. Patrick until the end of their collaboration (particularly for Inspector Trant stories).

In the late 1940s, Webb's contributions gradually decreased due to health problems. From the 1950s and on, Wheeler continued writing as Patrick Quentin on his own, and also had one book published under his own name. In the 1960s and '70s, Wheeler achieved success as a playwright and librettist, and his output as Quentin Patrick slowed and then ceased altogether after 1965. However, Wheeler did write the book for the 1979 musical Sweeney Todd about a fictional London mass murderer, showing he had not altogether abandoned the genre.

Writing

The early Q. Patrick detective stories generally follow the Golden Age "whodunit" conventions, with elaborate puzzle mysteries reminiscent of Agatha Christie or John Dickson Carr. From the time when Wheeler joined the writing, the stories become more psychologically acute, with increasingly realistic, fleshed-out characters. In the 1940s, the stories start to move away from the traditional detective pattern: Puzzle for Fiends is a Hitchcockian thriller, Puzzle for Pilgrims a film noir in written form, and Run to Death a pulpy spy novel.

The majority of the Webb–Wheeler collaborations feature one of their recurring characters: Peter Duluth, a Broadway director, WWII veteran and recovering alcoholic who, with his wife Iris, always seems to stumble across murders; Inspector Timothy Trant of the New York City Police, a Princeton University-educated dandy whose remorseless investigations often seem to be aimed at some innocent person before he reveals his real target; and the country doctor, Dr. Hugh Cavendish Westlake with his daughter Dawn. When Webb bowed out on the writing, these characters disappeared or receded into the background.

The late Patrick Quentin novels are increasingly dark and brooding. Deceit and betrayal, particularly adultery, already a frequent theme, becomes even more central. Although at the end of the story the murder is solved, the impact of the crime, and the corruption uncovered in the investigation, remain.

A study of all the Q.Patrick/Patrick Quentin/Jonathan Stagge novels has appeared in French, Patrick Quentin: Du roman-probleme au Thriller Psychologique by Roland Lacourbe, Vincent Bourgeois, Phillippe Fooz and Michel Soupart (France: Semper Aenigma, 2016).

Legacy

At one time a relatively popular mystery writer (Francis Iles called Quentin "number one among American crime writers"), Quentin has largely fallen into obscurity in the US, his works out of print. He probably is better known in Scandinavia, where he used to be among the most famous detective writers, although his reputation is fading there as well.

A few of Quentin's stories have been filmed (see below), most notably the Peter Duluth mystery Black Widow, which was filmed under that title by Twentieth Century Fox in 1954 as a color Cinemascope feature. Van Heflin portrayed the Peter Duluth character, who for some reason was renamed Peter Denver.

Works

As Dick Callingham

• ‘'Striking Silence'’. Street & Smith's Detective Story Magazine, February 1936
• ‘'Terror Keepers'’. Street & Smith's Detective Story Magazine, March 1936
• ‘'Frightened Killer'’. Street & Smith's Detective Story Magazine, May 1937

As Q. Patrick

Novels

• Cottage Sinister – 1931 (by Webb and Kelley), abridged version: Triple Detective, Winter 1948
• Murder at the Women's City Club – 1932 (also Death in the Dovecote) (by Webb and Kelley)
• Murder at the 'Varsity – 1933 (also Murder at Cambridge) (by Webb)
• S.S. Murder – 1933 (by Webb and Aswell)
• The Grindle Nightmare – 1935 (also Darker Grows the Valley) (by Webb and Aswell), abridged version: Detective Novel Magazine, May 1947
• Death Goes to School – 1936 (by Webb and Wheeler)
• Death for Dear Clara – 1937 (by Webb and Wheeler), with Inspector Trant
• The File on Fenton and Farr – 1938 (by Webb and Wheeler)
• The File on Claudia Cragge – 1938 (by Webb and Wheeler), with Inspector Trant
• Death and the Maiden – 1939 (by Webb and Wheeler), with Inspector Trant
• Return to the Scene – 1941 (also Death in Bermuda) (by Webb and Wheeler), serialised in the U.K.: Woman, 26 July 1941, 2 August 1941, 9 August 1941, 16 August 1941, 23 August 1941, 30 August 1941, 6 September 1941 and 13 September 1941
• Danger Next Door – 1952 (by Webb and Wheeler)
• The Girl on the Gallows – 1954

Short fiction

(FIRST KNOWN PUBLICATION ONLY)

• Darker Grows the Valley. Mystery, May 1935
• Killed by Time. Street & Smith's Detective Story Magazine, October 1935
• The Dogs Do Bark. Street & Smith's Detective Story Magazine, November 1935
• The Frightened Landlady. Street & Smith's Detective Story Magazine, December 1935
• The Scarlet Circle. Street & Smith's Detective Story Magazine, January 1936
• The Hated Woman. Street & Smith's Detective Story Magazine, February 1936
• Murder or Mercy. Street & Smith's Detective Story Magazine, June 1936
• The Jack of Diamonds. The American Magazine, November 1936
• Death Goes to School. PUBLICATION UNKNOWN, 1936
• Danger Next Door. Street & Smith's Detective Story Magazine, May 1937
• The Lady Had Nine Lives. The American Magazine, August 1937
• Exit Before Midnight. The American Magazine, October 1937. Serialised in the U.K.: Woman Magazine, 4 January 1941, 11 January 1941, 18 January 1941 and 25 January 1941
• Death and the Maiden. American Weekly, 22 and 29 January 1939
• Death for Dear Clara. Five-in-One Detective Magazine, June/July 1939
• Another Man’s Poison. The American Magazine, January 1940
• Death Rides the Ski-Tow. The American Magazine, April 1941. Serialised in the U.K. as Death Rides the Ski Trail
• Ordeal. Woman Magazine, 18 October 1941
• Murder with Flowers. The American Magazine, December 1941
• Portrait of a Murderer. Harper's Magazine, April 1942
• Humphrey. This Week, 24 May 1942
• The Woman Who Waited. The Shadow, January 1945
• White Carnations. Collier's, 10 February 1945
• The Plaster Cat. Mystery Book Magazine, July 1946
• Murder at Cambridge. Thrilling Mystery Novel Magazine, January 1947
• The Corpse in the Closet. This Week, 16 February 1947. Reprinted: Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, January 1948
• This Way Out. Mystery Book Magazine, March 1947
• Love Comes to Miss Lucy. Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, April 1947
• Footlights and Murder. This Week, 11 May 1947
• Little Boy Lost Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, October 1947
• Murder in One Scene. This Week, 2 May 1948
• Mother, May I Go Out to Swim?. Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, July 1948
• Farewell Performance. Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, September 1948
• The Wrong Envelope. Mystery Book Magazine, 1948
• Murder in the Alps. This Week, 20 February 1949
• Death and the Maiden Detective Novel Magazine, Spring 1949. Reprinted: This Week, 26 May 1949
• Who Killed the Mermaid?. This Week, 26 May 1949
• Thou Lord See'st Me. Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, July 1949
• The Case of the Plaster Cat. This Week, 3 September 1949
• Town Blonde, Country Blonde. This Week, 16 October 1949
• Woman of Ice. This Week, 30 October 1949
• This Looks Like Murder. This Week, 30 April 1950
• A Boy’s Will. Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, June 1950
• Death on the Riviera. This Week, 30 July 1950
• Death and Canasta. This Week, 15 October 1950
• Night. This Week, 26 November 1950 (Death on Saturday Night)
• This Will Kill You. Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, November 1950
• Girl Overboard (book). Four-&-Twenty Bloodhounds (1950)
• All the Way to the Moon. Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, September 1951
• Death before Breakfast. This Week, 11 March 1951
• Glamorous Opening. This Week, 3 June 1951
• Death at the Fair. (London) Evening Standard, 9 November 1951 (Trant)
• The Pigeon Woman. Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, July 1952
• Revolvers and Roses. This Week, 7 December 1952
• The 'Laughing Man' Murders. The American Magazine, March 1953
• Death on a First Night. Mackill's Mystery Magazine, May 1953.
• Going...Going...Gone!. This Week, 10 May 1953
• The Predestined. Britannia & Eve, 1 August 1953
• The Red Balloon. Weird Tales, November 1953
• Two Deadly Females. This Week, 3 April 1955
• The Fat Cat. Suspense, March 1959. Reprinted as The Fat Cat Which Sat on the Mat (Great Animal Stories No. 3). Aberdeen Evening Express, 18 and 19 October 1961

As Patrick Quentin

Novels

• A Puzzle for Fools- 1936 (by Webb and Wheeler)
  with Peter Duluth.
• Puzzle for Players – 1938 (by Webb and Wheeler)
  with Peter Duluth.
• Puzzle for Puppets – 1944 (by Webb and Wheeler)
  with Peter Duluth. Filmed as Homicide for Three (1948) .
• Puzzle for Wantons – 1945 (also Slay the Loose Ladies) (by Webb and Wheeler)
  with Peter Duluth.
• Puzzle for Fiends – 1946 (also Love Is a Deadly Weapon) (by Webb and Wheeler)
  with Peter Duluth. Filmed in the UK as The Strange Awakening (1958), US title Female Friends .
• Puzzle for Pilgrims – 1947 (also The Fate of the Immodest Blonde) (by Webb and Wheeler)
  with Peter Duluth.
• Run to Death – 1948 (by Webb and Wheeler)
  with Peter Duluth.
• The Follower – 1950 (by Webb and Wheeler)
• Black Widow – 1952 (also Fatal Woman) (by Webb and Wheeler)
  with Peter Duluth and Inspector Trant. Filmed as Black Widow (1954) .
• My Son, the Murderer – 1954 (also The Wife of Ronald Sheldon) (by Wheeler)
  with Peter Duluth (briefly) and Inspector Trant.
• The Man with Two Wives – 1955. Serialised, Woman's Own Weekly from 16 June 1955, 23 June 1955, 30 June 1955, 7 July 1955, 14 July 1855, 21 July 1955, 28 July 1955 and 4 August 1955 (by Wheeler)
  with Inspector Trant. Filmed as Tsuma Futari (1967)　by Shindo Kaneto .
• The Man in the Net – 1956 (by Wheeler)
  Filmed as The Man in the Net (1959) .
• Suspicious Circumstances – 1957 (by Wheeler)
• Shadow of Guilt – 1959 (by Wheeler)
  with Inspector Trant. Filmed as L'Homme à femmes (1960) .
• The Green-Eyed Monster – 1960 (by Wheeler)
• The Ordeal of Mrs. Snow – 1961 (by Wheeler)
  A short story collection; the title story was filmed for TV as an episode of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, "The Ordeal of Mrs. Snow" (1964) .
• Family Skeletons – 1965 (by Wheeler)
  with Inspector Trant. Filmed for West German TV as Familienschande (1988) .
• The Puzzles of Peter Duluth – Crippen & Landru Publishers, 2016. Short stories.

Short fiction

• "Witness for the Prosecution", Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, July 1946

As Jonathan Stagge

All by Webb and Wheeler

• Murder Gone to Earth – 1936 (also The Dogs Do Bark)
  with Dr. Hugh Westlake.
• Murder or Mercy? – 1937 (also Murder by Prescription)
  with Dr. Hugh Westlake.
• The Stars Spell Death – 1939 (also Murder in the Stars)
  with Dr. Hugh Westlake.
• Turn of the Table – 1940 (also Funeral for Five)
  with Dr. Hugh Westlake. Serialised in US newspapers as The Table Talks
• The Yellow Taxi – 1942 (also Call a Hearse)
  with Dr. Hugh Westlake. Serialisedin US newspapers as Riddle in Red
• The Scarlet Circle – 1943 (also Light from a Lantern)
  with Dr. Hugh Westlake.
• Death, My Darling Daughters – 1945 (also Death and the Dear Girls)
  with Dr. Hugh Westlake.
• Death's Old Sweet Song – 1946
  with Dr. Hugh Westlake.
• The Three Fears – 1949
  with Dr. Hugh Westlake.

As Hugh Wheeler

• The Crippled Muse – 1951 (by Wheeler)

As Mary Louise White Aswell

• Far to Go – 1957 (a thriller written by Aswell alone)

References

• Christian Henriksson's Mystery Author Bibliography Site. Bibliography, including short stories, and giving Swedish titles when present.
• Skyggespill: En dikter som spiller sjakk. Biography and discussion of works. In Norwegian.
• Gialloweb Bibliography. Complete bibliography, with all the Italian editions.