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. In 1949, the book Puzzle for Pilgrims won the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière International Prize, the most prestigious award for crime and detective fiction in France.
Contents
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 Stephen Shipley Wilson. Webb continued to write under the Q. Patrick name, while looking for a new writing partner. He wrote one novel with the journalist and Harper's Bazaar editor Mary Louise Aswell, before he found 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.
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. 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 noir novel, 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.
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
Francis Iles called Quentin "number one among American crime writers".
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 was renamed Peter Denver.
Works variously by Richard Wilson Webb, Hugh Wheeler, Martha Mott Kelley and Mary Louise Aswell
As 'Q. Patrick'
Cottage Sinister – 1931. Abridged version: Triple Detective, Winter 1948
Murder at the Women's City Club – 1932 (also Death in the Dovecote)
Murder at the 'Varsity – 1933 (also Murder at Cambridge)
The Grindle Nightmare – 1935 (also Darker Grows the Valley). Abridged version: Detective Novel Magazine, May 1947
Death Goes to School – 1936
S.S. Murder – 1933
Death for Dear Clara – 1937, with Inspector Trant
The File on Fenton and Farr – 1938
The File on Claudia Cragge – 1938, with Inspector Trant
Death and the Maiden – 1939, with Inspector Trant
Return to the Scene – 1941 (also Death in Bermuda), 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
The Girl on the Gallows – 1954
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
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 'Patrick Quentin'
A Puzzle for Fools – 1936 with Peter Duluth.
Puzzle for Players – 1938 with Peter Duluth.
Puzzle for Puppets – 1944 with Peter Duluth. Serialised weekly as “Ring around the Roses” as by Q Patrick. Woman magazine, 18 April to 9 May 1942. Filmed as Homicide for Three (1948) [1].
Puzzle for Wantons – 1945 (also Slay the Loose Ladies)with Peter Duluth. Originally serialised as "Puzzle for Frauds". Woman Magazine (UK), 20 January to 10 March 1945
Puzzle for Fiends – 1946 (also Love Is a Deadly Weapon)with Peter Duluth. Filmed in the UK as The Strange Awakening (1958), US title Female Fiends [2]. Serialised weekly in the U.K., Answers Magazine, 24 August 1946 to 8 February 1947
Puzzle for Pilgrims – 1947 (also The Fate of the Immodest Blonde) with Peter Duluth.
Run to Death – 1948 with Peter Duluth.
The Follower – 1950
Black Widow – 1952 (also Fatal Woman) with Peter Duluth and Inspector Trant. Filmed as Black Widow (1954) [3].
My Son, the Murderer – 1954 (also The Wife of Ronald Sheldon)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 1955with Inspector Trant. Filmed as Tsuma Futari (1967) by Shindo Kaneto [4].
The Man in the Net – 1956 Filmed as The Man in the Net (1959) [5].
As 'Jonathan Stagge'
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). Serialised in US newspapers as The Table Talks – with Dr Hugh Westlake
The Yellow Taxi – 1942 (also Call a Hearse). Serialised in US newspapers as Riddle in Red – with Dr Hugh Westlake
The Scarlet Circle – 1943 (also Light from a Lantern) – with Dr Hugh Westlake
Death, My Darling Daughters – 1945 (also Death and the Dear Girls)
Death's Old Sweet Song – 1946
The Three Fears – 1949 – with Dr Hugh Westlake
Novels by Hugh Wheeler
The Crippled Muse – 1951
Novels by Mary Louise Aswell
Far to Go – 1957