This novel does, indeed, offer a fuller characterization of the writer. By the way, I like the cover for the Polish edition of the book:
http://www.matras.pl/przeklete-miasto.html

In the 1930s books, Ellery seemed to be more like a robot than like a human. In the forties novels (especially
Calamity Town
), he seemed actually human! I think he's one of those characters who went through a lot of changes in the novels as time progressed.
~~
JimHutton (1934-79) and ElleryQueen

I love to reread mysteries, even though I know how those mysteries end.
Sometimes if I haven't read them in a long time, I won't even remember who is the killer in the story.
~~
JimHutton (1934-79) and ElleryQueen

Calamity Town is one of my favorites, as is Cat of Many Tails and Ten Days Wonder. Most Ellery Queen passes my reader test, I can reread the stories even when I remember who the guilty party is.
It is not our abilities that show who we truly areit is our choices

Have you read
Calamity Town
? He really showed a lot of emotion in that book. He falls in love with a young woman, he befriends the family, etc. It's the first of the Wrightsville novels, and the best one in my opinion.
~~
JimHutton (1934-79) and ElleryQueen

It kind of depends on the time period. He's an arrogant, nearly insufferable college grad in the early stories. The 40's, where the Queen stories hit their peak, with the Wrightsville novels and stories like Cat of Many Tails there is more character devolopment and Ellery is more actively engaged in the stories.
The later books,some of which may have been ghost written from plot outlines by Dannay and Lee are more rote again, Ellery is sometimes barely in them.
Compared to say Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin you arent getting a lot of character devolopment.
I started watching the TV show in high school, then I started reading the books. Ellery has always looked and sounded like Jim Hutton for me, and the same for David Wayne.
It is not our abilities that show who we truly areit is our choices

I like the way you phrased it. On the other hand, I read a few EQ books and must agree the writer is not fully fleshed out.

There weren't that many of them filmed back then. The ones filmed were mostly very short movies (less than 75 minutes or so).
~~
JimHutton (1934-79) & ElleryQueen

No, and it's unlikely that I will. My watching EQ lately was just a bit of a diversion from other things I'm in mid-watch on.
Could happen though - thanks for the recommendation!
So it goes.

He was absolutely adorable.
Have you seen any of the Ellery Queen movies from the 1930s and 1940s? The actors who played him did a good job as well.
~~
JimHutton (1934-79) & ElleryQueen

I do like the way Jim Hutton portrays him. He still has an air of confidence but in a rather self-effacing way.
So it goes.

I read a bunch of them these past few years, and Ellery had virtually no personality in the books. The actors who played him had to make a human being out of him.
~~
JimHutton (1934-79) & ElleryQueen