Ellery Queen first appeared in The Roman Hat Mystery ( 1929 ) .
Was the hero of more than 30 novels and several short story collections , During the 1930s and much of the 1940s , that detective - hero was possibly the best known American fictional detective .
Ellery Queen first appeared in The Roman Hat Mystery ( 1929 ) , and was the hero of more than 30 novels and several short story collections , During the 1930s and much of the 1940s , that detective - hero was possibly the best known American fictional detective .