Edward D. Hoch

Edward Dentinger Hoch (February 22, 1930 – January 17, 2008) was an American writer of detective fiction. Although he wrote several novels, he was primarily known for his vast output of over 950 short stories.

Hoch (pronounced hoke) was born in Rochester, New York and began writing in the 1950s; his first story appeared in 1955 in Famous Detective Stories and was followed by stories in The Saint Mystery Magazine. In January 1962 he began appearing in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine. In December 1962 he kicked off his most successful collaboration, with the appearance of his first story in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine; in the years since EQMM has published over 450 of Hoch's stories, roughly half of his total output. In May 1973 EQMM began publishing a new Hoch story in every monthly issue; as of May 2007 the author had gone an astonishing 34 years without missing a single issue.

Other magazines Hoch wrote for included Adventure, Double-Action Detective, Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine, The Magazine of Horror and Web Detective Stories.

Hoch was a master of the classic detective story, emphasizing mystery and deduction rather than suspense and fast action; EQMM has called him "The King of the Classical Whodunit." His stories are very well written and are usually tightly plotted puzzles, with carefully and fairly presented clues, both physical and psychological. He was particularly partial to "impossible crime" tales, where to all appearances the crime (usually a murder) could not have been committed at all; he invented numerous variants on the locked room mystery popularized by John Dickson Carr and others. For instance, in "The Second Problem of the Covered Bridge", a man is shot at close range while alone on a covered bridge, while crowds of witnesses watch both ends of the bridge. Hoch cited Graham Greene, John Dickson Carr, Ellery Queen and Jorge Luis Borges as influences on his fiction.

Hoch also published magazine stories under the names "Stephen Dentinger", "R. L. Stevens", "Pat McMahon", "Anthony Circus", "Irwin Booth", "R. E. Porter", "Mr. X" and the House Name "Ellery Queen". In many cases he also had a story under his own name in the same magazine issue. Hoch also wrote a novel published as Ellery Queen, under the supervision and editing of Manfred Lee, half of the writing partnership known as Ellery Queen.

In 2001 Hoch was named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America, the first time a Grand Master was known primarily for short fiction rather than novels.

Hoch, a Catholic, died at home in Rochester of a heart attack, aged 77. His wife, née Patricia McMahon, was his only immediate survivor.

The overwhelming majority of Hoch's stories feature series characters. He has created at least a dozen different series of stories for EQMM alone. His Captain Leopold series reached over 100 stories.

Nick Velvet

Captain Leopold

Dr. Sam Hawthorne

Rand

Simon Ark

Ben Snow

Stanton and Ives

Sir Gideon Parrot

Michael Vlado

Alexander Swift

Barney Hamet

Susan Holt

Interpol

Al Darlan

• The Shattered Raven, 1970. ISBN 0709112300
  Barney Hamet investigates a murder at the Mystery Writers of America.
• The Blue Movie Murders, 1973. ISBN 0575015950
  (as Ellery Queen). "Trouble shooter" Mike McCall investigates the murder of a film producer.

Science fiction detective stories

These three science fiction novels, set in the mid-21st century, feature Carl Crader and Earl Jazine of the Computer Investigation Bureau, nicknamed the "Computer Cops".

• The Transvection Machine, 1971. ISBN 0802755399
• The Fellowship of the Hand, 1973. ISBN 0802755534
• The Frankenstein Factory, 1975. ISBN 0446768618

• City of Brass (Simon Ark), paperback, 1971. ISBN 0843900296
• The Judges of Hades (Simon Ark), paperback, 1971. ISBN 0843900334
• Ellery Queen Presents the Spy and the Thief (Rand / Nick Velvet), ed. Queen, 1971. LCCN 72099895
• The Thefts of Nick Velvet (Nick Velvet), 1978. ISBN 0892960353
• The Quests of Simon Ark (Simon Ark), hardcover, 1984. ISBN 0892961139
• Leopold's Way (Captain Leopold), ed. Nevins & Greenberg, 1985. ISBN 0809312336
• The Spy Who Read Latin (Rand), hardcover 1990.
• The Night, My Friend (non-series), ed. Nevins, 1992. ISBN 0821410113
• Diagnosis: Impossible (Dr. Sam Hawthorne), 1996. ISBN 1885941021 Crippen & Landru
• The Ripper of Storyville (Ben Snow), with Marvin Lachman, 1997. ISBN 1885941196 Crippen & Landru
• The Velvet Touch (Nick Velvet), 2000. ISBN 1885941420 Crippen & Landru
• The Old Spies Club (Rand), 2001. ISBN 1885941609 Crippen & Landru
• The Night People (non-series), 2001. ISBN 0786231467 Crippen & Landru
• The Iron Angel (Michael Vlado), 2003. ISBN 1885941919 Crippen & Landru
• More Things Impossible (Dr. Sam Hawthorne), 2006. ISBN 1932009493Crippen & Landru
• The Sherlock Holmes Stories of Edward D. Hoch, 2008.
• Nothing Is Impossible (Dr. Sam Hawthorne), 2014. ISBN 1936363038 Crippen & Landru

• Dear Dead Days, 1972
• Best Detective Stories of the Year, 1976 through 1981
• All But Impossible!, 1981
• The Year's Best Mystery and Suspense Stories, 1982 through 1995
• Murder Most Sacred: Great Catholic Tales of Mystery and Suspense,1989
• Twelve American Detective Stories, 1997

• 1968 Edgar Allan Poe Award (Mystery Writers of America): "The Oblong Room", The Saint Mystery Magazine, July 1967
• 1998 Anthony Award (Bouchercon World Mystery Convention): "One Bag of Coconuts", EQMM, November 1997
• 2001 Anthony Award (Bouchercon): "The Problem of the Potting Shed", EQMM, July 2000
• 2007 Ellery Queen Readers Choice Award (awarded 2008): "The Theft of the Ostracized Ostrich", EQMM, June 2007
• Lifetime Achievement Award (Private Eye Writers of America), 2000
• Grand Master (Mystery Writers of America), 2001
• Lifetime Achievement Award (Bouchercon), 2001