The Origin of Evil The Origin of Evil The Origin of Evil is a mystery novel by Ellery Queen (pseudonym of American writers Manfred B. Lee and Frederic Dannay), published in 1951. It is set in Los Angeles, US. The beautiful young Laurel Hill asks Ellery Queen to investigate a series of unusual anonymous gifts that have been received by her father, Leander Hill, half of Hill and Priam, Wholesale Jewelers. Roger Priam is Leander's partner, who uses a wheelchair. The latest gift, a dead dog with a mysterious note in a silver casket around its neck, has caused Leander to have a heart
Frederic Morton Frederic Morton Frederic Morton (October 5, 1924 – April 20, 2015) was an Austrian-born American writer. Born Fritz Mandelbaum in Vienna, Morton was the son of a blacksmith who specialized in forging (manufacturing) imperial medals. In the wake of the "Anschluss" of 1938, his father was arrested, but later released. The family fled to Britain in 1939 and migrated to New York City the next year, when the senior Mandelbaum also changed the family name in order to be able to join an anti-Semitic labor union. Morton worked as a baker but began studying literature in 1949. He returned to