The Finishing Stroke the young heir, was born in 1905. This is at odds with accounts in the earliest Queen stories, but Frederic Dannay and Manfred B. Lee, who co-wrote the novels under the "Ellery Queen" pen name, were both born in 1905. To quote some negative criticism of the novel: "Rhymed threats of murder, accompanied by symbolic objectives, bewilder the guests and annoy the reader. The pervasive vulgarity renders the trick plot even less believable and justifies the contempt of those who dismiss all crime fiction as puerile." The Finishing Stroke The Finishing Stroke is a mystery novel by Ellery Queen, published
David Williams (crime writer) David Williams (crime writer) David Williams (8 June 1926 – 26 September 2003) was an advertising executive who became a crime writer after suffering a stroke. Williams was born in Bridgend in Wales and studied at the Hereford Cathedral School and St John's College, Oxford, where he read Modern History. His university studies were interrupted by World War II when Williams spent three years as an officer in the Royal Navy. He started in advertising as a medical copywriter, rising through the ranks to head David Williams and Ketchum, regarded as one of the largest and most successful advertising agencies