Ross

Let me tell you a slightly irrelevant story.

In 1932, Barnaby Ross, whose name was never heard of before, wrote a book titled The Tragedy of X. It was a fiction about Drury Lane, a Shakespearean actor who had retired from the stage due to deafness and was consulted as an amateur detective.

The book proved a best seller, and, shortly afterwards, when his second novel, The Tragedy of Y, was published, Ross became the superstar of detective fiction. To add oil to the fire, Ross's novels were openly criticized by Ellery Queen, another famous crime novelist at the time. The two of them subsequently staged a series of public debates, pointing fingers at each other.

In order not to be recognized by the others, both of them wore masks when they appeared in front of the public.

The problem is, however, no one had ever seen Barnaby Ross - not even his publisher. Since his skill and plots appeared too sophisticated to be a new comer, it was suspected from the very first day that Barnaby Ross was the pseudonym of someone well known.

Alas, you could guess that much: Barnaby Ross and Ellery Queen were one and the same. I did not say one person because the two pseudonyms were used by two cousins, Frederic Dannay and Manford Lepofsky, who wrote novels in a combined effort. During the public debates, one took the role of Ross and the other Queen.