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S. S. Van Dine (1888–1939)

Teoksen Kanarialinnun salaisuus tekijä

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Image credit: Library of Congress

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Tekijän teokset

Kanarialinnun salaisuus (1927) 351 kappaletta
The Benson Murder Case (1926) 333 kappaletta
The Bishop Murder Case (1928) 275 kappaletta
The Dragon Murder Case (1933) 141 kappaletta
The Kennel Murder Case (1933) 123 kappaletta
The Scarab Murder Case (1930) 118 kappaletta
The Winter Murder Case (1939) 104 kappaletta
The Gracie Allen Murder Case (1938) 104 kappaletta
The Kidnap Murder Case (1936) 97 kappaletta
The Casino Murder Case (1934) 95 kappaletta
The Garden Murder Case (1935) 84 kappaletta
The World's Great Detective Stories (1927) — Toimittaja — 31 kappaletta
Europe After 8:15 (1914) — Co-author — 14 kappaletta
A Philo Vance Weekend (2017) 7 kappaletta
The creative will (2009) 7 kappaletta
The Man of Promise (1916) 6 kappaletta
Philo Vance 4 kappaletta
The President's Mystery Story (1935) — Tekijä — 3 kappaletta
Misinforming a nation (2012) 2 kappaletta
L'enigma dell'alfiere (2012) 1 kappale

Associated Works

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Kirja-arvosteluja

Murder on the Penthouse Roof Garden
Review of the Felony & Mayhem Kindle eBook edition (December 14, 2020) of the Scribner’s hardcover original (1935).

“But that isn’t fair to Mr. Van Dine. Where would you be without him, Mr. Vance?”
“I admit I’d be unknown and unsung,” returned Vance. “But I’d be a happier man – an obscure, but free, spirit. And I’d never have unconsciously provided the inspiration for Ogden Nash’s poetic masterpiece.”*
* Vance was referring to Nash’s famous couplet: “Philo Vance Needs a kick in the pance.”


Even though The Garden Murder Case has the usual Van Dine tropes of the 'apparently innocent witness who is in fact the real culprit' and 'who will escape standard criminal justice by some method of circumstance', you still have to smile when you see that the writer is self-effacing enough to include the Ogden Nash couplet in his text, albeit as a footnote.

The case does have an intriguing start. Philo Vance and his 'Watson' Van Dine attend a penthouse gathering where the host runs an off-track betting emporium for his family and friends. One relative is in desperate straits and makes a huge bet on their anticipated winner of the day's big race. They then adjourn to the rooftop garden to avoid being studied by the other guests. After the race is run and the winner proves to be another horse, a shot rings out and the reckless bettor is found dead, apparently from a self-inflicted gunshot from a nearby revolver. Everyone except Vance says it is suicide. Vance of course knows that it is murder.

See front cover at https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/27/TheGardenMurderCase.jpg
The front cover of the original Scribner’s first edition (1935). Image sourced from Wikipedia.

We then go through the standard machinations where various red herrings and other apparent suspects are paraded before us. Vance eventually does the standard 'gather all the suspects together in a reenactment' trick to draw out the real culprit. It has a shocking twist for a first-time reader, but if you've read several Vances in a row as I now have, the finale requires the now expected Unsatisfactory Ending Alert™.

Trivia and Links
See movie poster at https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/37/The-Garden-Murder-Case_poster.jpg
The Garden Murder Case was adapted as the same-titled film The Garden Murder Case (1936) directed by Edwin L. Marin and starring Edward Lowe as Philo Vance. You can see the original trailer on YouTube here.

Willard Huntington Wright aka S.S. Van Dine is also the author of the Twenty Rules for Writing Detective Stories.
… (lisätietoja)
 
Merkitty asiattomaksi
alanteder | 1 muu arvostelu | Mar 22, 2024 |
Poisoned by H2H2O*?
Review of the Felony & Mayhem Kindle eBook edition (March 7, 2020) of the Scribner’s hardcover original (1934).

“Oh, it’s far worse than that,” Vance interjected. “What I was tryin’ to say is that this case is a crime within a crime: we are supposed to commit the final horror. The ultimate chord in this macabre symphony is to be our conviction of an innocent person. The entire technique is based on a colossal deception. We are supposed to follow the specious and apparent truth—and it will not be the truth at all, but the worst and most diabolical lie of the whole subtle business.”


It is unfortunate that the Philo Vance novels become increasingly self-parodies in the long run. I'm finishing out this binge read as they are still reasonably entertaining even though very predictable. It is also wild to read them with the knowledge of present day forensics and CSI style crime investigations. Philo Vance picks up objects at crime scenes, often even pocketing them, with hardly a care and with no objection by the criminal authorities. Everyone in the books smokes constantly, cigarettes for Vance and mostly cigars for District Attorney Markham and Sergeant Heath. This is even at the crime scenes.

Anyway, The Casino Murder Case is par for the course, with the usual misdirection from the obvious suspect. There is a subplot of the possible use of heavy water as a poison, which is also a distraction from the real method of poisoning. Vance pontificates about methods of betting along with the science of heavy water extraction. In the end we have the now standard Unsatisfactory Ending Alert™ where the criminal meets an end which doesn't satisfy standard criminal justice.

See the front cover at https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/36/TheCasinoMurderCase.jpg
The front cover of the original Scribner’s first edition (1934). Image sourced from Wikipedia.

There is some confusion about the chronology of the Philo Vance books, with The Casino Murder Case assigned the No. 7 in the canon. Some editions say that is No. 8 though, as can be seen on the cover of this Felony & Mayhem edition from 2020.

Footnote
* This is the formula given in the book for heavy water. It is now commonly given as D2O. Heavy water was a recent discovery in the early 1930s and its possible toxic effects were unknown.

Trivia and Links
See film poster at https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/51/The_Casino_Murder_Case_film.jpg
The Casino Murder Case was adapted as the same-titled film The Casino Murder Case (1935) directed by Edwin L. Marin and starring Paul Lukas as Philo Vance. You can see the original trailer for the film on YouTube here. Both the trailer and a clip from the film give the impression that it is played mostly as a comedy.

Willard Huntington Wright aka S.S. Van Dine is also the author of the Twenty Rules for Writing Detective Stories.
… (lisätietoja)
 
Merkitty asiattomaksi
alanteder | 2 muuta kirja-arvostelua | Mar 18, 2024 |
The Disappearing Diver
Review of the Arni Books Kindle eBook edition (August 10, 2023) of the Scribner’s hardcover original (1933).

Of all the cases I have thus far recorded none was as exciting, as weird, as apparently unrelated to all rational thinking, as the dragon murder. Here was a crime that seemed to transcend all the ordinary scientific knowledge of man and to carry the police and investigators into an obfuscous* and unreal realm of demonology and folklore - a realm fraught with dim racial memories of legendary terrors.


The opening premise here was actually pretty fantastic. At an evening party a man dives into a swimming pool and doesn't resurface. Others jump in to look for him but he has disappeared. The rather histrionic matron of the household insists that a legendary flying dragon has scooped up the body and flown away with it. The police are completely baffled of course and only amateur sleuth Philo Vance can untangle the myth from the reality.

Eventually a real world explanation is arrived at, even though it seems ridiculously improbable. To postpone the unravelling we have the now typical S.S. Van Dine delaying tactic of providing long lists of dragon myths throughout history and then a further detailed listing of the scientific names of tropical fish. Philo Vance is of course an expert in all of those areas.

The final reveal has the least likely suspect revealed as the culprit with a deus ex machina method of serving the course of justice. I can't even label these with an Unsatisfactory Ending Alert™ as the S.S. Van Dine formula is now so predictable that you always know what you are going to get.

See cover at https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/20/TheDragonMurderCase.jpg
The front cover of the original Scribner’s first edition (1933). Image sourced from Wikipedia.

Footnote
* This appears to be an invented adjective form of the verb obfuscate: to make obscure, to confuse.

Trivia and Links
See film poster at https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fc/The_Dragon_Murder_Case-Poster.jpg
The Dragon Murder Case was adapted as the same-titled film The Dragon Murder Case (1934) directed by H. Bruce Humberstone and starring Warren William as Philo Vance. You can see the opening credits and opening scenes on YouTube here.

Willard Huntington Wright aka S.S. Van Dine is also the author of the Twenty Rules for Writing Detective Stories.
… (lisätietoja)
 
Merkitty asiattomaksi
alanteder | 5 muuta kirja-arvostelua | Mar 16, 2024 |
Who Let the Dog Out?
Review of the Avarang Kindle eBook edition (May 30, 2023) of the Scribner’s hardcover original (1933).

Philo Vance
Needs a kick in the pance.
- Ogden Nash

"And the facts here seem pretty clean-cut. That door was bolted on the inside; there's no other means of entrance or exit to this room; Coe is sitting here with the lethal weapon -."
"Oh, call it a revolver," interrupted Vance. "Silly phrase, 'lethal weapon.'"
Markham snorted.
"Very well... With a revolver in his hand, and a hole in his right temple. There are no signs of a struggle; the windows and shades are down, and the lights burning... How, in Heaven's name, could it have been anything but suicide?"


This would have been a great locked room mystery, but the final explanation is ridiculously complicated and the appropriate fate of the culprit is diminished by a deus ex machina finale. I'm finding increasing diminishing returns in these Philo Vance mysteries even if the banter between the amateur sleuth and the authorities is still entertaining.

This case opens with the body of Arthur Coe apparently dead by suicide inside a locked room of his own house. Then a wounded dog is also located whimpering behind a curtain. Then yet another body is found. The complications pile on one by one. The solution to the mystery of the dog (which did not belong to the household) leads to the final revelation of the identity of the culprit.

An enormous amount of detail about Scottish Terrier dog breeding is provided by Vance in what is now an evident trademark of the novels. The amateur detective is also an expert is whatever subject matter is related to the case, e.g. chess & mathematics, Egyptology and archeology, tropical fish and dragon myths etc.

See book cover at https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d8/Kennel-murder-case-cover.jpg
Front cover of the original Scribner’s first edition (1933). Image sourced from Wikipedia.

Trivia and Links
See movie poster at https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/bb/The-kennel-murder-case-1933.jpg
The Kennel Murder Case was adapted as the same-titled film The Kennel Murder Case (1933) directed by Michael Curtiz and starring William Powell as Philo Vance. You can watch the entire film on YouTube here.

Willard Huntington Wright aka S.S. Van Dine is also the author of the Twenty Rules for Writing Detective Stories.
… (lisätietoja)
 
Merkitty asiattomaksi
alanteder | 6 muuta kirja-arvostelua | Mar 12, 2024 |

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