S. S. Van Dine
Author
Series
Philo Vance mysteries volume 1
Language
English
Formats
Description
A Golden Age mystery featuring one of America's most popular detectives of page and screen, "the perfect sleuth for the Jazz Age" (CrimeReads).
New York in the 1920s is the world's most glamorous city, gleaming skyscrapers reaching for the heavens, and the hot notes of the jazz bands rising even higher. Drinking it like the finest French champagne is Philo Vance, an expert in art with the deepest pockets, the brainiest brains, and the most gloriously...
Author
Series
Philo Vance mysteries volume 2
Language
English
Description
This early work by S. S. Van Dine was originally published in 1927 and we are now republishing it with a brand new introduction. 'The "Canary" Murder Case' is one of Van Dine's novels of crime and mystery. S. S. Van Dine was born Willard Huntington Wright in Charlottesville, Virginia in 1888. He attended St. Vincent College, Pomona College and Harvard University, but failed to graduate, leaving to cultivate contacts he had made in the literary world....
Author
Series
Philo Vance mysteries volume 4
Language
English
Description
In this classic 1920s mystery, a debonair aristocrat turned amateur sleuth searches New York City for a killer drawing inspiration from nursery rhymes.
Renaissance dandy Philo Vance has an insatiable hunger for complicated puzzles to solve. He frequently serves as an informal advisor to the police on demanding cases. And once again, New York District Attorney John Markham has quite a case for Vance.
The body of Joseph Cochrane Robin was found...
Author
Series
Philo Vance mysteries volume 3
Language
English
Description
In this classic 1920s mystery, a wealthy dilettante turned amateur sleuth must determine who wants to kill off one of Manhattan's greatest families.
Chester Greene has come to the office of New York District Attorney John Markham in need of help. Someone broke into his family's East Side mansion, shot one of his sisters dead, and left another sister wounded. The police believe it to be the work of a panicked burglar, but Chester doesn't buy it....
Author
Series
Philo Vance mysteries volume 12
Language
English
Description
A murder in the mountains is the latest case for the Manhattan detective famed for his "highbrow manner and parade of encyclopedic learning" (The New York Times).
Wealthy and worldly-wise detective Philo Vance has been asked to keep watch at a house party in the snowy Berkshires of western Massachusetts, where he encounters an assortment of guests ranging from a treasure hunter to a race car driver. The owner of the house doesn't quite trust his...
Author
Series
Philo Vance mysteries volume 11
Language
English
Description
The beloved 1930s comedienne becomes the famed detective's sidekick in the series that "transport[s] the reader back to a long-gone era of society" (Mystery Scene).
During a glamorous night on the town, Gracie Allen finds a dead body-and a cigarette case nearby that belongs to her date for the evening. Detective Philo Vance is on the scene, but questioning Gracie is causing more confusion than enlightenment. To prevent her from creating more chaos,...
Author
Series
Philo Vance mysteries volume 9
Language
English
Description
A horse race turns into a murder case . . . "Mr. Van Dine's amateur detective is the most gentlemanly, and probably the most scholarly snooper in literature." -Chicago Daily Tribune
Aristocratic detective Philo Vance has gotten an anonymous invitation to a New York rooftop garden, where a group of wealthy friends gather to listen to the horse races. But on the night Vance attends, a guest dies of a gunshot wound after losing a load of money on...
Author
Series
Philo Vance mysteries volume 7
Language
English
Description
A whodunit that "presents a good puzzle, and that, according to Mr. Vance and his tens of thousands of readers, is what murder mystery books are for" (The New York Times).
No question, The Dragon Murder Case showcases Our Philo at his most supremely irritating. The book is set at a Manhattan mansion complete with picturesque pool. Into that pool dives Sanford Montague, never to be seen again. Fools rush to blame the supernatural, noting that the...
Author
Series
Philo Vance mysteries volume 6
Language
English
Description
Given all the rich people getting bumped off in Philo Vance's Manhattan, it's amazing there are enough left to support the symphony. Latest up: Arthur Coe, found dead in his own locked bedroom. Suicide? The ever-perceptive Philo doesn't buy that theory for a second. The presence in Coe's house of a strange, prize-winning terrier only adds to the mystery, although Philo's fabulously in-depth knowledge of dogs does not in fact solve the crime; his fabulously...
Author
Series
Philo Vance mysteries volume 10
Language
English
Description
When a playboy is abducted, the highly educated detective "reveals himself as a gun-fighter who can pump hot lead with the best of them" (The New York Times).
Recently returned from a refreshing sojourn in Egypt and on his way out the door to enjoy a dog show, Philo Vance is stopped in his tracks by a visit from the New York district attorney. Notorious gambler and ne'er-do-well Kaspar Kenting has been kidnapped from his uptown home, and the culprits...
Author
Series
Philo Vance mysteries volume 5
Language
English
Description
In 1922, English anthropologist Howard Carter discovered the long-hidden tomb of King Tutankhamun, and the world went Egypt-crazy. Just a few years later, New York is not immune to the craze, and even Philo Vance, that eminent scholar-sleuth, has some sympathy for the fad-though of course he knows lots more about the topic than Carter ever did. When a wealthy Egyptologist is murdered, with mysterious inscriptions and artifacts dotted round, it's only...
Author
Series
Philo Vance mysteries volume 8
Language
English
Description
Bet on this Golden Age mystery from the author of The Dragon Murder Case.
The "tremendous popularity" of the Philo Vance series stems in part from author S. S. Van Dine's preference for ripping his plots from the headlines of the day (The New York Times). By the early '30s, when Casino came around, those headlines included some creepy chemical discoveries and scandalous doings at secret Manhattan gambling dens, where rich folks knocked back cocktails...
Author
Language
English
Description
Delve into the intricate world of the crime fiction genre as S. S. Van Dine provides an in-depth analysis and critique of what makes a great detective story.
In this essay, S. S. Van Dine examines the various elements that make a brilliant detective novel, including plot, characterisation, and setting. Exploring the works of famous detective novelists such as Edgar Allan Poe, Arthur Conan Doyle, and G. K. Chesterton, Van Dine provides insights...
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Series
Language
中文(繁體)
Description
When Joseph Cochrane Robin is found murdered in New York's upper west side accompanied by a note quoting the nursery rhyme "Who Killed Cock Robin," Philo Vance is called in by District Attorney Markham to help the police track down the murderer. But can Vance solve this complex case before Mother Goose claims any more victims? We are delighted to publish this classic book as part of our extensive Classic Library collection. Many of the books in our...