The Benson Murder Case - (Philo Vance) by S S Van Dine (Paperback)

About the Book

"Jazz-age snob and expert-in-nearly-everything Philo Vance takes on a locked-room murder"--

Book Synopsis

New York in the 1920s is the world's most glamorous city, and drinking it in like the finest champagne is Philo Vance, an expert in art with the deepest pockets, the brainiest brains, and the most gloriously ludicrous pretensions in the history of crime fiction.

When a scheming young stockbroker is murdered--in a delicious locked-room scenario based on a real case of the day--Vance steps in to solve the puzzle not merely because he is bored and seeking new entertainment, but also because honor compels him to point out all the ways in which the police are getting it wrong. The cops of course are profoundly grateful, like all members of the lower orders when their mistakes are pointed out. Peter Wimsey would be appalled, but the reader will be delighted. Philo Vance (here in his first outing) is the sleuth you love to hate.

Review Quotes

"A really entertaining baffler, which will test the detective powers of the best sleuths in the audience" --Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer

"A thriller the like of which has never been seen before" --Edmonton Journal

"Has all the hallmarks of a ripping, puzzle-solving crime!" --Bloomsbury Reader

"Philo Vance is one of the most remarkable characters in the history of the detective novel" --Honolulu Star-Bulletin

"Philo Vance is superb. He is destined for a place in the hall of fame reserved for the immortal sleuths of fiction" --Macon Chronicle-Herald

"The perfect sleuth for the Jazz Age!" --CrimeReads