Philo Vance: New York's Smartest—and Most Stylish—Sleuth

Philo makes his debut in this 1926 mystery plotted—along with the next two books—from Van Dine’s sick bed. It’s a solidly built whodunit and gives us a comprehensive introduction to the main character (like his creator, Vance is a fine art connoisseur, and more or less the entire first chapter is spent describing his incredible collection).

Written in Van Dine’s characteristically entertaining and florid prose, it’s loosely based on the real life murder of expert bridge player, Joseph Bowne Elwell. Nero Wolfe’s creator, Rex Stout chose The Benson Murder Case as one of his ten best mysteries of all time. 

Published in 1927 and based on another real life case, Vance’s second outing sold faster than any American detective novel in history up to that point. It stayed in the bestsellers list for months.

In The Canary Murder Case, our art-loving detective is called in by the district attorney to try and shed light on the murder of a beautiful night club singer, Margaret “The Canary” Odell. Suspects include the large number of men in her life who range from a New York mobster to High Society playboy.

Vance uses his intelligence and knowledge to pick apart what seems a watertight alibi and reveal the killer. 

A genuine mystery classic, this Vance novel from 1928 sees our aesthetic sleuth called in to investigate a traditional unlikable-wealthy-family-in-a-grand house murder.

One of the Greene daughters has been shot dead and another wounded. The house is filled with suspects including a stern butler, an invalid (or is she?) mother, several siblings, and a doctor with a romantic attachment to one of the girls.

To complicate matters, mysterious footprints keep appearing in the snow where they have no business to be and nothing in the mansion is quite what it seems. Vance makes a masterful precis of the facts and reveals the killer

A series of fiendish crimes based on Mother Goose nursery rhymes ("Who killed Cock Robin?" amongst them) are at the center of this brilliantly witty Vance mystery.

Called in by DA Markham for his psychological insights, Vance investigates as the body count mounts. A young scientist is framed for the slayings, but Vance finds a key to the real killer via a reference to a play by Henrik Ibsen (I told you he was erudite).

The mystery concludes with a memorable scene involving a poisoned liqueur.

As its name suggests, this 1930 murder mystery is set in a private museum devoted to Egyptology (in which, naturally, Vance is somewhat of an expert himself).

Visitors are dying in strange circumstances, struck by toppled statues and the like. There are predictable whispers of a Pharaoh’s curse and occult forces, but Vance uses his knowledge of Ancient Egypt to reveal an altogether less ancient and more human killer.

Vance’s love of dogs and Chinese porcelain comes in handy in this mystery in which one of the Coe brothers is found dead in his bedroom with the door locked from the inside.

There are a cast of likely suspects including relatives, servants, and shady associates. Clues include a wounded Scottish terrier (S. S Van Dine was a Scottie owner), a bashful Doberman Pinscher and a broken vase. 

At the Hamm family’s luxurious estate in northern Manhattan, a handsome actor dives into a swimming pool and vanishes off the face of the earth.

Locals mutter of a mythological water beast that is said to haunt the area and protect the Hamm’s from those who would harm them. Vance is unconvinced by such mumbo jumbo and quickly puts his learning on the subject of dragons and Native American legends to good use to find out who is really responsible.

Set in a high-class private gambling joint in New York’s Upper West Side, the mystery begins when Vance receives an anonymous letter telling him that death is about to occur amidst the gaming tables. Vance calls in to check things over and, sure enough, the son of the family who owns the casino collapses from poisoning.

Meanwhile, across town, the young man's wife dies almost simultaneously from the same cause. Soon the owner’s daughter is poisoned too. In each case, no doctor can fathom how the poison was administered, and it’s left to Vance to figure it out.

A party in the rooftop garden of a New York Penthouse turns grisly in this 1935 mystery when the best friend of the host apparently shoots himself after losing big money on a horse race.

Vance, who is in attendance after receiving an anonymous invite, immediately suspects that this is not a simple suicide. A couple of poisonings later in the evening prove him right and he is able to use photographic evidence to identify the culprit.

The abduction of a wealthy heiress and a peculiar ransom note are at the heart of this 1936 mystery set in and around The Purple House on New York’s 86^th Street.

Once again, Vance’s insight into human nature and the psychology of criminals comes into play as he drives the criminal to take his own life rather than risk the shame of exposure.

A genuine novelty in the annals of crime writing, this 1938 Vance mystery features real-life comedy star Gracie Allen (of Burns and Allen fame). Unsurprisingly, it’s a strange mix that pairs Allen’s ditzy dialogue (“Why would you spend six months writing a book, when you can buy one for two dollars?”) with a murder investigation.

No one else but Van Dine would have attempted it. Sadly, the public seemed confused and it sold less well than his other Vance novels.

An interesting, if messy end to the Vance series. This mystery, published in 1939, was written as a movie vehicle for Norwegian Olympic skating star, Sonje Henie but was never fully fleshed out.

The plot revolves around the potential theft of an emerald necklace and sees Vance casting his suspicious eyes over a cast of characters that includes fortune-hunters, invalids,  would-be brides, and—of course—a champion ice skater. This is the second draft. Sadly, Van Dine died before he had time to fully revise the manuscript.