The Winter Murder Case

This early work by S. S. Van Dine was originally published in 1939 and we are now republishing it with a brand new introduction. 'The Winter 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. At the age of twenty-one, Wright began his professional writing career as literary editor of the Los Angeles Times. In 1926, Wright published his first S. S. Van Dine novel, The Benson Murder Case. Wright went on to write eleven more mysteries. The first few books about his upper-class amateur sleuth, Philo Vance, were so popular that Wright became wealthy for the first time in his life. His later books declined in popularity as the reading public's tastes in mystery fiction changed, but during the late twenties and early thirties his work was very successful.

The detective story is a kind of intellectual game. It is more-it is a sporting event. And the author must play fair with the reader. He can no more resort to trickeries and deceptions and still retain his honesty than if he cheated in a bridge game. He must outwit the reader, and hold the reader's interest, through sheer ingenuity. For the writing of detective stories there are very definite laws-unwritten, perhaps, but none the less binding: and every respectable and self-respecting concocter of literary mysteries lives up to them. American art critic Willard Huntington Wright, under the pseudonym of Dine when he wrote detective novels, was an important figure in avant-garde cultural circles in pre-WWI New York, and under the pseudonym (which he originally used to conceal his identity) he created the once immensely popular fictional detective Philo Vance, a sleuth and aesthete who first appeared in books in the 1920s, then in movies and on the radio.

"The Winter Murder Case" by Willard Huntington Wright. Published by Good Press. Good Press publishes a wide range of titles that encompasses every genre. From well-known classics & literary fiction and non-fiction to forgotten−or yet undiscovered gems−of world literature, we issue the books that need to be read. Each Good Press edition has been meticulously edited and formatted to boost readability for all e-readers and devices. Our goal is to produce eBooks that are user-friendly and accessible to everyone in a high-quality digital format.

The detective story is a kind of intellectual game. It is more-it is a sporting event. And the author must play fair with the reader. He can no more resort to trickeries and deceptions and still retain his honesty than if he cheated in a bridge game. He must outwit the reader, and hold the reader's interest, through sheer ingenuity. For the writing of detective stories there are very definite laws-unwritten, perhaps, but none the less binding: and every respectable and self-respecting concocter of literary mysteries lives up to them. We are delighted to publish this classic book as part of our extensive Classic Library collection. Many of the books in our collection have been out of print for decades, and therefore have not been accessible to the general public. The aim of our publishing program is to facilitate rapid access to this vast reservoir of literature, and our view is that this is a significant literary work, which deserves to be brought back into print after many decades. The contents of the vast majority of titles in the Classic Library have been scanned from the original works. To ensure a high quality product, each title has been meticulously hand curated by our staff. Our philosophy has been guided by a desire to provide the reader with a book that is as close as possible to ownership of the original work. We hope that you will enjoy this wonderful classic work, and that for you it becomes an enriching experience.

The detective story is a kind of intellectual game. It is more-it is a sporting event. And the author must play fair with the reader. He can no more resort to trickeries and deceptions and still retain his honesty than if he cheated in a bridge game. He must outwit the reader, and hold the reader's interest, through sheer ingenuity. For the writing of detective stories there are very definite laws-unwritten, perhaps, but none the less binding: and every respectable and self-respecting concocter of literary mysteries lives up to them.

The detective story is a kind of intellectual game. It is more--it is a sporting event. And the author must play fair with the reader. He can no more resort to trickeries and deceptions and still retain his honesty than if he cheated in a bridge game. He must outwit the reader, and hold the reader's interest, through sheer ingenuity. For the writing of detective stories there are very definite laws--unwritten, perhaps, but none the less binding: and every respectable and self-respecting concocter of literary mysteries lives up to them.

Carrington Rexton is a bit nervous. His son Richard has just returned from medical studies in Europe and there's a house party going on to hail the conquering hero...so to speak. So, what's making Papa Rexton nervous? Well...he doesn't quite get these young folks and there's a fellow that Richard has brought back with him who seems a bit suspicious. And...oh yeah...Rexton has a bunch of sparkly emeralds and a rare necklace that aren't exactly as secure as they ought to be. Rexton arranges (through District Attorney Markham) to have his old friend Philo Vance on the premises to look everything (and everybody) over and see if his fears are groundless. Vance meets the guests and inhabitants of the Rexton manor--from son of the house and the invalid daughter Joan to Ella Gunther, companion to Joan and a secret ice skating star; from Carlotta Naesmith, society girl and Richard's intended--at least intended by Papa Rexton--to Stanley Sydes, man about town and avid treasure-hunter