S. S. Van Dine: The Gracie Allen Murder Case (USA 2021)

From the Publisher:
Gracie Allen breaks the Philo Phormula in a number of ways. First is the title: It's the only book in the series to modify "Murder Case" with more than one word, much less with the name of a character. And then there's that character: Gracie Allen was a very real, much-loved comedienne in the 1930s, famous for her double act with George Burns, and in fact the plot revolves around her (though in the book she works at the In-O-Scent perfume company, rather than on the radio). Gracie's centrality is no accident: Van Dine wrote the story as a vehicle for Allen, and actually created the novel only after the film had come out.

So do all these departures pay off? We'd be lying if we said that Gracie is the strongest title in the series. However, Van Dine does a surprisingly good job of translating Ms. Allen's delicious Ditzy Blonde persona to the page, and she makes a charming foil for Philo's ever-present erudition.

S. S. Van Dine: The Gracie Allen Murder Case. Philo Vance #11. Felony & Mayhem, ISBN: 9781631942068 (July, 2021), 256 p., $15.95, eBook $9.99.

S. S. Van Dine: The Gracie Allen Murder Case (USA 1994)

From the Publisher:
The detective story is an American invention, created by Edgar Allan Poe, and America's Golden Age produced some of the genre's finest practitioners.

While it is common for readers to associate British writers with the traditional, fair-play school of crime, and American authors with the hard-boiled style, the fact is that many of mystery's most perfect puzzle stories were produced by Americans.

This new series of well-made, affordable editions of often hard-to-find vintage gems offers the opportunity to acquire a distinguished library of the best of American mystery fiction.

THE GRACIE ALLEN MURDER CASE
"Gracie helps to expose a murder with the same inspired silliness that has made her fame over the air. Van Dine fans will enjoy him in this new role of humorist." -- Book of the Month Club News (1938)

In this delightful outing, S. S. Van Dine introduces his real-life friend, comedienne Gracie Allen, into a Philo Vance mystery. The setting is New York City, but far from Philo Vance's typical milieu of Chinese antiquities, rare books, and esoteric studies. A peculiarly diabolical murder is solved through Vance's expert knowledge of rare perfumes and the invaluable assistance lent by Gracie, whose sweetheart, George Burns, is head perfume-smeller at the In-O-Scent Perfume Corporation.

S. S. Van Dine, the pseudonym for Willard Huntington Wright, was a distinguished art critic, novelist, and editor

S. S. Van Dine: The Gracie Allen Murder Case. A Philo Vance Story. Otto Penzler's Books, ISBN: 1883402093 (March, 1994), Otto Penzler's Classic American Mystery Library, 227 p., $6.95.