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

From the Publisher:
Like The Gracie Allen Murder Case, Winter was written with a film in mind, and as a vehicle for a particular actress - in this case, the ice-skater Sonja Henie. In that sense, the two books stand in marked contrast to the rest of the Philo canon, but it would be a mistake to lump them together: Gracie Allenis actually quite appealing, in large part because Ms. Allen's scatterbrained persona makes such a charming foil for Philo's stuffed-shirt pretensions. Ms. Henie provided no such inspiration, and though Van Dine did not live long enough to see her outed as a Nazi-supporter, her saccharine ice-princess schtick offered little for Philo to play against.

In fairness, it should be noted that Winter was published after Van Dine's death, and there is a strong suggestion that he did not regard it as ready for publication: Some have claimed that he wrote all his novels in three, versions, each an elaboration of what had gone before, and that only the final version was presented for publication. Winter, this claim contends, had reached only Stage II before Van Dine's death put the kibosh on further revisions. For all the book's flaws, however, it is vintage Philo, and that is its own very genuine kind of pleasure.

"The last of the Philo Vance stories, this is shorter than the other books in the series, in consideration of which the publishers have priced it at $1.75. That was scarcely necessary. The book is worth $2 of any man's money." -- New York Times

S. S. Van Dine: The Winter Murder Case. Philo Vance #12. Felony & Mayhem, ISBN: 9781631942075 (July, 2021), 256 p., $15.95, eBook $9.99.

S. S. Van Dine: The Winter Murder Case (USA 1993)

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.

T H E  W I N T E R  M U R D E R  C A S E
"The most popular detective in literature of the Golden Age of Crime Fiction." -- The Encyclopedia of Mystery and Detection
"The Van Dine stories are models of construction and they remain fascinating. They are among the finest fruits of the Golden Age." -- Julian Symons, Bloody Murder

The pleasures of encountering Philo Vance, amateur sleuth extraordinaire, are many -- whether one is rereading his sophisticated Golden Age cases or discovering their charms for the first time. The Winter Murder Case (1939) came at the end of this popular hero's successful career, and it has long been out of print. In this lively outing, Vance leaves Manhattan for the Berkshires, where he meets up with icy murder. This volume also contains the author's justly celebrated "Twenty Rules for Writing Detective Stories."

S. S. Van Dine: The Winter Murder Case. A Philo Vance Story. Otto Penzler's Books, ISBN: 1883402085 (November, 1993), Otto Penzler's Classic American Mystery Library, 174 p., $6.95.