The Canary Murder Case A Philo Vance Story
Author: Van Dine, S. S. [PSEUD Willard Huntington Wright (1888-1939)]
Year: 1927
Publisher: Charles Scribner's Sons
Place: New York
Description:
343+[1 ad] pages. Small octavo (7 1/2" x 5 1/2") bound in original publisher's black cloth with Art-Deco style printing in green lettering to spine and cover with "Scribner's seal" appearing at the bottom of the copyright page and same year is listed to title and copyright page in original jacket. (Firsts, volume 14, Number 9 page 29) First edition second state with The Green Murder Case corrected to wrappers and book instead of The Taxicab Murder Case.
The Canary Murder Case (1927) is a murder mystery novel which deals with the murders of a sexy nightclub singer known as "the Canary," and, eventually, her boyfriend, solved by Philo Vance. S. S. Van Dine's classic whodunnit, second in the Philo Vance series, is said by Howard Haycraft to have broken "all modern publishing records for detective fiction. The Canary Murder Mystery today is primarily of interest as a classic puzzle mystery with an interesting mechanical solution. "It should be said that the best of the Van Dine stories are models of construction. Utterly remote from real life, they remain fascinating by strict adherence to the rules of their own dotty logic, and through their creator's self-absorbed immersion in his own work.
A film, The Canary Murder Case, was made by Paramount Pictures in 1929, directed by Malcolm St. Clair and Frank Tuttle and starring William Powell as Philo Vance and Louise Brooks as the Canary.
Condition:
Front heal bumped, some soiling, book plate to paste down, Jacket stained at head edges, spine ends chipped, edge wear with chips, closed tear to front jacket, spine toned else very good in about very good jacket.
