The Canary Murder Case; A Philo Vance story

by S. S. Van Dine

Paper Book, 1927

Status

Available

Call number

813.52

Publication

New York, C. Scribner's sons, 1927.

Description

"Nightclub singer Margaret Odell, the famous Broadway beauty and ex-Follies girl known as "The Canary", is found murdered in her ransacked apartment, her jewelry stolen. It appears at first to be a robbery gone wrong, but the police can find no physical evidence to pinpoint a culprit. No one witnessed anyone entering or leaving, and the only unwatched entrance to the apartment building was bolted from the inside. Who could have killed the Canary in her locked cage? The victim was seeing a number of men, ranging from a high society gentleman to ruthless gangsters, and more than one man visited her apartment on the night she died. When the D.A. is stumped, he turns to his friend Philo Vance, an erudite and snobbish aristocrat, who applies his brilliant observations of human nature during a poker game with the suspects to determine who in fact knocked the Canary from her perch--permanently"--… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member BraulioTavares

One of the best Philo Vance mysteries. A locked-room crime with a solution a bit dated, but not bad for 1927. Chapter 14 has Vance summarizing his own theory of "murder as one of the fine arts". In Chapter 25, Van Dine contributes his "locked-room trick" -- maybe not so new even at that time, but

nevertheless one that became a staple for mystery novels, from Carr to Queen and beyond. Chapter 27 has the famous poker game during which Philo Vance becomes sure of the murderer's identity, even before knowing how he did the thing.

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LibraryThing member wmorton38

The mystery part is not too bad. It is a locked door mystery and involves the search for the killer of a somewhat soiled dove nicknamed the Canary. The solution to the mystery is rather accidental and won’t really bowl anyone over today. The real problem with the story is the main character,

Philo Vance. He is an insufferable irritating snob—image Frasier without the likable personality and the humor. He also seems to be unable to pronounce the final “g” on any word. I read this not long after reading Clouds of Witness and I must say that Vance makes Lord Percy seem like Sam Spade.

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LibraryThing member biscuits

I've been reading my way through the Philo Vance series, and so far this is one of my favorites. I enjoy Van Dine's descriptions of places (especially apartments) and the milieu in general. As puzzles, I've found his mysteries pretty easy to guess, but as armchair travel to 1920s Manhattan, they're

a good afternoon's escape.

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LibraryThing member mmyoung

Although Philo Vance was, it seems, a major inspiration for Ellery Queen and other detectives he fails for me to live up to his reputation upon rereading. When I first read the books I was amused and distracted by the picture of times gone by and behaviours no longer seen. Rereading the books years

later I notice how gossamer thin is the mystery at the heart of this book. Had the police been even minimally competent the murderer would have been discovered before Vance had time to show off his special skills.

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LibraryThing member antiquary

The "canary" is a notorious singer/courtesan found strangle in her own room by her maid. Philo Vnance, elegant friebd of e ewYork Distrct attoney, investgats

LibraryThing member EricCostello

The second in the Philo Vance series, this involves the unraveling of the mystery as to who strangled a well-known, and possibly notorious, ex-Follies girl. Vance uses a high-stakes poker game to figure out which of the last three suspects did the crime, based on psychology. More, I'm afraid, of

hiding the ball -- Vance abstracts a key piece of evidence without telling the police (or the reader). Still the atmosphere is what counts, here, for whatever positives the story has. Incidentally, there is a hint as to the time frame of the story -- the crimes listed on page 7 of the original Scribner's edition put the case somewhere around 1923, and the dating is consistent with 1923's calendar.

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LibraryThing member leslie.98

This Golden Age mystery story was very well plotted. I liked the way Van Dine made himself a character in the book - one that is very self-effacing but nontheless present during Philo Vance's investigation. Basically he is Vance's Watson but I liked the fact that he used his own name.

I do have a

quibble though - Van Dine violated his own first rule for detective stories:
"1. The reader must have equal opportunity with the detective for solving the mystery. All clues must be plainly stated and described."

There was one important clue that Vance (and apparently the police who disregard it) discovered that the reader isn't told about until Vance is doing his explanation.

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LibraryThing member leslie.98

quibble though - Van Dine violated his own first rule for detective stories:
"1. The reader must have equal opportunity with the detective for solving the mystery. All clues must be plainly stated and described."

There was one important clue that Vance (and apparently the police who disregard it) discovered that the reader isn't told about until Vance is doing his explanation.

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