The Winter Murder Case — S.S. Van Dine

A murder in the mountains is the latest case for the Manhattan detective famed for his “highbrow manner and parade of encyclopedic learning” (The New York Times).

Wealthy and worldly-wise detective Philo Vance has been asked to keep watch at a house party in the snowy Berkshires of western Massachusetts, where he encounters an assortment of guests ranging from a treasure hunter to a race car driver. The owner of the house doesn't quite trust his son's friends -- and is worried about the security of his precious emeralds. Sure enough, a guard is soon killed, the jewels are stolen, and then another guest dies, leaving Vance to make some cold calculations about who turned this gathering from festive to fatal . . .

“Mr. Van Dine's amateur detective is the most gentlemanly, and probably the most scholarly snooper in literature.” -- Chicago Daily Tribune

“The best of the American mystery men.” -- The Globe