The Garden Murder Case, Paperback

According to one review, Garden runs on "passion, avarice, ambition and horse-racing." It also runs on pure 1930s octane, because this is a classic house-party murder mystery, that staple of the Golden Age. As befitting a Philo yarn, of course, it's a very Manhattan house-party, with an actress and a socialite on hand, and a bookie on the telephone. There's also a losing bet on the ponies, and an ensuing suicide...but Philo, natch, is not sure just who pulled the trigger. A joy, as always, for readers who delight in Philo's spectacular brand of awfulness--is there anyone snootier' Snobbier' More taken with himself'--but also for fans of the Impossible Crime.

About author(s):S.S. Van Dine, pseudonym of Willard Huntington Wright, (1888-1939) was an American critic, editor, and author of a series of best-selling detective novels featuring the brilliant but arrogant sleuth Philo Vance.