The Kidnap Murder Case

by S.S. Van Dine

Book Overview

This new Van Dine kidnap-murder case deals with two of the most unusual crimes in the whole record of Philo Vance's criminological researches. Kasper Kenting, a playboy and ne'er-do-well, disappears... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0018G2K3U
• Release Date: January 1936
• Publisher: P. F. Collier & Son
• Length: 328 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Philo Vance up a tree? The times they were a'changin'

"The Kidnap Murder Case," published in 1936, was the tenth of the twelve Philo Vance mystery novels written by Willard Huntington Wright under the name "S. S. van Dine." Despite the fact that the first edition plainly stated the next book of the series would be "The Linden Murder Case," no book by that title was published. The eleventh book was called "The Gracie Allen Murder Case." The series began in 1926 with "The Benson Murder Case" and ended in 1939 with the posthumous publication of "The Winter Murder Case." As one might suppose, all the books dealt with murders committed under the most puzzling circumstances, only to be unraveled in the end by the ultra-rich, ultra-effete, ultra-snobbish and unquestionably ultra-clever Philo Vance. The books appeared on almost an annual basis. All of them were financially successful, although some critics professed to detect a falling off of quality in the second half dozen. The books were spun off into successful movies and radio shows in which the producers, being no fools, took care to drop many of Vance's more obnoxious ticks, making him a more appealing character on screen and speaker. The book-buying public, though, took their annual dose of Vance unadulterated and liked him that way. In the first books of the series, Wright/van Dine boxed himself in by stating plainly that all of Vance's cases had taken place during the four years in which his friend, John F.-X. Markham, had served his single term as District Attorney in New York. Elsewhere, in my review of "The Benson Murder Case," I gave my reasons for believing that the four years in question were 1920-1924. By the time that Wright/van Dine got around to the later cases, he had dropped that very narrow time-frame. In this book, Wright/van Dine actually presents us with a kidnap note dated "today [Friday, July 22] in this year of our Lord 1936." Wright/van Dine, being the sort of fellow he was, however, immediately crushes this chronological certitude with a footnote which reads in part, "I have made one small and immaterial [!] change in transcribing this note. I am using the year in which I am actually writing ... instead of the year in which it occurred...." It should be noted that July 22 fell on a Wednesday in 1936, but in 1932 it fell on Friday. Within the book are two other clues about the date. There is a reference to the depression, which could only have been made some months after October 1929. There is also a passing reference to the blonde hair of movie star Jean Harlow. Harlow had become a star with "Hell's Angels" in 1930, but as a redhead. She did not bleach her hair to its more familiar color until she made "Platinum Blonde" in 1931. She died in 1937 at the age of twenty-six. These things tend to fix the date of "The Kidnap Murder Case" in July 1932. Going back to the overall chronology of the series, we must now assume that D.A. Markham served one term in 1920-1924. He was then defeated for re-election

Who Kidnapped Kaspar Kenting?

This is one of the last three mysteries of S.S. Van Dine. It is the mystery of the kidnaping of playboy Kaspar Kenting - who did it, and what are the family secrets involved in his kidnaping. It may be one of the last but it still shows the elaborate plotting of the earlier Philo Vance mysteries, though instead of endless deduction by Vance there are many more action scenes.