The Scarab Murder Case

The Scarab Murder Case

First US edition
Author S. S. Van Dine
Country United States
Language English
Series Philo Vance
Genre Mystery novels
Publisher Ernest Benn (UK) & Scribner's (US)
Publication date
 1929
Media type Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Preceded by The Bishop Murder Case
Followed by The Kennel Murder Case

The Scarab Murder Case (1929) is a classic whodunit written by S. S. Van Dine. In this book, detective Philo Vance's murder investigation takes place in a private home that doubles as a museum of Egyptology, and the solution depends in part on Vance's extensive knowledge of Egyptian history and customs, which enable him to sort through suggestions of godly vengeance and reveal the misdirections perpetrated by the real murderer.

Literary significance and criticism

Some reviewers "were disgusted by the author's bland insults to the reader's intelligence -- e.g., the heavy Egyptian statue in the gallery, upended on a piece of pencil and conveniently toppling on the designed victim. By that date they were fed up with the whole bag of tricks, which successive settings did not rejuvenate."[1]

Film adaptation

The Scarab Murder Case (1936) starred Wilfrid Hyde-White as Vance.

References

  1. ↑ Barzun, Jacques and Taylor, Wendell Hertig. A Catalogue of Crime. New York: Harper & Row. 1971, revised and enlarged edition 1989. ISBN 0-06-015796-8


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