Thank you to NetGalley and Steerforth & Pushkin | Pushkin Vertigo for providing me with this ARC.

The story is set in New York during the Roaring Twenties. You follow Philo Vance, a detective amateur called by New York's DA to solve a murder case. The more Vance is investigating, the more he discovers sadistic murders with a peculiar pattern.

I hadn't yet had the opportunity to read an S. S. Van Dine's novels, so I was delighted to discover his work. Through his murder mystery story, the author makes us discover the New York of his era, in the midst of Jazz Age Manhattan.

The plot is well driven, and the fact that there are a lot of suspects (mostly intelligent minds) makes it harder to guess who the murderer is. In some parts of the story, I found the pacing a little slow but I really enjoyed my whole reading, and I appreciated Vance's sophisticated side.

I always thought that Autumn and winter were perfect seasons to discover (or rediscover) classics by a fireside with a cup of tea and a blanket. The Bishop Murder Case by S. S. Van Dine is clearly one to read that way.

In 1929, S.S. Van Dine released the classic novel, “The Bishop Murder Case”, that was a model for many mystery writers after it. “The Bishop Murder Case” is the 4th entry in the Philo Vance series.

Philo Vance, the aristocrat amateur sleuth with high intelligence, and an even higher since of class. If you need to picture him, go watch clips (or the whole movies) that brilliantly starred William Powell or Basil Rathbone.

A killer, that goes by the moniker of The Bishop, is using nursery rhymes to taunt and confuse those investigating the murders. And a masterful game of intellectual chess takes place between The Bishop and Philo Vance.

Hopefully, this new edition will hook you into not only the series, but the movies as well.

I received this ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an unbiased review.

The Bishop Murder Case was my entry point into the world of Philo Vance, and what an introduction it was. He’s insufferably vain, smug beyond measure, and yet I couldn’t look away. I loved him. The murders, staged around nursery rhymes, are wildly elaborate, folding in chess, math, and cutting-edge science of the 1920s. It could have been a mess, but Van Dine keeps it sharp and strangely compelling. Both brainy and theatrical, this book turned me into a Philo Vance convert.

I was pleased to get this Netgalley ARC for review - I'm always glad to see old classics of the golden age of mysteries get new life and new editions.

I haven't read [author:S.S. Van Dine|7172955] before - the only things I knew about his mysteries were that all but one had a 6 letter word in the name (Bishop, in this case) and that Ogden Nash had famously said "Philo Vance/Needs a kick in the pance). I could see why - the man's way of talking is annoying. Philo Vance is one of a number of golden age detectives who are gifted sleuths whip re rich with an affected style (see also Reggie Fortune, Lord Peter Wimsey, Albert Campion, and early Roderick Alleyn). Vance differs from these detectives by living in New York City rather than England.

I did guess the killer and motive, but not until the final crime. The plot was very convoluted with lots of suspects. Some of the suspects could be coded as neurodivergent - mathematicians and chess players with serious quirks, even if it wasn't something defined at the time of the original publication. Other suspects had other mental conditions and most of the neurotypical suspects were cleared pretty quickly. In hindsight, that brought down my rating from 3-12 stars to 3 stars.

This classic Philo Vance mystery takes the “nursery rhyme” murder trope and gives it an intricate, almost puzzle-box treatment. The story begins with a body left beneath a note quoting a children’s verse, and from there the murders unfold in a sequence of chillingly clever references.

Van Dine’s writing is very much of its era, formal, intellectual, and at times overly elaborate but it adds to the sense of refinement and detachment that defines his detective, Vance. The plot is layered with red herrings and complex deductions, making it one of those mysteries where the reader has to pay close attention to the details.

That said, the pacing can feel slow in parts, weighed down by long conversations and Vance’s mannered style. But if you enjoy Golden Age mysteries that focus on intellectual gamesmanship and a slightly theatrical detective, this book is a treat.