Фило Вэнс және С.С. Ван Дайн: Ұстама қылмыс романдарының тарихы

Philo Vance is a fictional amateur detective originally featured in 12 crime novels by S. S. Van Dine in the 1920s and 1930s. During that time, Vance was immensely popular in books, films, and radio. He was portrayed as a stylish—even foppish—dandy, a New York bon vivant possessing a highly intellectual bent. "S. S. Van Dine" was the pen name of Willard Huntington Wright, a prominent art critic who initially sought to conceal his authorship of the novels. Van Dine was also a fictional character in the books, a sort of Dr. Watson figure who accompanied Vance and chronicled his exploits.

Van Dine's first three mystery novels were unusual for mystery fiction because he planned them as a trilogy, but plotted and wrote them in short form, more or less at the same time. After they were accepted as a group by famed editor Maxwell Perkins, Van Dine expanded them into full length novels. All 12 book titles are in the form "The X Murder Case," where "X" is always a six letter word (except for The Gracie Allen Murder Case, which was originally just "Gracie"). Although Van Dine was one of the most educated and cosmopolitan detective writers of his time, in his essays he dismissed the idea of the mystery story as serious literature. He insisted that a detective novel should be mainly an intellectual puzzle that follows strict rules and does not wander too far afield from its central theme. He followed his own prescriptions, and some critics feel that formulaic approach made the Vance novels stilted and caused them to become dated in a relatively few years. All of the cases, except The Winter Murder Case, are mostly set in the Manhattan borough of New York City. On a few occasions, Vance and Van Dine (usually accompanied by Markham and Heath) briefly travel to the Bronx, Westchester County, and New Jersey in the course of their investigations. In The Greene Murder Case Vance tells, after his arrival back in New York, that he traveled by train to New Orleans to gather information relevant to the case. Vance's last case, The Winter Murder Case, is markedly different from the previous 11 cases in that the locale is away from New York (the Berkshire Mountains of western Massachusetts), and Vance and Van Dine are surrounded by an almost completely different cast of characters (only Markham makes a brief appearance at the very beginning). Wright had just finished writing this case when he died suddenly in New York on April 11, 1939.

Most of the adventures have at their beginning a "Characters of the Book," much as in Shakespeare's plays. Vance, Van Dine, John F. X Markham, Ernest Heath, Dr. Emanuel Doremus, and Currie all appear in 11 of the 12 stories; the last, The Winter Murder Case, includes only Vance, Van Dine, and a brief appearance of Markham at the very beginning. S. S. Van Dine: The fictional narrator S. S. Van Dine accompanies Vance during his investigations and later recounts them to readers. Van Dine, who reveals little about himself except that he once practiced law, says he is Vance's chief adviser, especially on financial and legal matters. Van Dine is not like most "sidekicks" in mystery stories. John Loughery, the biographer of Willard Huntington Wright, describes Van Dine as a "noncharacter": While other people in the novels sometimes talk to him or note his presence, he never addresses anyone (or at least does not quote anything he says to them). He also never does anything that would influence events. John F. X Markham: New York County District Attorney who served only one four year term. A bachelor, like all of the leading male characters in the stories, he lives in an apartment in lower Manhattan. Markham is a straight arrow, no nonsense type whose serious demeanor frequently contrasts, in friendly bantering, with Vance's whimsical persona. Van Dine describes this contrast of personalities:

Ernest Heath: Sergeant in the Homicide Bureau of the New York Police Department. He is gruff, lacking in imagination, prone to misuse English grammar, and also a no nonsense type when it comes to dealing with suspects in the murder cases (he occasionally suggests to Markham that he "work over" some of them to extract confessions). He and Vance, although very different in most ways, gain a mutual respect for each other as they work together. He seems to sleep very little, as he is up all hours working on cases. Dr. Emanuel Doremus: Medical Examiner for New York City. A cocky little man who wears a bowler hat and constantly complains (in a mock manner) about being called to check out corpses just as he has sat down to a meal or is otherwise inconvenienced. Currie: Described in The Benson Murder Case as "a rare old English servant who acted as Vance's butler, valet, major domo and, on occasions, specialty cook." Other individuals who appear frequently include Francis Swacker, Markham's male secretary, and Guilfoyle, Hennessey, Snitkin, and Burke, all detectives under Heath in the Homicide Bureau.