Locked Room Puzzle
Review of the Felony & Mayhem Press Kindle eBook edition (January 15, 2019) of the Charles Scribner’s hardcover original (March 1927).

“Put that way, the idea does sound a bit supernatural. And yet: Certum est quia impossibile est*. I rather like that maxim, don’t y’ know; for, in the present case, the impossible is true."

I enjoyed my recent rediscovery of S.S. Van Dine's (the mystery writing pseudonym of art critic Willard Huntington Wright) Philo Vance series so much that I decided that it was worth pursuing as a series binge. The tales of the amateur sleuth assisting his district attorney friend Markham while accompanied by his personal lawyer and 'Watson' seemed to be the epitome of the Golden Age of Crime mysteries on the American side.

The Canary Murder Case uses one of the classic scenarios of the Golden Age, the 'locked room mystery.' A murder occurs in a situation where no apparent suspect has entered or left the room where a dead body is found. In this story a showgirl with the nickname of "The Canary" is found murdered in her apartment. Witnesses say that no one entered or left the apartment after she was last heard alive while speaking through the door.

See cover at https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/SSVanDine_TheCanaryMurderCas...
Front cover of the original Charles Scribner’s first edition (1927). Image sourced from Wikipedia.

The suspects are plentiful as it turns out that the lady in question had a inclination towards blackmailing her various paramours, several of whom were seen in the vicinity prior to her demise. The police and the district attorney are baffled of course until Philo Vance is able to determine the explanation for the various 'impossible' means by which the crime was committed.

For me, on the Berengaria Ease of Solving Scale® this was a 0 out of 10, i.e. "an immediate solve." That was just due to a guess that the most impossible suspect will be the actual culprit without having any other basis at first. Eventually the discovery of various clues proved it. I think that was due to my growing familiarity with S.S. Van Dine's plots. A newcomer would likely find it to be a very difficult solve as they wait for the various clues and reveals to appear.

Footnote
* Latin: It is certain that it is impossible.

Trivia and Links
See movie poster at https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1e/Canary_Murder_Case_pos...
This novel was adapted for film as The Canary Murder Case (1929) directed by Malcolm St. Clair and starring William Powell as Philo Vance in his first performance as the character. You can see the entire movie on YouTube here.

Willard Huntington Wright aka S.S. Van Dine is also the author of the Twenty Rules for Writing Detective Stories. ( )

Devo dire che il secondo libro dedicato alle investigazioni di Philo Vance mi è piaciuto più del primo, per almeno due motivi. Il primo riguarda la mia antipatia per Vance, che ne Il caso della canarina assassinata è diventata quasi una simpatia: l’ho percepito meno aristocratico annoiato e più personaggio con sfumature interessanti e questo ha tenuto desto il mio interesse.

In secondo luogo, mentre ne La strana morte del signor Benson Vance sembrava già sapere tutto e giocare a essere irritante nascondendo le sue scoperte, nel caso della morte di Margaret Odell fatica a trovare la soluzione del mistero e deve mettere in campo tutte le sue doti e tutti i suoi stravaganti metodi per smascherare l’assassino.

Per quanto mi riguarda il colpevole a un certo punto diventa palese per essere quello dei sospettati che si comporta in maniera più equivoca e ho risentito comunque delle duecentosettanta pagine: tuttavia, c’erano vari dettagli da definire che mi hanno evitato la noia. Procedo quindi con maggiore entusiasmo verso La fine dei Greene (che suona davvero molto male). ( )

This Golden Age mystery story was very well plotted. I liked the way Van Dine made himself a character in the book - one that is very self-effacing but nontheless present during Philo Vance's investigation. Basically he is Vance's Watson but I liked the fact that he used his own name.

I do have a quibble though - Van Dine violated his own first rule for detective stories:
"1. The reader must have equal opportunity with the detective for solving the mystery. All clues must be plainly stated and described."

There was one important clue that Vance (and apparently the police who disregard it) discovered that the reader isn't told about until Vance is doing his explanation. ( )

¿Puede alguien entrar en un piso totalmente cerrado, matar a Margaret Odell, una famosa bailarina de cabaré, y desaparecer sin dejar huella? He aquí un clásico enigma que se le presenta al audaz, sofisticado e intelectual detective Philo Vance, quien tejiendo una tela de araña en torno a los sospechosos resolverá el caso más espeluznante –según la policía de Nueva York–, al aplicar un espectacular método analítico jamás utilizado en criminología.

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