10 h 59 minAudiobook15 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 10 h 59 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
A house full of secrets becomes a house full of suspects when someone starts shooting the Greene family.
A telephone call draws District Attorney John F.-X. Markham to a gloomy New York mansion in the snow. Inside, the wealthy Greenes quarrel under one roof, still bound by their dead father's will. Now someone is shooting them, and the police cannot see who is responsible—or why.
In S. S. Van Dine's The Greene Murder Case, amateur detective Philo Vance looks beyond the evidence to character and behavior. Sergeant Ernest Heath trusts what he can measure; Vance asks whether a clue fits the person it points toward. As questions expose old grudges, the danger inside the mansion remains.
What you’ll discover
- A mansion under strain Enter a gloomy mansion where inherited wealth offers no shelter from fear or family resentment.
- Two ways of seeing Follow the clash between Heath's solid evidence and Vance's searching judgments of human character.
- A household worth watching Meet forceful Julia, adopted daughter Ada, and Sproot, the butler who knows the family's habits.
- Appearances put to trial Weigh each fact against the people involved as Vance searches for reason beneath apparent disorder.
- A witness at Vance's side Follow the investigation through his lawyer friend's account, close to the questions and competing theories.
Who will love it
For readers who love a closed circle of suspects, a house full of secrets and a clever detective who lectures. It also suits anyone who enjoys seeing where later mysteries came from.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A shooting at the Greene mansion
- The family and its odd household
- Heath's methods meet Vance's
- Secrets and grudges inside the walls
- The killer strikes again
- Vance reads the clues and the people
- What the story is about: a family and its money
- What the story is about: reason against appearances
- How the story is told
Who’s who
- Philo VanceA cultured amateur detective who solves crimes by reading character and behavior rather than relying on physical clues alone.
- John F.-X. MarkhamThe District Attorney of New York County, a careful lawyer and Vance's friend, who needs a solution he can defend.
- Ernest HeathA sergeant of the police, honest and stubborn, who trusts evidence he can measure and distrusts Vance's theories.
- S. S. Van DineVance's friend and lawyer, who follows him through the case and tells the story as a witness.
- Julia GreeneThe eldest Greene child, a strong-willed woman who rules the household and holds the family together by force.
- Ada GreeneThe adopted young daughter of the house, whose place in the family differs from that of her brothers and sisters.
- SprootThe family butler, who has served the Greenes for years and knows the habits and moods of the household.
- Dr. Arthur Von BlonThe family physician, a trusted friend of the house who moves freely among its members.
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- Audiobook
- 10 h 59 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 15 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
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Il caso Greene
by S. S. Van Dine · 1928
Someone is shooting the Greenes one by one, and Philo Vance must read the secrets inside their New York mansion.
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In short
The Greene Murder Case is a detective novel by S. S. Van Dine, the pen name of the American art critic Willard Huntington Wright. It came out in 1928 and was the third book about the amateur detective Philo Vance.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A shooting at the Greene mansion
The story opens with the District Attorney of New York County, John F.-X. Markham, being called to a crime. It is a shooting inside the Greene mansion, a large old house that stands apart from the modern city around it. The Greenes are among the last of an old and wealthy family, and their home shows the same decline as their name. Markham takes with him his friend Philo Vance, who has helped him on earlier cases, and the narrator, a lawyer who is Vance's close companion and records the events.
The victims are members of the family. Julia Greene, the eldest child, is dead from a gunshot. A younger sister, Ada, has been wounded but lives. The mansion is full of people, yet nobody seems to have seen anything, and the household reacts with fear and sharp tempers.
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What is The Greene Murder Case about?
It is a detective novel about a wealthy New York family shot one by one in their old mansion. The amateur detective Philo Vance helps the District Attorney and the police find who is behind the killings.
Who is Philo Vance?
Philo Vance is the amateur detective who stars in S. S. Van Dine's novels. He is a refined man of leisure and art, who solves cases by studying the psychology of the people involved.
Who is S. S. Van Dine?
S. S. Van Dine is the pen name of Willard Huntington Wright, an American art critic. It is also the name of the narrator in the book, a lawyer who is Vance's friend and records his cases.
The author
S. S. Van Dine
1888–1939 · American detective novelist
S. S. Van Dine was the pen name of Willard Huntington Wright, an American art critic and writer. He was born in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1888 and died in New York City in 1939. He wrote detective novels, including The Benson Murder Case (1926) and The Bishop Murder Case (1928).
More by S. S. Van Dine
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