The Gracie Allen Murder Case
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| First edition book front cover | |
| Author | S. S. Van Dine |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Philo Vance |
| Genre(s) | Mystery, Detective Novel |
| Publisher | Charles Scribner's (USA) & Cassell (UK) |
| Released | 1938 |
| Media Type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Preceded by | The Kidnap Murder Case |
| Followed by | The Winter Murder Case |
The Gracie Allen Murder Case (1938) is a detective novel by S. S. Van Dine featuring his famous fictional detective of the 1920s and 1930s, Philo Vance, and the zany half of the George Burns & Gracie Allen comedy team. It is in many ways an experimental novel, including not just Burns & Allen but also such characters as Gracie's mother and brother. (George Burns, after all, has described the couple's act as, "All I had to do was ask, 'Gracie, how's your brother?' and she talked for 38 years.") That gave the book an unusual feel, as did the comic tone of much of Gracie's dialogue. This tone suddenly shifts in a later chapter to one character's philosophically anguished speculations, and then back again to Gracie.
[edit] Literary significance & criticism
For some readers the whole thing works oddly wonderfully, and shows S. S. Van Dine's skill at combining his traditional approach with some unusual forms. Other readers found this book both disconcerting and disappointing. It did not enjoy anything near the commercial success of Van Dine's earlier novels (or his prime character, when Philo Vance himself was developed into a classic radio show), and most critics considered it a failure.
Those critics might have agreed with the protagonist herself. In classic Gracie style, when Van Dine was working on the novel, Allen quipped, "S.S. Van Dine is silly to spend six months writing a novel when you can buy one for two dollars and ninety-eight cents."
