S.S. Van Dine Kidnap Murder Case

Annotation

When a playboy is abducted, the highly educated detective ';reveals himself as a gun-fighter who can pump hot lead with the best of them' (The New York Times). Recently returned from a refreshing sojourn in Egypt and on his way out the door to enjoy a dog show, Philo Vance is stopped in his tracks by a visit from the New York district attorney. Notorious gambler and ne'er-do-well Kaspar Kenting has been kidnapped from his uptown home, and the culprits are demanding that the fifty-thousand-dollar ransom be left inside a hollow tree at midnight. But things don't go welland the sophisticated and aristocratic detective is about to pick up a pistol and get down in the muck with some very unpleasant characters in this witty, suspenseful Golden Age mystery classic.';Mr. Van Dine's amateur detective is the most gentlemanly, and probably the most scholarly snooper in literature.' Chicago Daily Tribune