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Title The Bishop Murder Case

First edition book front
Author	S. S. Van Dine
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	Philo Vance
Genre(s)	Mystery, Novel
Publisher	Scribners Press
Released	1928
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
ISBN	NA
Preceded by	The Greene Murder Case
Followed by	The Scarab Murder Case

The Bishop Murder Case (1928), was commonly cited as S. S. Van Dine's best book^{[citation needed]}. In this book, Philo Vance, Van Dine's popular detective character, solves a mystery built around a nursery rhyme. The Bishop Murder Case seems to be not only the first nursery-rhyme mystery book, but the first of any sort of mystery novel constructed around a formal scheme.

Contents 1 Plot summary 2 Characters in "The Bishop Murder Case" 3 Literary significance & criticism 4 Film, TV or theatrical adaptations 5 Footnotes 6 External links

Plotted as a classical whodunit murder mystery book, the story involves a series of murders taking place in a rich neighborhood of New York. Each murder is publicised with an extract from a popular folk song. The focus of suspicion switches with each murder, and each new suspect is killed in turn, the last in a staged suicide, until finally Vance, seeing through the suicide identifies the correct murderer.

• Philo Vance – private investigator
• S.S. Van Dine – narrator
• John F.X.Markham – U.S. Attorney
• Ernest Heath – PD Sergeant
• Adolph Drukker – writer, scientist
• Mrs. Drukker – Drukker's mother
• Grete Menzel – Drukkers' cook
• Bertrand Dillard – famous physics scientist
• Bella Dillard – professor Dillard's niece
• Sigurd Arnesson – University professor, professor Dillard's adopted son
• Pyne – Dillards' butler
• Mrs. Beedle – Dillards' cook
• John Pardee – professional chess player
• J.C.Robin – sport champion
• Raymond Sperling – engineer
• John E. Sprigg – Columbia University student

Mondern interest in this book stems at least partly from its role as a precursor of other books with a similar design. Many other Golden Age mystery novels are constructed around a formal scheme: for example Ellery Queen and Ngaio Marsh where the chapter headings especially convey a fascinating sense of pure geometry. Even Agatha Christie used this approach in Ten Little Indians.

A film starring Basil Rathbone was made of The Bishop Murder Case in 1930. The film was an early "talkie" and shows interesting effects because it was made so early after sound technology had been added to film; for example, it lacks a music soundtrack.^[1]

1. ^  IMDb user comments for The Bishop Murder Case, from krorie et. al.

• The Bishop Murder Case (A Philo Vance Story)(1928), Project Gutenberg of Australia eBook, by Don Lainson
• The Bishop Murder Case, IMDB Entry