A detective novel should contain no long descriptive passages, no literary dallying with side-issues, no subtly worked-out character analyses, no 'atmospheric' preoccupations. Such matters have no vital place in a record of crime and deduction. They hold up the action… — S. S. Van Dine Copy Share Image
Giving full rein to one's cynicism as one goes along produces a normal outlet and maintains an emotional equilibrium. — S. S. Van Dine Copy Share Image
There simply must be a corpse in a detective novel, and the deader the corpse the better. — S. S. Van Dine Copy Share Image
A detective novel should contain no long descriptive passages, no literary dallying with side-issues, no subtly worked-out character analyses, no 'atmospheric' preoccupations. Such matters… — S. S. Van Dine Copy Share Image
It has long been a source of wonder to me why the leading criminological writers--men like Edmund Lester Pearson, H. B. Irving, Filson Young,… — S. S. Van Dine Copy Share Image
Only, as long as we're going insane we may as well go the whole way. A mere shred of sanity is of no value. — S. S. Van Dine Copy Share Image
Of all the criminal cases in which Philo Vance participated as unofficial investigator, the most sinister, the most bizarre, the seemingly most incomprehensible, and… — S. S. Van Dine Copy Share Image
