All audio files can be found on our catalog page: https://librivox.org/benson-murder-case-by-s-s-van-dine/
Source text (please read only from this text!): https://www.fadedpage.com/showbook.php?pid=20131113The Benson Murder Case – A Philo Vance Story is the first of a series of twelve popular mysteries set in New York during the Jazz Age. S. S. Van Dine is the nom de plume of prominent art critic, and member of New York’s avant-garde, W. H. Wright. He rapidly became one of the country’s best-selling authors and the series remained immensely popular for decades, as Philo Vance was featured in dozens of movies, plays and radio shows.
Van Dine’s novels marked a sharp departure from earlier detective fiction. To begin with, the hero represents the antithesis of the familiar hard-boiled detective. He is an eccentric and volatile loner; a highly erudite aesthete; a debonair bon vivant; a fop. Indeed, Van Dine even flirts with his hero’s sexuality where, for instance, a friend tells Vance: “I trust you won’t wear your green carnation,” – then the symbol of homosexuality. Moreover, Philo Vance approaches crime from a totally new standpoint, more or less ignoring the sorts of evidence and inference generally used to solve mysteries. His perspective is primarily psychological. Thus, he tells his friend Van: “The truth can be learned only by an analysis of the psychological factors of a crime, and an application of them to the individual. The only real clues are psychological—not material.” (The author casts himself in the role of the narrator, “Van,” Vance’s old college friend, now his lawyer, advisor and general agent.)
Within minutes of viewing the scene of the crime, Vance throws out veiled hints and innuendos that he knows who murdered Alvin Benson. D. A. John Markham good-humoredly ignores these intimations and soon finds there is enough evidence to make an arrest, when Vance convinces him that his suspect could not possibly be guilty. After developing a strong evidential case against someone else, Vance proves that this second suspect, too, must be innocent. And so it goes with several more suspects. In the end Vance identifies, and explains how his reasoning immediately pointed to, the actual murderer.
(Summary by Kirsten Wever)
Target completion date: 2022-03-20
Prooflistening level: Standard
Prospective PLs, please see the Guide for Proof-listeners.
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Magic Window:
BC Admin
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Genres for the project: Crime & Mystery Fiction; Crime & Mystery Fiction/Detective Fiction
Keywords that describe the book:
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LibriVox recording settings: mono (1 channel), 44100 Hz sample rate, 128 kbps constant bit rate MP3. See the Tech Specs
Intro to recording:
Leave 0.5 to 1 second of silence at the beginning.
For the first section, say:
For the second and subsequent sections, you may use the shortened intro if you wish:"Section (or Chapter) # of The Benson Murder Case. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit librivox.org." [Optional: "Read by your name."] "The Benson Murder Case, by S. S. van Dine. Section Title."
End of recording:"Section (or Chapter) # of The Benson Murder Case, by S. S. van Dine. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain." [Optional: "Read by your name."] "Section Title."
Say:
If you are recording the final section of the book, add:"End of section (or chapter) #." [Optional, and if not stated in the intro: "Read by your name, city, date."]
Leave 5 seconds of silence at the end."End of The Benson Murder Case, by S. S. van Dine."
Filename: bensonmurdercase_##_vandine_128kb.mp3 where ## is the section number. (e.g. bensonmurdercase_01_vandine_128kb.mp3)
Upload to the LibriVox Uploader: https://librivox.org/login/uploader
MC to select: craigdav1
Copy and paste the file link generated by the uploader into the relevant Listen URL field in the Section Compiler, enter the duration in the Notes field, and post in this thread to let your PL and MC know that you have uploaded a file. You may also post the file link in the thread.
