The Benson Murder Case
by S. S. Van Dine
Playboy stockbroker Alvin Benson is found in the Brownstone mansion with a bullet over his head. The first person on the scene is Philo Vance, an amateur detective who is immediately impressed by Alvin's bluntness and the absence of his false teeth. Through a jigsaw puzzle of strange clues, he continues a chase for the elusive killer and makes clear the police and DA office's disdain for professional crime solvers. It seems to him that they are desperately addicted to the harmful practice of finding physical cues and circumstantial evidence. His theory is that psychology is key.
