The Winter Murder Case
by S. S. Van Dine
The detective is a kind of intellectual game. It's more of a sporting event. And the author must play honestly with the reader. He can no longer resort to tricks and scams, and at the same time maintain his honesty no longer than he cheated in the bridge game. It should cleverly overwhelm the reader and limit the reader's interest with the help of pure creativity. There are quite certain laws for writing detective stories, perhaps unwritten, but no less obligatory, and every respectable and self-respecting inventor of literary mysteries lives with them.
