Madcap Follies
Review of the Felony & Mayhem Kindle eBook edition (July 18, 2021) of the Scribner’s hardcover original (1938).

Then Markham turned back to Vance. “And as for you,” he said with good-natured effrontery, “I think you’re a raving maniac.”
“Granted,” said Vance. “No de lunatic inquirendo* writ necess’ry.”
…
“What a beastly matutinal odyssey, Sergeant!” Vance shuddered dolefully. “And what befell when you came at last to the hut of Eumœus**?”
“The guy’s name is Robbin, like I told you. And he don’t live in a hut…”
…
“I don’t blame you, Mr. Vance. I’m hot and annoyed. Maybe I do sound as if I was messing around with ancient Egyptians, and mandragora, and viper venoms, and secret Gypsy potions, and witches’ ointments with their henbane, and Borgia poisons, and Perugia water, and Aqua Tofana.”
…
“The Tofana the doctor mentioned died in Sicily in the seventeenth century. And she wasn’t a fortune-teller. Far from it. She devoted her talents to mixing a liquid which has since come to be known by her name. Aqua Tofana was a deadly poison; and this woman plied her poisoning trade on such a wholesale scale that the name of her concoction has never been forgot. Though her mixture was probably nothing but a strong solution of arsenic, there’s still a lot of mystery attaching to it.”

The Latin phrases and the classical or historical references were everywhere in The Gracie Allen Murder Case, so there was much to keep you busy with Google translate and Wikipedia search. Otherwise, the gimmick here was the celebrity cameo of having the comic duo of Burns and Allen appear as fictional characters. And no, Gracie Allen does not get murdered unlike the usual title character in the Vance mysteries.

But Burns and Allen do not play themselves. They are instead workers in a perfume factory, with Burns as the main perfumier and Allen as a worker. The subplot of perfume ingredients has some tie-in to the main mystery of a murder at a shady nightclub. The Gracie Allen character does play a version of herself though as she describes various zany antics while acting as an assistant detective to an amused and charmed Philo Vance. In the performances of the radio and later TV comic duo, Burns would play the straight man who would prompt Allen to describe comic misadventures.

The celebrity casting leads one to suspect that it was done in preparation for the film roles, although Burns did not appear in the movie. Grace Allen actually had top billing over the actor playing Philo Vance.

See cover at https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9d/SSVanDine_TheGracieAllenMurderCas...
The front cover of the original Scribner’s first edition (1938). Image sourced from Wikipedia.

The final reveal results in the now standard Unsatisfactory Ending Alert™ for the later Vance novels, so celebrity casting cannot save every venture.

Footnotes
* "de lunatic inquirendo": Latin lunatic inquiry.
** Eumœus or Eumaeus was the swineherd of Odysseus in Homer's The Odyssey, who did live in a hut.

Trivia and Links
See film poster at https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5a/The_Gracie_Allen_Murder_Case_post...
The Gracie Allen Murder Case was adapted as the same-titled film The Gracie Allen Murder Case (1939) directed by Alfred E. Green and starring Warren William as Philo Vance and Gracie Allen herself as Gracie Allen. I could not find a posting of a trailer or of the film at YouTube.

The Gracie Allen Murder Case is in the public domain and can be read or sourced online at various sites such as Faded Page.

Willard Huntington Wright aka S.S. Van Dine is also the author of the Twenty Rules for Writing Detective Stories. ( )

In this S.S. Van Dine mystery, Philo Vance is assisted by Gracie Allen and her sweetheart George Burns, who both work in a perfume factory. Vance meets Gracie early on, but it isn’t until a kitchen helper is found dead at the Domdaniel Café that Gracie becomes involved. It seems the victim is named Philip Allen.

Vance’s original case is to locate the escaped criminal, Benny Pellinzi aka Benny the Buzzard, who has threatened to kill District Attorney F.-X. Markham. Domdaniel Café is Benny’s old hangout and where his girlfriend, Dixie Del Marr, sings. It also is a place of activity of many other shady dealings.

Vance figures he can get better results than the police as he doesn’t have to deal with protocol. But the murder puts a kink in things.

Thought Gracie is a bit of a ditz, she does find some of the more important key clues. Seems perfume does play a part.

Written in 1938, it is an enjoyable read of an enjoyable era. ( )

Not only is Philo Vance the most irritating of the Golden Age detectives, but the use of George Burns and Gracie Allen in this one adds no interest whatsoever. ( )

The last mystery written by an initially popular mystery writer, some reviewers do not praise as highly as his other work. All of the standard "fun" stuff is still here....wonderful expensive buildings, cafes, stylish women. It is unique in including the real celebrity figures, George and Gracie. ( )