This edition includes: The Philo Vance Series The Benson Murder Case The Canary Murder Case The Greene Murder Case The Bishop Murder Case The Scarab Murder Case The Kennel Murder Case The Dragon Murder Case The Casino Murder Case The Garden Murder Case The Kidnap Murder Case The Gracie Allen Murder Case The Winter Murder Case Other Works Modern Painting: Its Tendency and Meaning Misinforming a Nation Twenty Rules for Writing Detective Stories S. S. Van Dine is the pseudonym used by American art critic Willard Huntington Wright when he wrote detective novels. He was an important figure in avant-garde cultural circles in pre-WWI New York, and under the pseudonym he created the immensely popular fictional detective Philo Vance. Wright was, however, most respected in intellectual circles for his writing about art, best known of which is the book Modern Painting: Its Tendency and Meaning.