Literary Significance and Criticism
According to the 1936 introduction to the novel, in the omnibus Philo Vance Murder Cases, the two halves were written nearly a year apart. Several real-life friends of author S. S. Van Dine appear as themselves in the second half of the novel.
"Though dogs can be dangerous in life and in detection, this imbroglio by the precious and pedantic Van Dine is rather better than the rest of those written after 1930. It is a locked-room murder, there are clues, and Vance is not obnoxious beyond endurance."
Read more about this topic: The Kennel Murder Case
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